BELGRADE, Serbia — President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia blasted the Australian authorities on Sunday for what he referred to as the “harassment” of Novak Djokovic, deriding the authorized course of that led to the tennis star’s deportation at some point earlier than the beginning of the Australian Open as “Orwellian” and saying that the participant can be welcomed residence.
“I talked to Novak some time in the past, and I inspired him, and I informed him that I can’t anticipate him to return to Serbia and return to his nation, and to be the place he’s at all times welcome,” Mr. Vucic mentioned in a press release on the day that Mr. Djokovic left Australia after a authorized dispute surrounding his coronavirus vaccination standing.
“They suppose that they humiliated Djokovic with this 10-day harassment, and so they truly humiliated themselves,” Mr. Vucic mentioned.
In Serbia, the place Mr. Djokovic is deeply revered and extensively revered as one among his nation’s best sports activities stars, even those that didn’t assist his resolution to stay unvaccinated mentioned that he had been maligned and mistreated.
Dr. Predrag Kon, a member of Serbia’s pandemic response crew who has been a lead voice in calling for individuals to get vaccinated because the quickly spreading Omicron variant brings a brand new wave of an infection, joined these expressing outrage.
“I’m shocked by the choice,” he wrote on Fb. “That is not at all within the spirit of the Worldwide Well being Rules, which communicate of the free motion of passengers, items and providers. I want he by no means bought into this example.”
Vuk Jeremic, who was Serbia’s international minister from 2007 to 2012 earlier than serving as president of the United Nations Basic Meeting, mentioned that Mr. Djokovic’s refusal to be vaccinated must be seen within the context of the area.
“Sadly, such is the widespread opinion in most of southeast Europe, the underlying causes being deep and to do with basic mistrust towards governments and establishments, after a long time of horrible corruption and rising inequality,” Mr. Jeremic mentioned.
However he mentioned that under no circumstances justified the occasions as they performed out.
“The Australian authorities’s conduct towards him has been totally disgraceful,” Mr. Jeremic mentioned in an e mail despatched as Mr. Djokovic’s authorized crew was making its arguments in court docket.
A panel of three federal judges went on to rule that Australia’s immigration minister was inside his rights to cancel the unvaccinated tennis star’s visa on the idea that the participant might pose a threat to public well being and order.
Mr. Jeremic referred to as the Australian authorities’s mantra within the case — “guidelines are guidelines” — hypocrisy.
“All the opposite match contributors who bought the medical exemption from the identical medical panel bought the identical visa and entered Australia with out hindrance,” Mr. Jeremic mentioned. “Novak is a sufferer of brinkmanship by shameless populists, solely pushed by snap opinion polls.”
After revoking Mr. Djokovic’s visa a second time, all of the Australian authorities needed to do to win its authorized case this weekend was present that the tennis star “might” trigger hurt if allowed to remain within the nation regardless of being unvaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus.
However in Serbia, the choice to kick Mr. Djokovic out of Australia was greeted with outrage. On Sunday, the headline of a number one tabloid, Kurir, captured the temper: “Disgrace on Australia! The largest disgrace within the historical past of sports activities occurred in Melbourne.”
The Serbian Tennis Federation mentioned it was a victory of politics over sports activities.
Mr. Djokovic, in an emailed assertion, mentioned that he was “extraordinarily disillusioned” however that he revered the ruling. He left Australia on a flight to Dubai a couple of hours after releasing the assertion, which his crew mentioned can be his final feedback on the matter till the Australian Open was over.
Whereas Mr. Djokovic mentioned he was uncomfortable with all the consideration and hoped the main focus might return to tennis, there was settlement in Serbia that the matter had been dealt with poorly. Many consider that Mr. Djokovic wouldn’t have been handled the identical manner if he had come from a richer nation.
The tennis participant’s father, Srdjan Djokovic — who just isn’t identified for understatement and who in contrast his son to Jesus Christ in the course of the ordeal — broke a number of days of silence to repost a picture on Instagram on Sunday morning.
Written over photos of his son successful trophies have been the phrases: “The try to assassinate the most effective athlete on the earth has ended, 50 bullets in Novak’s chest.”
The imbroglio might have been averted, Mr. Vucic mentioned, if Australia had made it clear that the participant must be vaccinated to enter the nation and play.
The Novak Djokovic Standoff With Australia
The Serbian chief accused the legal professionals representing Australia’s authorities of not telling the reality. Particularly, he took difficulty with the best way Serbia’s coronavirus vaccination charges have been offered in court docket.
“They are saying that lower than 50 p.c of vaccinated residents are in Serbia, and formally 58 p.c,” he mentioned.
Mr. Vucic was citing figures for adults, however the vaccination fee for the nation’s complete inhabitants is about 50 p.c, based on Our World in Information. Whereas that fee is greater than in another Central and Jap European nations, it’s far decrease than in a lot of Western Europe.
It’s also effectively under the 91.6 p.c of the inhabitants over age 16 in Australia who’re totally vaccinated, a determine cited by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke — and one which the federal government mentioned Mr. Djokovic’s presence within the nation might undermine.
Mr. Djokovic has been largely silent with regards to vaccination, although he mentioned in April 2020, earlier than coronavirus vaccines have been accessible, that he opposed the thought of constructing inoculation obligatory for journey.
“I’m no knowledgeable, however I do wish to have an possibility to decide on what’s finest for my physique,” he mentioned. “I’m holding an open thoughts, and I’ll proceed to analysis on this subject, as a result of it is necessary and it’ll have an effect on all of us.”
When he arrived in Australia this month, he acknowledged that he had not been vaccinated, however offered proof of earlier coronavirus an infection to realize an exemption for journey.
Nonetheless, in the long run, the case revolved much less across the technical points of the case and extra across the symbolism of the second — each in Australia and Serbia.
For Australians, who’ve endured a number of the world’s longest pandemic lockdowns, Mr. Djokovic’s resolution to not be vaccinated flew within the face of collective efforts to cease the virus.
In Serbia, Mr. Vucic and others usually tied the remedy of the nation’s star tennis participant to the nation itself. The president mentioned on Sunday that Serbia wouldn’t deal with athletes in such a way.
“We’ll present that we’re higher than the Australian authorities,” he mentioned.
Mr. Vucic mentioned that regardless that Mr. Djokovic had misplaced his combat to compete in Australia, he remained a hero in his homeland.
“He can return to his nation and look everybody within the eye together with his head held excessive,” he mentioned.