Murder of Transgender Girl& more – 11th July 2023

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 11th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Friday the 7th, twenty-nine civil society organizations in Serbia demanded the most severe punishment—life in prison— for the killer of Noa Milivojev, a teenage transgender girl whose murder happened a day earlier. Noa, who was only eighteen, went missing nearly a month prior to police finding her body on Thursday the 6th. On the same day, Belgrade police arrested a thirty-three-year-old suspect upon finding the victim's body parts in his apartment. Her death marked the 22nd femicide in twenty twenty-three in Serbia.

The Civil Society voiced their concern about the rise of violence against trans women in Serbia. They added that trans women face the most brutal crimes and that they are one of the most vulnerable groups of people in society.

The Tenth Serbia Against Violence protest took place in cities all over Serbia where thousands of people marched, protesting against the government’s regime. In Belgrade, the participants gathered in front of the Parliament in the city center and they marched towards the police headquarters. The crowd marched to the police command to bring light to the police’s recent discovery of a drug plantation near Belgrade, whose owner is said to have been a business friend of president Vucic’s brother. As in previous Serbia Against Violence protests, the crowd demanded President Vucic’s resignation as well as the resignations of certain ministers and government officials. Opposition parties and civil movements also called for rallies in Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and Valjevo.

On that note about the Serbia Against Violence protests…

Center for Research, Transparency, and Accountability, or CRTA, reported that the protests have motivated apolitical citizens to participate, lowering the overall support of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS. Their report states that at least half of the Serbian population supports the protests. The director of public opinion research at CRTA said that the supporters of Serbia Against Violence protests come from different segments of society. He added that even if a number of participants support the ruling party, they are in favor of the protests.

As for the ruling party, political analysts reported that its support has fallen by up to seven percent since the elections in twenty twenty-two. They stressed that the Serbia Against Violence protests have expressed weaknesses and systemic problems in Serbian society, as well as the public dissatisfaction with the ruling party’s regime.

Speaking of the government, their failure to address the deteriorating media situation in Serbia has triggered Brussels to put pressure on authorities in Belgrade to implement the necessary reforms Serbia needs in order to access the EU as soon as possible. In the twenty twenty-third edition of the press freedom index, Serbia ranked ninety-one out of 108 countries, which is a decline of twelve spots compared to the previous year. This attracted criticism from international organizations over the Serbian government, blaming them for the lack of media pluralism as well as the dangerous environment in which Serbian journalists work.

Serbia has EU candidate status, and Brussels considers media freedom as a crucial element of Serbia’s EU accession process. They also addressed Serbian politicians, stating that the EU expects them to refrain from verbal attacks and threats against journalists.

Since we mentioned politicians…

On Thursday the 6th, president Vucic announced that he might sign a decree to ban the further export of ammunition and weapons in order to ensure the security of Serbia. He said that countries can carry out violent attacks and Serbia must be fully equipped to defend itself.

Vucic’s statement was also an indirect response to a Reuters’ report on Serbia refusing to join Western sanctions against Russia and agreeing to supply arms to Ukraine. Because of those reports, Vucic said that Serbia is not preparing for any wars and has done everything to de-escalate the conflict.

While on the topic of weapons export, Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has accused the Serbian Orthodox Church, or SPC, of involvement in the smuggling of weapons into Kosovo. She told the British Parliament that ambulance vehicles were smuggling weapons and storing them in Orthodox Christian churches. The Raska-Prizren Diocese said that it was deeply concerned by Kerns’ words and called on KFOR to immediately investigate them. They added that these allegations criminalized the SPC and allowed certain Albanian-language media outlets in Pristina to spread religious and ethnic hatred.

Speaking on foreign relations, on Monday the 10th, President Vucic and Jakov Milatovic, Montenegro's new President, met in Belgrade during Milatovic's two-day official visit to Serbia, the first by a Montenegrin president in years. After the meeting, the presidents said that they will work to improve political ties and the countries' economic cooperation. The two announced that the next move for Montenegro and Serbia will be the naming of the new ambassadors to Belgrade and Podgorica.

In two thousand and six, Montenegro split from the once joint state of Serbia and Montenegro, gaining independence. The relations then worsened after Montenegro recognized Kosovo as an independent country in two thousand and eight. The breakup of Serbia and Montenegro resulted in a series of ethnic conflicts that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless.

At an extraordinary press conference on Thursday the 6th, Petar Petkovic, a Director of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo, said that armed Kosovo Police have once again entered the territory of central Serbia. After showing the footage corroborating the claims, he said that Serbian police have spotted them 500 meters from the administrative line between Kosovo and central Serbia. According to Petkovic, this entry of Kosovo police confirmed that Kosovo’s PM Albin Kurti and Pristina are violating the UN Security Council Resolution one thousand two hundred and forty-four which affirmed Serbia’s territorial integrity. He also mentioned the arrests and the release of Kosovo policemen in June, noting that, like now, they were fully armed and carrying rifles.

In other news…

The number of work permits issued to foreigners in Serbia continues to grow as the state has issued almost 25,000 work permits since the beginning of twenty twenty-three, more than in the entirety of twenty twenty-one. Economists say that the large number of foreign workers in Serbia means that the number of qualified workers that are Serbian is declining. Serbs tend to leave the state in order to work abroad, mostly in EU member countries. The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure said that the importation of foreign workers is good for Serbia since it shows that the country has progressed. He added that these workers clearly see Serbia as a country where they can have a future.

Speaking of the Serbian work industry…

The Independence Trade Union Association and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia reported that they will request an increase in the minimum wage for twenty twenty-four. The president of the Independence trade union said that the negotiations on increasing the minimum wage will begin in mid-August, but added that the increase cannot be less than twenty percent. She also stated that the current minimum wage, which is 40,000 dinars or 375 dollars, is far behind the minimum consumer basket, which costs about 52,000 dinars or 485 dollars.

In some environmental news…

According to the Amendments to the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction, all buildings will require an energy passport, a document that will give owners, buyers, and tenants a clear picture of energy consumption. The passports will divide the buildings into eight categories according to their energy consumption. The most energy-efficient buildings are the ones that save the most money on cooling and heating and they also receive the highest A plus grade, with the lowest being G. This grading system will oblige building companies to ensure that no newly constructed buildings are rated lower than C and that the reconstruction increases the energy class of the building by at least one category. Furthermore, Serbia has marked energy efficiency as a public interest and is harmonizing it with the directives of the EU.

In case you couldn’t listen to our previous update, we have two new shows! These are the Rorshok Multilateral Update, covering the world's major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean’s Update about 70% of Earth's surface covered in salt water.Intrigued? Listen to them in your podcast favorite app. You can also check out the rest of our Country Updates, to see what’s going on in the rest of the world!

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Do daljnjeg, zbogom!

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