The planet was shocked and shaken and stirred by the news that Novak Djokovic and his family had to move from Serbia to Greece due to supposed political tensions with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Which is another one of those nothingburgers, considering how he moved to Greece from Spain.
Yeah, rich Serbian people really love Serbia – but from a safe distance. Guess how much taxes he pays here in the Fatherland? Exactly.
As for tensions between him and Vucic, here are both of them, super-tense in 2023, after Novak had a bit of a run-in with the Australian authorities after he failed to produce evidence he had been vaccinated against COVID and was subsequently deported. Djokovic was thanking Vucic for the support when he was deported from Australia.
“Novak talks about Melbourne hell in front of Vucic: ‘I’ll never forget Serbian people’s support‘” the Telegraf wrote back then.
The supposedly independent media opposed to Vucic bent over backwards to explain how there is nothing wrong with Djokovic meeting the Serbian president, because he brings us the joys of sports triumphs, plus he has money, so he’s rather immune to critique.
Novak’s spin on what Politico called “his deportation saga in Australia” was that the Australian hotel where he waited to be deported “poisoned him”. Guess having a legal system that enforces laws is somehow poisonous to rich Serbs, like Australian fauna.
You know, he believes in personal freedom of choice and supports an individual’s right to choose whether or not they receive a vaccine. Should we believe in personal freedom of choice and support an individual’s right to choose whether or not they commit an armed robbery? A thorny subject.
According to documents released by the Federal District and Family Court of Australia, Djokovic’s lawyers stated that “the date of the first recognized COVID-19 test was recorded as December 16, 2021.” Djokovic was infected with the coronavirus on December 16. A day later, he was handing out trophies to children, portal 021 reported.
Serbia does have a unique hero worship mindset. Athletes are revered because the Serbian society considers itself as underachievers who never reached the Greatness they deserve as a nation, so sports triumphs are a substitute for other collective failures.
Not to mention that Djokovic is not afraid to speak his mind on tough political issues, oh no. That also adds much to his popularity in Serbia.
In 2023, after tensions between Serbia and Kosovo escalated, he wrote on a camera lens, “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, stop the violence.” When asked if he was worried about backlash, Djokovic replied, “Of course I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is. It’s something that I stand for.”
Wow, so brave. Djokovic saying how Kosovo is Serbia is like a Russian screaming from the top of his lungs that Crimea is Russia, or something along those lines.
One of the problems with Serbian public health is that many people tend to delay visiting the doctor and taking the prescribed therapy, so instead they turn to home remedies, prayer, or superstition. This is profitable for the church, witchdoctors, soothsayers, and quacks that have leeched off Serbia for decades, but is detrimental to the well-being of the populace at large. So when people who are revered as Djokovic push silly ideas around, such as appreciation for monasteries and belief in magical pyramids, that doesn’t exactly help the situation.
So, will anything be missing when Djokovic, a citizen of the Principality of Monaco, moves to Greece with a golden visa? Just the photo ops with Vucic, apparently.
Serbianism 