SERBIA: Potential Mihailovic Monument & more – 24th Sep 2024

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 24th of September twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

Last week, Belgrade’s mayor Sapic proposed that the capital put up a monument to Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic, a Yugoslav-Serbian general during World War II, in the city center. In the same speech, Sapic said he wanted to remove the famous communist memorials from public spaces in Belgrade, including former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito’s mausoleum.

Many historians, political parties and citizens disagreed with Sapic’s plan. For instance, Members of the Socialist Party of Serbia, or SPS, said they will not support the removal of communist memorials. Some historians believe that by installing a monument to Draza Mihailovic, Sapic aims to denigrate the achievements of the Communist era.

Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic opposed Communism, which was the main ideology after the second World War ended. His forces, known as Chetniks, were accused of committing war crimes and other offenses. After Tito’s Communists seized power in Yugoslavia, Mihailovic faced trial in Belgrade, and was executed.

In other news, on Wednesday the 18th, Serbia and the US signed an Agreement on Strategic Cooperation in Energy, which aims to help Serbia in its green transition efforts, as well as provide better access to clean energy. The press release of the State Department said that the deal will open up new energy industry investment opportunities for the US. Marko Djuric, Serbia’s minister of foreign affairs, said that the country is likely to quadruple its energy consumption in the next twenty years, so it needs to collaborate with industries, companies and countries that have successfully increased their production capacity in previous decades.

While on the topic of foreign investments, on Thursday the 19th, the European Commission announced the Western Balkans Growth Plan, worth around seven billion dollars, which aims to unify the economies and markets of the Balkan countries with the EU. Serbia’s president Vucic confirmed the plan and said that he expects its first tranche, amounting to about 120 million dollars, to come in late October. The growth plan is split into six parts for six Western Balkan countries, and its budget for Serbia alone stands at around 1.6 billion dollars.

Even though the Serbian government is boasting about the upcoming EU funding, the executive is failing to properly fund the country’s farmers. The farmers' deadline for the government to start addressing the issues in the agriculture field expired on Wednesday the 18th, so the Serbian farmers’ associations announced protests. The farmers’ demands include immediate measures to address drought damage, the postponement of agricultural loan payments, and immediate payment of all outstanding subsidies. However, the government didn’t tackle any of these issues.

On the other hand, Vucic announced a salary increase of around eight percent for the entire public sector, and a twelve percent hike for all primary and secondary teachers and preschool educators. Vucic said that by raising the salaries of the teaching staff, the state is showing its commitment to education.

He also said that the government had passed a decision to increase the minimum wage last week, and that it would amount to around 47,000 dinars, (which is around 450 dollars), per month. Similarly, he announced an increase in pensions of around ten percent.

Speaking of increases, Ii some cities, housing prices are on the rise. The State Statistical Office noted that the price per square meter of newly built apartments increased in varying amounts across the state. In Novi Sad and Nis, the price per square meter amounted to around 200,000 dinars, about 1,900 dollars, which is an increase of around eleven percent compared to twenty twenty-three. Belgrade was one of the few cities that saw a decrease in prices of around two percent compared to last year.

Next, on Tuesday the 17th, The Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering, published a report on the household waste management statistics for 142 countries around the world. The report analyzed different waste disposal habits that persist in nations, and based on that, highlighted those that need the most help when it comes to improving waste disposal. The document includes two lists with both the top ten countries that do and do not separate their household waste before disposal

When it came to waste separation, Kosovo was among the countries that showed the worst results. The report explained that this was due to the lack of awareness and education on the importance of good household waste management. Serbia performed poorly when it came to separating waste after it had been disposed of. The Lloyd’s Register Foundation members called for investment in better collection and processing infrastructure in these countries. Some of the best-performing nations in the report were South Korea, Iceland, and Belgium.

On that note about environmental reports, last week, the network of environmental NGOs Bankwatch published their sixth edition of the Comply or Close report. In the document, they spoke about outdated coal power plants in the Western Balkans and their direct influence on the increase in air pollution. Bankwatch said that the amount of certain harmful particles and compounds, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, emitted from thermal power plants exceeds the permitted limits by around six percent. Bankwatch also said that certain power plants in Serbia continuously breach the provision that mandates closure after reaching a certain number of operational hours.

Since we mentioned pollution and its effects on the Earth’s climate, the Republic Hydrometeorological Service, or RHMZ, published a new bulletin last week, confirmingthat the summer of twenty twenty-four was the hottest one recorded in Serbian history. Compared to the previous record-breaking temperatures from twenty twelve, this year’s summer was one degree hotter. RHMZ noted that in twenty twenty-four, Serbia saw five heatwaves lasting at least five consecutive days each, with temperatures exceeding forty degrees Celsius, or around 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the mid-20th century, Serbia witnessed not more than one heatwave per year, whereas now that number has climbed to an average of four per year. RHMZ noted that these differences over time show the effects of climate change, adding that the only way to ease the temperatures over the years is by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In some health related news, the Health Insurance Fund reported that there are nearly 70,000 people on waiting lists for medical interventions in healthcare institutions across Serbia. The main awaited interventions are hip, knee and cataract surgeries. Some of the patients have been awaiting surgery since twenty sixteen,. Long waiting times for surgeries has been a known issue for decades in the country, and president Vucic stated on Wednesday the 18th that the government aims to reduce the number of patients on the lists to under 10,000 people within a year. He announced a plan for the abolition of medical waiting lists which is set to come out in around two weeks.

On a brighter note, sixteen cities across Serbia will take part in the 15th annual European Researchers’ Night - a European-level event for the promotion of scientific research and its achievements. The event will take place on Friday the 27th and will feature many activities and is suitable for all ages. For more information, check out the link in the show notes!

Let’s wrap up this edition with more science, the annual Art+Science festival will take place in the Jevremovac Botanical Garden in Belgrade from the 25th of September until the 31st of October. The theme of this year’s program will revolve around the impact of humans and technology on nature and biodiversity. The festival’s main attraction will be the Interweavings exhibition, which features multimedia installations, sculptures, and video works. The selected artists from Serbia, Italy and the UK will present works which aim to showcase the innovative synthesis of art and science. The admission to the festival is free of charge. For more information about the festival’s program, visit the link in the show notes!

Aaand that’s it for this week!

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Do daljnjeg, zbogom!