Before attending the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, where a resolution on the Srebrenica genocide was voted on, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was portrayed in tabloids as a superhero embarking on a “challenging and difficult” journey. After the resolution was adopted, he wrapped himself in the Serbian flag, and many tabloids from Serbia reported that the president did this despite opposition from the UN General Assembly president and security, who allegedly demanded he remove the flag and attempt to confiscate it. The UN confirmed that this did not happen, stating that the session proceeded smoothly without any incidents.
According to the tabloids, the session of the UN General Assembly was marked by President Vucic’s action of wrapping himself in the Serbian flag after the resolution was passed.
“Vucic wrapped himself in the Serbian flag, security demanded he remove it, he retorted,” one Serbian media reported.
“Security demanded Vucic to remove the flag. The President’s powerful words: No one in the world will take my flag from me,” another news site reported. Meanwhile, another article had the headline: “‘No one will take my flag from me’: The picture that went around the world – Vucic draped in the tricolor at the UN General Assembly.”
Numerous portals that wrote about the alleged incident described the following sequence of events: “As a sign of protest and courage, Vucic wrapped himself in the Serbian flag despite opposition from the UN General Assembly president. Security then requested the Serbian president to remove the flag, to which Vucic responded, “No one in the world will take my flag from me”.”
The flag-draping can be seen in the live broadcast of the UN General Assembly, but at no point is there any audible or visible opposition from the UN General Assembly president. Additionally, there is no indication in the broadcast that security approached Vucic or said anything to him about the flag.
The UN media team confirmed that there was no objection to Vucic wrapping himself in the flag.
“None of that happened. There were no problems during the session,” confirmed Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
This “nothing” was significant news for many media outlets, leading to numerous portals publishing incorrect information in full or in part.
Photo: Youtube
E.Dz.
