Editor of BETA news agency, Dragan Janjic commenting on gathering of citizens to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in Belgrade yesterday, said it was a manifestation intended for domestic public, rather than for Putin. “This was a manifestation of power, while authorities want to present it as the manifestation of support,” Janjic said.

“And the very end, when Vucic asked Patriarch Irinej to ask Putin to address the gathered citizens is confirmation of that, because citizens are here to see Putin, and Vucic wanted him to tell few words to them. People who are following the events, know that Putin does not like massive gatherings and is avoiding them,” Janjic said.

He added that this gathering functioned as some sort of contra-meeting, in relation to the protests Serbian opposition is organizing on Saturdays, and to show, how President Putin is addressing people.

Janjic went on saying that this was a message to the both, the opposition and supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). “There were more than 1.000 buses and it was visible in the city. 1.000 buses are approximately 50.000 people. 1.300 buses are around 70.000 or 80.000 people. There were people from Belgrade for sure, but to treat this as a voluntary gathering of supporters it should be repeated in two days, or a week time, however this is impossible to repeat,” Janjic said.

He noted comparison with protests that opposition is organizing is impossible under such conditions “because at the protests there is no special organization, these are people who attend the protests willingly, and the authorities should certainly need to note that as a fact,” Janjic concluded.