Worse, conspiracy theories are starting to undermine the vaccination drive. One study found 70% of Serbs believe in at least one covid-19 conspiracy theory, such as that it is a bioweapon or is spread by drug makers; in western Europe the rate is about a quarter. Since the 1980s, says Vedran Dzihic of Vienna University, Serbia has engaged in “hyper-production” of conspiracy theories, mostly xenophobic ones directed at Albanians, Bosnians, Croats or the Vatican. Now citizens have difficulty discerning crackpot tales from reality.
Yet Mr Vucic’s strategy of not putting his foreign-policy eggs in one basket has paid off. He has bought vaccines in Europe, Russia and China, and signed deals to produce the Russian and Chinese ones in Serbia. Both countries hope to use vaccine politics to undermine faith in the EU. Polls show it is working, though some Serbs think that China expects commercial favours in return.
The EU has promised Serbia recovery funds, but has yet to donate any vaccine. Meanwhile, Mr Vucic’s success at getting vaccine elsewhere lets him pose as a regional leader. Serbia’s neighbours have few illusions about his benevolence, says Florian Bieber of Graz University. But his prowess at “street-wise, gangster-style” politics, domestic and international, makes him a force to be reckoned with. ■
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