N1 reported this morning that “A fire broke out in one of the large white tents put up by regime supporters on the road between the Serbian presidency and parliament on Wednesday. Multiple social media posts showed the flames spreading to several of the large tents made of synthetic fibre. The tents are known to have wood-burning stoves inside.
A post by opposition MP Marinika Tepic showed the police drawing weapons and arresting a man who came out of one of the burning tents. The police officers carried the man towards the parliament parking lot.
Traffic camera footage also showed the tents burning.
The fire was put out by firefighters in 3 vehicles.
The tent camp was put up by regime supporters in the park in front of the Serbian Presidency by regime supporters and then spread out across all lanes on the street in between the presidency and parliament. There have been a number of reported incidents involving inhabitants of the tent camp, allegedly including criminals.
A major student protest was ended when bottles and stones were thrown out of the camp towards the protesters. The tent camp was given the derogatory name Caciland (pronounced Tchatzyland) because its inhabitants misspelled the word pupil in Serbian Cyrillic. Medical student Milos Pavlovic (a Bosnian Serb) is reported to be running the camp.“
The derogatory name “ćaci” became synonymous with a “stooge”, a government supporter, the same way the Serbian government and its confederates call the protesters “blockaders”. It has become a point of contention between government supporters and protesters.
The reason why someone would build such a thing in the middle of a capital city is to have a sort of a political lightning rod that will attract the focus and frustration of its opponents. It’s like when MAGA shares AI videos of Trump bombing protestors with feces, so everyone wastes their time commenting on it and sharing it, thinking how they are hurting MAGA, but instead amplifying their message through ripples, and of course, wasting their time, the only resource we truly have. My initial reaction was not to write about it, but ignore it. That’s how you deal with distractions.
This time, the only possible thing to distract everyone from is the planned EU parliament resolution on Serbia:
https://pr.euractiv.com/node/271225
“On 1 November 2024, a newly renovated canopy at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, killing 16 people. The renovation was carried out by two Chinese companies, under an agreement between the Serbian and Chinese governments, bypassing the Public Procurement Law. The European Commission had already warned in its 2024 progress report on Serbia about the circumvention of procurement rules through such agreements.
This tragedy triggered unprecedented nationwide protests led by students. Protesters are demanding justice, institutional accountability, transparency, snap elections, electoral integrity, respect for civil liberties, separation of powers, media freedom, an end to systemic corruption, and investment in education.
Protests have been met with sustained repression, including beatings, arbitrary arrests, tear gas, politically motivated detentions, deportations, and mass surveillance. More than 1028 arrests and at least 340 violent incidents have been recorded, some involving serious injuries, while independent observers stress that this figure is not exhaustive.
Since August 2025, violence has further intensified, including police brutality, torture, and sexualised violence against students, threats by special police units, politically motivated prosecutions, smear campaigns by pro-government media, and the deployment of the elite military police unit Cobras in domestic clashes, including firing live ammunition.“
The resolution is adopted:
- Serbian leadership is politically responsible for the escalating repression and weakening of democracy
- Students and citizens have the right to protest peacefully
- Free and fair elections must be ensured in Serbia
“Condemning polarisation and state repression in Serbia, MEPs demand an open investigation of the Novi Sad tragedy and an EU fact-finding mission to assess the situation.
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the European Parliament strongly condemns the ongoing political polarisation and state repression in Serbia, one year after the Novi Sad tragedy. MEPs want comprehensive and transparent legal proceedings to bring those responsible for the collapse of the railway canopy to justice.“
The ćacilend (stoogeland) indeed had incidents involving stoves. And tractors.
The logic of Serbian protests and counter-protests is to make life miserable for the largest number of people possible, while causing minimal or no damage at all.
All of this is a distraction from the actual problems plaguing Serbia, which I already wrote about.
But you want the reasons for the shootings, the motives, to get to the bottom of this, so you’re probably not satisfied with this explanation.
The reason is: people be silly.
The motive: who cares about the particulars of the perpetrator? They don’t matter.
The bottom of this: No bottom, it can only sink lower, so don’t feed it.
As a side note, when something from Serbian political folklore attracts attention from the general public abroad, I tend to receive requests to write “simple, straightforward texts explaining it.” Unpaid, of course. So if you are a simpleton, go find a coloring book. When you read my blog, you get what you paid for, and bring your own brain.
Serbianism 