Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic reminded voters on December 9 that he is not the recently-ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, vowing to remain in Serbia despite mounting political pressures.

“Even if you think I’m Assad... that I’m going to run away somewhere—I’M NOT,” Vucic said in a late-night Instagram post. His comments come amid heightened scrutiny of his leadership in the wake of the Novi Sad train station disaster. 

The lightening-fast collapse of the Assad regime in Syria has seemingly been troubling the Serbian president. “I am alive. I have lived here in Serbia all my life. I am grateful to my Serbia. I will stay here; this is my place, where I will end up," he said in an increasingly unhinged message. 

The president warned that external forces were trying to destabilise Serbia through what he described as hybrid warfare. He promised to disclose details of financial support allegedly aimed at undermining the country. 

“In the coming days and weeks, we will reveal how much money was paid for the destruction of Serbia over the past four years. How much has been paid for Serbia not to be free and independent, not to make its own decisions, but to serve someone else," he said, referring to Western-funded NGOs. 

Vucic has frequently accused foreign powers of attempting to curtail Serbia’s independence, a narrative that resonates among his supporters but raises concern about his grip on power.

In recent days, Serbian lawmakers began debating a law which would establish a "foreign agents" registry, sparking concern that Serbia may be going the way of Georgia and other post-communist states that seek to undermine civil society.