Sapic: New Year's Eve celebrations showed Belgrade is one of Europe's safest capitals

BELGRADE - The head of the City of Belgrade Interim Authority Aleksandar Sapic said on Wednesday New Year's Eve celebrations in Belgrade had demonstrated the city was one of the safest capitals in Europe.

"We need to start appreciating the fact we can move in the streets freely even though we live in a metropolis that is developing at tremendous speed," Sapic told Happy TV.

He said Belgrade was one of the safest cities in Europe, especially in comparison to cities that were similar in size and population.

"Unlike in European metropolises that are the most visited tourist destinations, in Belgrade, you do not have parts of the city you are advised not to go to or a time of day you should not go there because it is dangerous, and the New Year's Eve celebrations proved that," Sapic said.

"Unlike in Belgrade, there were no women - and even no Italians at all - in downtown Milan, but mostly migrants, and it was similar in Paris and Berlin, where there were riots even though police were deployed to the city streets to provide security during the celebrations. Belgrade is a safe city and I am certain it will remain so in the future, and the Belgrade and the Serbian police are doing a great job and putting in major efforts and deserve praise for that," Sapic noted.

There were practically no incidents in Belgrade, in spite of a great desire to make a "powder keg" and start a "civil war" in the city, Sapic said, noting that the City Hall building had been attacked recently and that a mass political rally had been announced just before the start of New Year celebrations, when the city was at its busiest.