Original article (in Serbian) was published on 14/12/2021
Pro-regime tabloids attacked Zoran Kesic, author and host of the humorous show caled “24 minutes with Zoran Kesic”, almost synchronously, claiming that he “spat at Serbia” during a guest appearance on the show “Nedjeljom u dva” (Sunday at two) on Croatian Radio and Television (HRT). During the mentioned visit, Kesic mostly talked about the current events in Serbia, and he also spoke critically about the government led by President Vucic, which the pro-government tabloids assessed as “spitting on Serbia”.
“Kesic spat on Serbia, he was sucking up to Croats”, Alo said in its headline, while the Serbian Telegraph wrote something similar – that Kesic “attacked his country” and “went to Croatia to spit on Serbia”. In its hate speech, a website Informer went even further, so in the title, it called Kesic “a slimy sleazebag”.
In the show “Nedjeljom u dva” (Sunday at two), which was broadcast on December 12 on HRT, Kesic, among other things, spoke critically about the government in Serbia and President Aleksandar Vucic. At the beginning of the show, Kesic said that his guest appearance would be used against him.
“By the very fact that I am here, I am a traitor, I only confirm that I am a traitor because who would be a true Serbian patriot to visit Nedjeljom u dva (Sunday at two), ever”, he said, after which Stankovic added “to another Chetnik”, and they both laughed.
Kesic is critical of the current government and President Vucic, so during his guest appearance on HRT, he commented that Vucic is most “committed to surviving in power”.
“All institutions, all three branches of government are under his control, so the judiciary and the legislative and executive branches, one man is in charge of everything. Everyday violation of the constitution, going beyond one’s competencies, so he is asked about everything”, said Kesic and added that when someone “forces” the president for some responsibility, then the ministers are to blame because they are “sloppy, they do not do their job and we will publicly criticize them”.
In their criticism towards Kesic, all the tabloids came after him because of the second statement – when he said that he left Belgrade, covered in snow, and came to Croatia, where it is “a beautiful spring day”.
Namely, the author and host of the show, Aleksandar Stankovic, sarcastically commented – “You have seen on the road so far that we Croats still live better, as soon as the border is crossed…”.
Kesic answered jokingly, in his style, that it is cold and snowing in Serbia, while in Croatia, as a member of the European Union, it is a spring day.
“We are leaving Belgrade this morning, my faithful driver Borko and I, it’s snowing. It is completely white, you can’t see anything, you can’t even see Belgrade on the water, it finally looks okay because you can’t see anything. We cross the bridge, I jokingly tell him – You will see, Borko, when we cross the border, as soon as we enter Croatia, it will be spring. After 10 minutes from the Croatian border, there is no snow, the sun is rising, and we are coming to a beautiful spring day. We are walking along Zrinjevac, people are walking, beautiful music, discreet music is playing from those houses, those holiday houses… It’s beautiful and that’s what the European Union is all about”.
This part of his visit was quoted and used by Alo, Objektiv, Serbian Telegraph, Informer, leaving out the part about the European Union.
In its biased text, Alo stated that for Kesic “the sun shines as soon as he leaves dark Serbia and moves to a shiny country that committed genocide against the Serbian people”, recalling the suffering of Serbs in Jasenovac and expulsion from Croatia in a military operation “Storm”. These were not the topics of the guest appearance.
Aleksandar Stankovic is a long-term author of the show “Nedjeljom u dva” (Sunday at two) and he very often criticizes the authorities in Croatia. The situation in this country was touched upon in this show. For example, Kesic commented that the paradox is that the President of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, is approaching “some perhaps nationalist Serbian ideals”, from the right. He added the show is grateful for Milanovic’s rhetoric.
“He is always kind of arrogant, something always bothers him (…) I don’t know what happened to that man, he is so nervous”, said Kesic, to which Stankovic added that he was “hardly informed about the mental state of the person in question”.
Commenting on the attack of the tabloids, Kesic told Danas that the tabloids admitted that Vucic was the same as Serbia for them.
“With Stankovic, as I usually do, I spoke critically about the government in Serbia. When the tabloids present the criticism of the government as spitting at Serbia, they actually admit that for them, the ruling party and Aleksandar Vucic are the same as Serbia. In my opinion, it is a betrayal of Serbia and the sale of the homeland for one, the current, and apparently the outgoing government”.