The main topic in Serbian media reports from the Armistice Day commemoration in Paris on Sunday was the seating arrangement with some calling it scandalous and others wondering about the criteria used to seat the heads of state and government.

The main issue was the fact that Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was seated in the second row right behind Russian President Vladimir Putin and near to the French and American Presidents, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was seated in the third row across the aisle from them.  

While the media speculated about the seating arrangement, President Vucic said it did not reflect the current balance of forces. “If you ask me if that is the current balance of forces, it is not. Macron will come to Serbia but not to Pristina, Putin as well,” he told reporters after the ceremony adding that he did not want to create a scandal.  

He said he did not know how the seating arrangement was made but that he didn’t see how it could have been based on the alphabet.  

Belgrade pro-government daily Politika said in an editorial that Serbia had been humiliated in Paris and that this was no accident. “The history that Serbia should continue to be proud of was buried in a pragmatic wave of daily political interests and the French organizers of the ceremony should be ashamed,” the editorial said and added that Kosovo is central to all of Serbia’s problems since the president of Kosovo was rewarded.  

The Blic tabloid said the seating arrangement caused dissatisfaction among the officials present at the ceremony, adding that the word scandalous was used in diplomatic circles, mainly because of where Kosovo President Thaci was seated. The newspaper said that diplomats from a number of countries demanded an explanation from the French.