Early on Monday, Serbian Minister for Public Investments Darko Glišić suffered a stroke during a live television appearance. The stroke unfolded during the morning program Kod Dee i Sarape on Televizija Pink. Glišić’s speech slowed, he began to stutter, and the broadcast was cut while an ambulance was summoned. He was transported unconscious to the Emergency Center in Belgrade, where surgeons removed a thrombus blocking a cerebral vessel and managed associated bleeding, said Lončar. “Now comes the period when his body has to fight,” he said.
Glišić, born on 28 May 1973 in Ub, leads the Ministry of Public Investments and has served as president of the SNS Executive Board since 2016. He earlier headed the Municipality of Ub and held two terms in the National Assembly. Party colleagues regard him as one of Serbian President Alexander Vučić’s closest associates.
Vučić posted a photograph from the Clinical Center of Serbia on Monday night, writing, “Darko, hold on. Don’t give up! Darko is better, I spoke with him. He is still struggling a bit, but I can’t describe my joy, and his”. Vučić had just completed a second visit to Glišić.
Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar told Informer television that Glišić arrived “unconscious and in extremely serious condition,” and that diagnostics and therapy began within 20 minutes of admission. He said surgeons faced “both vascular occlusion and bleeding” and that several teams worked on an “extremely complex operation,” reported A Haber. Lončar later noted that the procedure “achieved its intended goals” but warned that doctors would “look at how Darko Glišić’s body will respond to the treatment,” reported Sabah, adding that no forecast would be offered.
Overnight, medical staff said Glišić regained consciousness but struggled to speak, while hospital sources called his status critical and confirmed he was intubated.
Messages of support followed. “We are all really shocked… I believe in our doctors and medical staff, as well as in Darko’s heart and physical condition… I also believe in God’s help and good energy that Darko will win this battle,” said Serbian Progressive Party president Miloš Vučević. National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić described the incident as “a very bad and sad day” and sent “all my support, love, and energy,”. Foreign Minister Marko Đurić wrote on X, “Darko, dear colleague, friend, and comrade, I wish you a speedy recovery. We know your spirit and perseverance – you will win this battle too! We are all with you”.
Vučević suggested that “pressures and emotional reactions to injustices affecting many people in Serbia may have influenced Glišić’s health condition,” Blic reported. He later condemned social-media posts mocking the minister, calling the authors “inhuman,” according to Vecernje Novosti.
Doctors said the next 24 hours would be decisive, with Lončar stating, “We hope for a positive outcome,” Blic reported.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.