Controversial monk monument unveiled in Serbia

Serbia’s president attended the unveiling on Wednesday night of a grandiose monument to a medieval monk and historic ruler which has come under fire from critics who call it oversized and kitschy.

President Aleksandar Vucic’s allies say the 23-meter-high (75-foot-high), 70-ton bronze sculpture of the legendary founder of the Serbian state, Stefan Nemanja, placed on a gilded egg-shaped pedestal in downtown Belgrade, will be a new landmark of the Serbian capital.

Opponents think the monument is a megalomaniacal and pricy token of Vucic’s populist and autocratic rule that should be removed.

Vucic told a crowd of several thousand of his supporters that “the beautiful” statue was a symbol of the Serbian statehood and unity.

Social media commentators have named the sculpture “Saruman on a Kinder Egg” and critics said the sculpture made and designed in Russia is inconsistent with traditional Serbian architectural style and instead resembles Soviet-era mega-size monuments.

The monument was placed on a renovated square in front of Belgrade’s old railway station.

It is a part of the Belgrade Waterfront project financed by a United Arab Emirates company that includes Dubai-style shopping malls and high-rise buildings.

The price paid to the Russian sculptor for the monument has been designated a state secret, but independent estimates suggest it was around nine million euros ($11 million.)