OPINION, KOVAČEVIĆ: How the diaspora became the heart of Serbia in these elections!

I’ve been hearing comments in recent days suggesting that the diaspora failed to deliver, judging by the number of people who turned out to vote. Those who don’t live abroad might see it that way.

But the diaspora’s significance in this magnificent student victory is not measured in numbers. It lies in the inspiration they gave people in Serbia, where the numbers mattered most.

The diaspora took a stand for the basic right to vote and brought the homeland to its feet. People traveled thousands of kilometers by plane, car and ferry, spent considerable sums of money, and risked their jobs and livelihoods so that their votes, each worth at least a thousand, could help free Serbia from bondage.

The very people who had to leave because Serbia had become a captive, criminal state, traveling far away to build a life and find fulfillment, showed that they had not forgotten who they were or where they came from.

Arsa Krsmanović crossed deserts and rainforests on his way to the polling station. Marina Lutovac Lalić drove for 8.5 hours with a four-month-old baby. But for me, the champion team was the group from Brazil, which organized itself and bought plane tickets for 12 voters who could not afford the trip to the embassy in Brasília.

I believe the students will know how to appreciate these extraordinary efforts by the diaspora and draw on its experience and knowledge in running the country in the future.

One of the first things the new government should do is introduce electronic voting for the diaspora. This would prevent any future dictator from so brutally violating rules and laws to stop tens or even hundreds of thousands of people from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.

The diaspora deserves this. Not only because it sends €5–6 billion into Serbia every year, creates jobs, supports families and fills gaps in the social safety net, but because it has shown its love for Serbia and its willingness to make sacrifices for it.

The saying “Out of sight, out of mind” does not apply to the diaspora!

Its heart is right here, beating strongly, and its pulse can be heard all the way to Slavija Square!