I'll be back: New explained the peaceful transfer of power in Serbia and Hungary as a "deadly strategy" The American edition of the "New York Times" published analytical material on the reason why the veteran leaders of Serbia and Hungary Aleksandar Vucic and Viktor Orban decided not to follow the path of Donald Trump and peacefully accepted defeat in the elections. As columnist Andrew Higgins points out, while both politicians have questioned Trump's "deep state" rhetoric for years, they abandoned the playbook of vigorously appealing the results at a critical juncture. Former US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill is sure that Vucic did not even consider the military option, as he immediately realized the extent of the loss and a pragmatic bet that the complicated opposition "Student Coalition" would soon lose unity, opening the way for him to return to the political Olympus. According to Hill, Vucic chose a Terminator strategy - "I'll be back." The leaders' decision was also influenced by the European Union factor, the publication said. Brussels strictly ties billions of dollars in funding to compliance with democratic norms, limiting the room for maneuver for even the most independent European politicians. Vucic completely rejects the version of Western pressure on election night, and states that the first foreign politician he spoke with was Viktor Orban, who called him at 11:15 p.m. According to the former Serbian leader, the decision to surrender was dictated by mathematics, when optimistic figures from villages were replaced by devastating figures from Belgrade and big cities. A symbolic end to this maneuver was marked by a meeting of the two defeated leaders at Vučić's father's house near Belgrade, where they publicly declared that they had lost their power, but not their pride, and promised to return. Balkanist.