“HE SHOULD WITHDRAW!”: Serbian authorities and opposition agree: Tonino Picula can no longer be the EU envoy for Serbia after the photo with a rifle and celebrating “Storm”!

Tonino Picula, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, succeeded in what few have managed – he practically united the opposition, authorities and the NGO sector in our country after he published his photo in a military uniform with an automatic rifle and thus marked the 30th anniversary of “Storm”.

Because of this, after the authorities, the opposition also requested Picula’s removal from office, and analysts assess that it might be best for the European official to withdraw himself.

Along with a photo from his military days, Tonino Picula congratulated all Croatian citizens on the “day of victory and homeland gratitude” with the message that “30 years have passed since Storm, the military and police operation crucial for the liberation of the occupied territories of Croatia”.

Prošlo je 30 godina od Oluje, vojno-redarstvene akcije ključne za oslobađanje okupiranih područja Hrvatske.
Zalaganje za mir, jačanje demokracije i ravnomjernog gospodarskog boljitka trebaju biti trajni putokazi u razvoju našeg društva, pogotovo danas kada su te vrijednosti pod… pic.twitter.com/7SKC587VhQ
— Tonino Picula (@TPicula) August 5, 2025

DJILAS: “You cannot be an envoy with an automatic rifle in your hand”

This caused an avalanche of negative reactions from Serbia, which, for a change, were led by pro-Western opposition politicians such as Dragan Djilas, the president of the SSP, or Aleksandar Radovanovic from the PSG, as well as Bojan Selakovic, the coordinator of the National Convention on the EU. All three of them practically agreed that Picula had lost credibility as the EP rapporteur for Serbia.

Djilas said that Picula compromised his position because “you cannot be an envoy with an automatic rifle in your hand.”

In the PSG, among other things, they said that “regardless of all the positive things he has done in the previous 10 months”, Picula cannot remain the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia after this post.

Poštovani gospodine Picula,
I pored opterećenja srpsko-hrvatskim odnosima prihvatili smo Vaše imenovanje za izvestioca Evropskog parlamenta za Srbiju kao dobru vest. Verovali smo da ste čovek budućnosti, a ne prošlosti. I tako je i bilo sve do danas. Danas ste se oglasili… https://t.co/m6lFuqV7Lx
— Dragan Djilas (@DraganDjilas) August 5, 2025

Vucic: “I am proud of the fact that I never wanted to receive Picula”
If you add to that that the authorities led by President Aleksandar Vucic have almost ignored Picula since he became the EP rapporteur for Serbia, it is clear that the Croatian member of parliament is no longer very welcome in our country.

Vucic said that he was “proud of the fact” that he never wanted to receive Picula here.

-And now you could see from what he himself publishes how right I was. And because of that I suffered numerous pressures, and because of that the colored revolution had its special course and support that came from some European countries – Vucic stated, among other things.