SERBIA: An Unsolved Political Assassination & more – 20th Jan 2026

Dobar dan from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 20th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

Kicking things off, on Friday the 16th, citizens of the northern city of North Mitrovica in Kosovo commemorated Oliver Ivanovic, the late Serbian opposition politician who was murdered exactly eight years ago. Family members, friends and political allies of Ivanovic lit candles and laid flowers at the site of his assassination, but also spoke about the fact that the murder case is still unsolved.

So far, four people have been convicted of involvement in Ivanovic’s death, but those who ordered and carried out the murder have never been held accountable. Kosovo’s basic court in Pristina believed Milan Radoicic, the former deputy leader of the Belgrade-backed Serbian List party, and businessman Zvonko Veselinovic were leading the group that organized Ivanovic’s murder, but never charged them. Ivanovic’s political allies recall that Ivanovic suspected that he was being targeted because of his opposition to the main Serbian List party in Kosovo.

In other news, thousands of people rallied in the northern city of Novi Sad on Saturday the 17th as university students staged a new protest against corruption titled What victory will mean. Students said that the protest aimed to show citizens that their Student List movement, which is still being developed, will be a viable and favorable political option in the next elections. They noted that a complete revamp of the country is needed due to widespread corruption, illegally acquired properties, political influence over public institutions, and media darkness.

Recall that the student protests started in pursuit of justice after the train station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed and killed sixteen people in November of twenty twenty-four. Citizens largely believe that the corrupt government and officials are to blame for the tragedy, due to a lack of care or regulations.

Since we mentioned media darkness, don’t forget that our YouTube channel had been targeted by the ruling regime and was taken down. However, we beat their army of trolls and it is back up.

Another media targeting by the ruling regime has been seen in the recent shutdown of around twenty instagram profiles belonging to independent media outlets, NGOs and student groups, on Saturday the 17th. Prior to the shutdown, these accounts had received a large number of followers that seemed to be fake accounts. The Share Foundation, which deals with digital security, said that the government most likely coordinated the shutdown in order to muffle independent voices that oppose it. Luckily, most of the profiles were reactivated a day later.

In the upcoming week, Serbia is set to host a European Parliament mission - but the country’s top officials, including the president, refused to participate. President Vucic said on Tuesday the 13th that meeting the officials from the mission was a waste of time, while the Parliament Speaker Brnabic said that the MEPs were “coming uninvited”. Opposition politicians argue that the government’s behavior towards the European Parliament mission is unwarranted, noting that it could hinder Serbia’s path to EU accession.

Remember that the European Parliament previously condemned the constant repression of demonstrators and students, labeling the authorities as responsible for the normalization of violence and the weakening of democracy in Serbia.

Speaking of foreign influence, several months after the US imposed sanctions on the Serbian state-owned energy company NIS, Hungary’s counterpart MOL is now set to acquire the majority of the stake. Once MOL acquires NIS, the US is expected to lift the sanctions as the Russians will be completely removed from the company.

In other news, the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions, or ASNS, issued a statement on their concerns about potential irregularities when it comes to the lives and working conditions of more than 100,000 foreign workers in Serbia. The ASNS cited fears of abuses and violations of labor rights, adding that many employers confiscate personal documents of foreign workers, pay them below the minimum wage and offer minimum accommodation standards.

The ASNS announced that it plans to aid foreign workers by setting up information desks, providing brochures in foreign languages, offering legal assistance, and promoting the right to organize in trade unions.

On Wednesday the 14th, news outlet New Economy published the results of its survey of citizens’ opinions on how twenty twenty-six will pan out economically. They underlined that the respondents' main conclusion is that living conditions will likely worsen. More than ninety percent of participants believe that major construction projects, such as the National Stadium in Belgrade, will have a negative effect on the economy, noting that many of these kinds of projects are not needed.

As for employment, more than half of the respondents believe that job hunting will be more challenging in twenty twenty-six, while only ten percent believe that it will be easier. To the question of Will we live better in twenty twenty-six? More than fifty percent of people thought that this would not be the case, while forty percent believed that life would stay the same.

Still on the economic front, in its Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank projected a 3% increase in Serbia's money supply in twenty twenty-six. They said that in twenty twenty-five, Serbia’s GDP increased by around two percent year-on-year, which exceeded the World Bank’s forecast of less than one percent. The report states that Serbia’s economy had lost its momentum in twenty twenty-five due to lower private investment and net foreign direct investment inflows, likely because of the student protests.

On that note about students, the State Statistical Office published last week that there has been a decline in the number of faculties, enrolled students, and graduates. In a span of a decade, the number of state universities went from 123 to 103, while the number of students decreased by around four thousand.

The Statistical Office highlighted the trend of students choosing private faculties over public ones, as the percentage of students attending private faculties increased from forty percent in twenty fifteen, to sixty percent in twenty twenty-five.

They also noted that the number of graduates has fallen from around 50,000 in twenty fifteen to around 40,000 in twenty twenty-five.

On Saturday the 17th, drivers’ associations from the Western Balkan countries announced that they will block border crossings on the 26th of January. This decision came in the midst of the implementation of the new Entry and Exit System, or EES, which limits citizens from non-EU countries to ninety days of stay in any 180-day period, including professional drivers who export goods. This means that drivers can stay in the Schengen area for up to fifteen days per month, with the day of entry counted as the first day of stay and the day of return as the last.

The association of drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia said that if the drivers’ duties take longer than what they are allowed to stay in the area, the system will treat them like illegal migrants, which they are not. They urged the EU to exclude professional drivers from the EES.

Meanwhile, The Hungarian news outlet Pannon TV reported that Hungary's Ministry of Transport plans to open the railway line from Belgrade to Budapest for freight traffic on the 27th of February. They added that both Belgrade and Budapest will offer three pairs of departures, with trains departing every two hours. They also said they will ensure that passport controls between Serbia and Hungary, and vice versa, are quick, as border controls from non-EU to EU countries usually take longer.

And to close this episode, some cultural news. The winter edition of the Adriatic Region Festival Network is coming to cinemas across the Balkans, including Serbia. Starting from Thursday the 22nd, viewers will be able to enjoy several award-winning regional films free of charge! The screenings will take place at the MTS Hall. Free tickets are available at its box office.

For more information about the Adriatic Region Festival Network, check out the link in the show notes!

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Remember that we sell very cool t-shirts, check them out with the link in the show notes.

Vidimo se!