SERBIA: Closing Serbian Institutions & more – 3rd Sep 2024

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 3rd of September twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Friday the 30th, Kosovo authorities closed five Serbian municipality institutions that work with the ethnic Serbian majority in the north. Elbert Krasniqi, the minister of local administration, explained that the institutions worked under the leadership of Serbia, thus violating Kosovo’s constitution and laws. Serbian officials took this action as Kosovo’s way of removing Serbians from Kosovo, and have called on the international community to react. On the same day, the US embassy in Kosovo issued a statement in which they expressed concerns about Kosovo’s actions, which have a direct negative effect on the Serbian community. The EU condemned the institutions’ closure too, adding that such an operation is putting the Serbian population in Kosovo at risk.

This is not the first time Kosovo has carried out such an action, as we reported earlier this year that the authorities closed seven municipality institutions in other parts of Kosovo. These institutions provided ethnic Serbians with various public services, ranging from social benefits to salaries and pensions.

While on the topic of bilateral relations, French President Emmanuel Macron began his two-day visit to Belgrade on Thursday the 29th of August, where he planned to meet with President Vucic in order to sign several deals. One of the contracts, which is worth around three billion dollars, will see Serbia purchasing twelve new Rafale fighter jets from France. Aside from military equipment, representatives of the two countries signed contracts regarding other fields, including healthcare, mining, and nuclear energy.

Ahead of his visit, Macron made a speech advocating for Serbia’s EU membership. However, he also touched on the topics of Serbia’s ties with Russia, as well as the country’s fragile relations with Kosovo. He said that Serbia should not fear losing its identity by joining the EU, referring to requirements for EU accession, such as de facto recognition of Kosovo and sanctions on Russia. Analysts noted that EU officials often show support for Vucic’s government and policies, overlooking his part in the decline of democracy in Serbia.

Speaking of the democratic decline, on Sunday the 1st of September, citizens gathered in front of the building of the state-owned broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia, or RTS, to raise awareness about the silencing of environmental activists. The protest, organized by Eko Straza, the largest environmental movement in the country, highlighted the state’s involvement in the smear campaign against its citizens who oppose lithium mining, particularly RTS. Namely, the state-owned broadcaster featured numerous stories in which they portrayed activists protesting against lithium mining in a negative way. Eko Straza’s members called RTS out for this behavior, and urged them to feature truthful stories about the environmental state of Serbia.

As we have mentioned in previous shows, Serbia has been protesting against lithium mining in the country, with state officials, tabloids, the state-owned media, and the police, targeting many activists.

Going back to the ties between Serbia and Russia, on Saturday the 31st of August, during the GLOBESEC security conference in Prague, Vucic denied having close links to Russian president Putin, adding that he had not met or spoken to him in more than two years — meaning that the latest contact was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Vucic was adamant that Serbia is devoted to becoming an EU member. However, he maintained his stance against imposing sanctions on Russia, noting that Russia and Serbia have traditionally always fostered good relations.

Despite declaring neutrality and calling for peace between Ukraine and Russia, Serbia remained one of the few countries that avoided imposing sanctions on Russia ever since the war broke out.

On that note about war, the export data found on the website of Jugoimport, the leading state-owned arms export company, showed that they had exported weapons and ammunition to Israel worth a little over eight million dollars just in July this year. In twenty twenty-four alone, Jugoimport exported goods worth more than twenty-five million dollars to Israel, during the country’s aggression over Palestine. These exports ensued despite the UN expert appeals for the countries to halt arms sales to Israel, as they could constitute serious violations against human rights and risk state complicity in international crimes.

Now onto some news about the economy. Last week, the Socio-Economic Council held a session during which the trade unions, employers, and the Government discussed increasing the minimum wage. Prime Minister Vucevic announced that all participants mutually agreed for the salaries to increase by around fourteen percent, making it around three dollars an hour, which translates to around 500 dollars a month. He said that such a wage would cover the minimum consumer basket, which was a little below 500 dollars per month.

The United Trade Unions of Serbia Sloga said they were ashamed because some trade unions agreed to a 500-dollar minimum wage, instead of aiming for more. Additionally, citizens and economic professionals believe that it is cruel for the government to boast about the minimum wage barely covering the consumer basket, as that would not provide a good quality of life.

Since we mentioned the consumer basket price, on Wednesday the 28th of August, Vucic announced a price decrease for more than eighty basic food and household items for the entire month of September. He acknowledged that many citizens spend most of their income on basic needs, leaving them with little disposable income. He noted that the government negotiated with the retail chains, which then submitted the best prices they could offer to consumers. Vucic said that more than 2,500 retail stores will feature items with the best price tag, including fruit, vegetables, hygiene products, and dairy products. Prime Minister Vucevic said that the average discount value will be around thirty percent.

Since we mentioned salaries, the State Statistical Office, or RZS, reported that in the second quarter of twenty twenty-four, the unemployment rate in Serbia decreased by around one percent, and the employment rate increased by one percent compared to the same period last year. The statistics are following European trends, as the EU statistical office noted that the unemployment rate in the Eurozone stood at around six percent in July of this year, down from around seven percent in July twenty twenty-three. The lowest unemployment rates in July were seen in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, while the highest were in Spain, Greece, and Finland.

Another report by the RZS on Monday the 2nd noted a GDP increase of around four percent in real terms in the second quarter of twenty twenty-four, compared to the same period last year. Compared to the first quarter of twenty twenty-four, the GDP increase was around one percent. RZS said that the trades that recorded significant real growth in gross value of around seven percent included the wholesale and retail trade, transport, construction, and education. On the other hand, the trades that experienced a fall in gross value were agriculture, forestry, and fishing, with a decrease of around four percent.

Ahead of the start of the new school year, the Minister of Education, announced an agreement between her ministry and the trade unions on the protection of education sector employees. Regarding the teachers’ safety, the unions demanded that perpetrators face harsher punishments, and that the penalties be stricter for both violence committed digitally and physically. They are demanding that the crimes that are committed inside schools receive harsher penalties than those committed outside of schools. The minister noted that the process of amending the law is primarily the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and that they expect the amendment to be introduced by the end of the year.

And to wrap up this edition, some news about culture. The seventh Kaleidoscope of Culture, a famous art event in the Balkans, will take place in Novi Sad starting from the 5th of September and will last a month. This year’s Kaleidoscope of Culture will be centered around the topic of identity, and will feature numerous international and local artists from various fields, from literature to architecture. Admission to the event is free of charge. For more info, check out the link in the show notes!

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

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Do daljnjeg, zbogom!