SERBIA: Dismissal & more – 23rd Apr 2024

Dobar dan from BA! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 23rd of April twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Sunday the 21st, Kosovo held elections for the dismissal of the mayors of four Serbian-majority municipalities in the north. Recall that in twenty twenty-three, the mayoral candidates were all Albanian, so Serbian List, the main Serbian party in Kosovo, boycotted the elections. Despite the low turnout of around four percent, the government still appointed the Albanian mayors

The Central Election Commission reported that out of the 46,000 registered voters across all four municipalities, only 250 people voted. It said that for the results to be valid, at least fifty percent of the registered voters must turn out, which was not the case on Sunday.

They concluded that the citizens' initiative for the removal of the mayors failed. Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo’s president, said that the low turnout was due to Serbia pressuring its voters living in Kosovo to boycott the election — to denounce Kosovo’s governmental structure as Serbia does not recognize its independence.

Despite the unrest, some things are looking up for Kosovo, as on Tuesday the 16th, the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe had a vote to recommend it as a member state. It ended with 131 votes in favor of Kosovo’s accession, twenty-nine against it (Serbia included), and eleven abstaining.

Biljana Pantic Pilja, the chief of the Serbian delegation, pointed out that Kosovo still has not established the Community of Serbian-Majority Municipalities, or CSM, which is one of its unfulfilled obligations under the twenty thirteen Brussels Agreement with Serbia. This EU-mediated agreement aimed to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Pilja argued that the Council should not consider Kosovo’s membership unless it fulfills its obligation.

CSM is a planned intermunicipal association of ethnic Serbian-majority municipalities in Kosovo. Its formation was due in twenty thirteen, when Kosovo and Serbia signed the Brussels agreement.

On a related note, Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Commander of the NATO Forces for Europe, announced that the Alliance is looking into boosting the reserve forces within its missions in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said that after reviewing the American international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, or KFOR, NATO concluded that it is not equipped with appropriate weapons and enough people, concluding that it needs more and stronger forces.

As for Bosnia, he said that the ethnic tensions between them and their entity - the Republic of Srpska, might escalate, which is why NATO wants to bolster its forces there. Cavoli also noted that Russian ties to the Balkans will cause more ethnic tensions, adding that Russia aims to disrupt the fragile peace in the Balkan region by favoring countries that are supporting it and turning them away from the EU and NATO.

But let’s go back to Vjosa Osmani for a second. Prompted by a second femicide in April in Kosovo, she declared a day of mourning on Wednesday the 17th, for all those killed due to gender-based violence. On Tuesday, the 16th, the Kosovo police arrested a man on suspicion of killing his wife. This murder happened only five days after the police arrested another man for allegedly murdering his ex-wife.

The seventh femicide In Serbia of twenty twenty-four in the north of the country happened last week, with the murder of a twenty-nine-year-old woman. The countries in the Western Balkans have passed laws and regulations to combat violence against women but implementation remains on hold. Still, the number of femicides that have occurred in Serbia keeps growing, amounting to well over 300 in the last decade.

In some news on energy, Dusan Bajatovic, the director of Serbiagas, a state-owned natural gas provider, announced that the gas prices for industrial consumers would drop by around fifteen percent in May. Additionally, he said that the state will no longer subsidize the prices of gas, adding that such a policy has cost them over a billion dollars over the years. Bajatovic said that the market prices of natural gas had gone up by around twenty percent in the last few years, noting that the current wars in the world have affected the market, resulting in the stagnation of gas and oil production, increasing their prices.

Speaking of prices, the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, published its latest report World Economic Outlook on the expected economic growth of its member countries in their annual spring session on Tuesday the 16th. For Serbia, the IMF projected a GDP growth of around three percent in twenty twenty-four, and around four percent for twenty twenty-five, putting the country among the fifteen fastest-growing markets in Europe. In this group, only Kosovo and Montenegro are ahead of Serbia, with expected GDP growths of around four percent for twenty twenty-four and twenty twenty-five. The slowest GDP growth is expected in Hungary, at around two percent in twenty twenty-four and three percent in twenty twenty-five.

One of the boosters for the Serbian economy last year were gamers, as the Serbian Games Association, or SGA, reported that the industry gained a total revenue of more than 180 million dollars in twenty twenty-three. Compared to twenty twenty-two, the number of employees in the Serbian gaming industry has doubled because of an increase in gaming developers from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. However, despite the earnings, a record number of teams are looking to apply for local and European funds due to a lack of funding opportunities and high taxes.

On that note about earnings, the Statistical Office, or RZS, said that in twenty twenty-three, the average monthly income was lower than the average monthly expenses in Serbian households. In urban areas, the average monthly income increased by eleven percent in twenty twenty-three compared to twenty twenty-two and amounted to around 800 dollars. However, the average individual consumption expenditures of households in urban areas amounted to a little over 800 dollars. In twenty twenty-three, households mostly spent their money on food and non-alcoholic beverages, water, electricity, and gas.

With this in mind, Aleksandar Sapic, the mayor of Belgrade, announced on Tuesday the 16th that the state will be giving out a one-time aid of 20,000 dinars, around 180 dollars, to parents of all elementary and high school students. At a press conference, he said that the parents would receive the money for each student in the household, adding that this measure includes private school students, too. The registration for the aid began on Monday the 22nd, and will last until the end of August. The state will pay out the assistance in September.

Since we mentioned RZS, last week they said that the number of building permits issued in February increased by around one percent compared to February twenty twenty-three. They said that the total estimated value of the planned projects — which the issued permits are covering— decreased by around twenty percent compared to last year. RZS also noted that the number of building permits in twenty twenty-three rose by around seven percent compared to twenty twenty-two.

On that note about building, the Public Utility Commission Belgrade Metro and Train announced that the preparatory works on the construction of a subway depot in Belgrade should be finished this summer. The Finance Minister said that they expect the construction on the entire route of the first Serbian subway line to start as early as twenty twenty-five, while estimating its completion for twenty twenty-eight. The capital’s subway network will initially consist of two lines of around twenty kilometers, or around fourteen miles. One will run along the river Sava, crossing downtown Belgrade, and linking the southwest part of the capital to the northeast. The second line will connect the northwest suburb of Belgrade - Zemun - with the capital’s Mirijevo neighborhood.

And that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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