SERBIA: New PM-Designate & more – 8th April 2025

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 8th of April twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Sunday the 6th, president Vucic named Dr Djuro Macut as the prime minister-designate of the new government, which needs to be formed by the 18th of April. Recall that since the former Prime Minister Vucevic resigned, the government has been in a technical mandate.

Vucic explained that Macut is a good fit to be a prime minister, noting that his expertise as an endocrinologist will bring different views and opinions into the government. However, the opposition parties have pointed out that Macut is a member of the initiative committee for the establishment of Vucic’s new Movement for the People and the State party and that he is against the student-led anti-corruption protests.

Speaking of the movement, students, who have been blocking their faculties for nearly five months now, protesting the lack of accountability for the deadly railway canopy collapse tragedy in Novi Sad, have embarked on a cycling trip to Strasbourg, France, to address the Council of Europe in person. Even though the student-led protests have amassed large support since their start, students are still facing violence, spying, arrests and smear campaigns in the pro-government media, in an attempt to shut the movement down.

Due to ongoing repression, a large group of students started a bike trip to Strasbourg on Friday the 4th, in order to explain the current situation in the country, since the government-controlled media are silencing them. They will call on the Council of Europe to put pressure on the Serbian authorities and officials for the ongoing repression of human rights in the country.

They said that the reason behind the deadly railway canopy collapse was government corruption, so they aim to bring justice to the victims.

The students had said that they would end the blockades if the government fulfilled their four demands: that is, the release of all documents related to the railway station renovation that was made before the tragedy, the arrest of the people who attacked students, the release of protesters, and a twenty-percent-increase for the higher education budget. However, as the group of cyclists started their trip to Strasbourg, their peers in Belgrade put forward a new demand, which is a detailed investigation into the alleged use of a sonic weapon during a mass protest in the capital on the 15th of March.

Recall that on that day, several people recorded a noise that caused a stampede in the crowd during a fifteen-minute-long vigil for the victims. The government is denying the allegations, with the president threatening to arrest those who accuse the authorities of using a sound cannon.

Earlier we mentioned that the pro-regime media is featuring smear campaigns of students on their channels 24/7, with tv channels Informer and Pink welcoming guests such as Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party and a Hague convict for war crimes. Seselj was a prominent figure during the previous student uprising in the nineties, when he spewed insults, attacks, and drew guns on the protesters. Not much has changed since, in fact, Seselj is still threatening students with violence on tv, calling them slurs and defending violence towards them.

The portal Radio Free Europe notes that, while he is a prominent figure on Serbia’s national television, Seselj’s trial for war crimes has not yet started, even though it has been due since twenty fourteen. Additionally, the Serbian prosecution has still not explained why there was so much latency at the start of Seselj’s overdue trial.

In more media news, and on Friday the 4th Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, or BIRN, published an article reporting on a corruption case involving Serbia’s broadcast regulator REM. REM is in charge of assigning the channels’ frequency, with only a few select ones being awarded national coverage by winning a majority of votes within the REM board.

In BIRN’s new article, they uncovered that the regulator’s head voted to award a TV channel a cable license, immediately after purchasing an apartment from the channel's editor. BIRN found out that the REM head had failed to notify the board about it, and she partook in the voting process to award the cable license with a clear conflict of interest. BIRN believes that the REM head should have abstained from voting, since it is unclear whether the tv channel in question got its cable license fairly.

REM has received countless criticisms from society and the political opposition for awarding national frequencies only to the pro-government media.

Last week, we talked about Croatia, Albania and Kosovo signing a declaration on cooperation in defence and security, which Serbia heavily criticized and labeled as an arms race in the region. Serbian officials were upset since Croatia and Albania did not consult Serbia before signing a declaration with Kosovo, as Serbia does not recognize its independence. As a response, on Tuesday the 1st, Serbia and Hungary signed an agreement to improve military cooperation which adds on to the already existing strategic defence cooperation between the two.

Hungary is one of the few countries whose government openly supports Vucic and is against the student-led anti-corruption movement.

Speaking of foreign countries, the recent announcement of new tariffs from the US has affected some Balkan countries. Serbia took the largest hit with a nearly forty-percent tariff, compared to Bosnia with thirty-five percent and North Macedonia with thirty-three. Trump said that the reason behind the new tariffs was unfair trade barriers other countries had imposed on the US.

Still on economic updates, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday the 7th that Serbia recorded a national deficit of around thirty billion dinars, which is about 300 million dollars, in the first two months of twenty twenty-five. Despite the large figures, the ministry said that the projected deficit was around forty billion dinars, about 400 million dollars, adding that the current deficit is a better outcome.

When it comes to the environment, the Serbian Academic Community called on the European Commission on Tuesday the 1st to abandon the lithium mining Jadar project in western Serbia led by mining giant Rio Tinto. In previous shows, we have reported on the environmental protests against the Jadar project due to its potentially irreversible damage to the land and water.

During a protest organized by students last Tuesday, the Academic Community said that Rio Tinto wants to mine lithium on the site of a regional water source and some of the most fertile farmland in the country. The students highlighted that the citizens are heavily against the Jadar project due to its environmental impact.

In other news, Belgrade hosted its 38th annual Marathon on Sunday the 6th, which broke the record of participants with more than 14,000 runners. In the male section, Kipleting Chumba Gilbert won first place for the second year in a row and finished in around two hours. As for the women, Deborah Sang broke the Belgrade Marathon record by three minutes and completed the race in two and a half hours.

Aside from professional runners, the marathon featured numerous recreational runners who used the platform to show solidarity with the protesting students, bringing light to the anti-corruption movement.

And to wrap up this edition, Belgrade’s Port will host its tenth and final 2HOT4STAGE festival from the 11th to the 13th of April. The festival will feature famous Serbian hip-hop artists, along with different competitions for the participants, including rap, beat making, and dance battles. Aside from music, visitors will also get a chance to try out tattooing, get unique haircuts, take part in graffiti painting and design their own clothes!

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

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

Enjoying the update? We hope so! Wanna chat, toss us an idea, or ask something? Email us at info@rorshok.com.

Do daljnjeg, zbogom!