SERBIA: Compulsory Military Service & more – 7th Jan 2025

Dobar dan from BA! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 7th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Tuesday the 31st, students across Serbia, among some citizens, celebrated the New Year by silently protesting the state’s lack of accountability regarding the railway station tragedy in the northern city of Novi Sad — which we reported on in previous shows. In Belgrade, the protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building and blocked traffic all the way to the Student Square. They held fifteen minutes of silence, a minute for each of the victims of the railway station canopy collapse.

Students and other citizens in the southern city of Nis followed suit, as they gathered in front of the Fortress with banners saying that the city would not celebrate the New Year until there was justice for the victims of the tragedy. They removed the decorations put up by the city as a sign of protest, and instead unfurled a white sheet with a bloody hand meant to symbolize the corruption in the country, which led to the tragedy.

Recall that after the canopy collapse on the 1st of November, students all over Serbia began faculty blockades, demanding accountability from the state and the prosecution of those responsible for the canopy’s failure.

Speaking of students in blockades, a pro-government news outlet has aired out personal information of individuals who are participating in the protests, threatening their security. On Thursday the 2nd, news outlet Novosti published copies of the passports of two students from Belgrade’s faculty of organizational sciences.

Another case occurred on Saturday the 4th, when a list of names of eleven students from Novi Sad’s Faculty of Technical Sciences came out, labeling them as the organizers of the current student blockade of the faculty, even though student protests have no organizers.

Lawyers in the country commented on the situation and said that such publications are a violation of the Personal Data Protection Act, as well as a criminal offense of unauthorized data processing.

In the wake of the student protests, teachers from elementary and high schools in Serbia have shown support in the past weeks by going on strike. However, with the second semester of the school year approaching, and with the teachers still striking, Prime Minister Vucevic said on Friday the 3rd that the teachers who went on strike would be fired. He also said that high school seniors who are not attending classes and are blocking their high schools in support of university students will also face consequences, such as unexcused absences, which lower their grades.

Still, on Saturday the 4th, president Vucic stated that he disagreed with Vucevic, and encouraged him to engage in dialogue with the teachers instead of immediately resorting to disciplinary measures.

While on the topic of schools, last week, the Higher Court in Belgrade convicted the parents of a thirteen-year-old boy, whose shooting spree in a Belgrade school last year left ten people dead. Vladimir Kecmanovic, the child’s father, was accused of committing a crime against public security as well as abusing and neglecting a minor, and was sentenced to fourteen and a half years in prison. Judge Zoran Bozovic said that Kecmanovic failed to assess his son’s distressed mental state, and instead took him to shooting ranges and taught him how to use firearms. The boy’s mother was sentenced to three years in prison for abusing and neglecting a minor.

Recall that the thirteen-year-old boy opened fire on his fellow classmates on the 3rd of May of twenty twenty-three, in Belgrade’s prestigious elementary Vladislav Ribnikar school.

In an update to a previous story…. Last week, we spoke about the indirect conflict between certain Albanian and Serbian parties in Kosovo ahead of the elections set for the 9th of February. We mentioned that Kosovo’s Central Election Commission, or CEC, decided not to certify Serbian List, the largest Serbian party in Kosovo, for the elections, and that after criticism from various officials, the CEC annulled the decision.

However, on Thursday, the 2nd, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Kurti filed an appeal as the head of the ruling party with an election complaints panel, asking that the Serbian List not be certified for the elections. He called on the CEC to schedule a voting session so that its members could decide whether the Serbian List party would receive certification. In response, the Serbian List’s president accused Kurti of trying to erase Serbians from the parliament in order for the Albanian parties to have full control.

In other news, Bratislav Gasic, the defense minister, announced that the first army recruits would begin compulsory military service as early as September, adding that the parliament would adopt a law on mandatory military service by March. Gasic noted that the fourteen years without compulsory military service led to the reserve becoming increasingly old and unsustainable. He added mandatory military service is necessary for Serbia to maintain its security.

On Saturday the 4th, president Vucic once again announced that the US would impose sanctions on the Petroleum Industry of Serbia, or NIS, starting from mid-January. This is one of many of Vucic’s announcements of the potential US sanctions on NIS, which none of the US officials ever confirmed. In his TV appearance on Saturday, Vucic said that Jose W. Fernandez, the US Under Secretary of State, had informed him of the sanctions on NIS, which is largely owned by Russia.

However, the US State Department declined to confirm the sanctions officially, noting that they will not comment on a private conversation between Vucic and Fernandez. News outlet Pavlovic Today said that their anonymous sources within the incoming Trump administration expressed skepticism about the sanctions.

On the economic front, the government announced on Friday the 3rd that they would issue 120 billion dinars, which is around a billion dollars, in bonds in January. They said that they intended to issue twelve million bonds, each worth around 10,000 dinars, which is around ninety dollars. The government said that the proceeds will finance the budget deficit, refinance public debt obligations, and invest in projects that aim to protect the environment.

Speaking of the environment, on Wednesday the 1st, the National Ecological Association, or NEA, published a report on the overall air quality in Serbia for twenty twenty-four. The analysis consists of data from the automatic air quality monitoring points across the country. The NEA focused on the harmful microparticles PM 2.5, and they noted that in none of the measuring points air quality was safe for human health. Compared to twenty twenty-three, the amount of PM 2.5 particles increased by around three percent in twenty twenty-four, with the highest amount being in the western cities of Novi Pazar, Sabac, and Valjevo.

On a brighter note, Jelena Begovic, the Serbian minister of Science, announced on Thursday the 2nd that the construction of the research and development BIO4 campus will begin this year. She highlighted that BIO4 aims to unite various Serbian universities and science companies in a multidisciplinary project featuring biomedicine, biotech, bioinformatics, and biodiversity. Begovic also noted that one of the main goals of the campus is to attract the Serbian diaspora to return to the country by offering modern technology and spaces for studying and working.

As for some events in the following week, the western village of Jablanica near the mountain of Zlatibor will host the celebration of the Orthodox New Year, which takes place on the 13th of January. Every year the residents of Jablanica gather near the church dedicated to the Shroud of the Virgin Mary to celebrate, but also to see rich artistic programs and enjoy traditional Serbian meals and drinks.

For more information, check out the link in the show notes!

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

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Here’s to another year of keeping you on the loop with what's going down in Serbia. Happy twenty twenty-five!

Do daljnjeg, zbogom!