SERBIA: Protester Hit by a Car & more – 21st Jan 2025

Dobar dan from BA! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 21st of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Saturday the 18th, Belgrade’s higher public prosecutor’s office announced that the man responsible for hitting a student protester with a car will face charges of attempted murder. On Thursday the 16th, a vehicle sped into a crowd of student protesters in Belgrade, hitting Sonja, a twenty-year-old woman, and leaving her with fatal injuries. Despite hitting her, the man continued to drive, carrying the woman on the roof of his car, which is why many believe that it was an attempt to intimidate students into halting their protests. This was the most serious attack on students ever since the faculty blockades began.

Pro-government media and the president himself have been downplaying the incident, and even saying that Sonja jumped on the car willingly. Such reactions fueled the protests even more, with their attendance growing.

Recall that students blocked universities in protest of the deadly railway station collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad, which left sixteen people dead.

In the wake of student protests, the parliament proposed a referendum on Wednesday the 15th, for citizens to vote on their confidence in president Vucic. Since the parliament is against student protests, it wants to ask the citizens whether they trust Vucic, despite the protests not targeting him.

The parliament speaker then went on to accuse the opposition of attempting to remove Vucic from the presidential position by supporting student protests. However, the opposition parties responded and dismissed the proposed referendum as a legitimate way of voting on whether Vucic should still be president. They explained that such a referendum is not legally binding, which means that the government is not obliged to act by the referendum’s decision.

Opposition parties have instead called on the government to determine political and criminal responsibility for the Novi Sad tragedy, as that is the only way out of the current pressure on the ruling party officials.

Teachers are joining the protests to support the students but they are also demanding higher salaries and better work conditions. On Monday the 20th, teachers all over Serbia gathered on the streets holding banners reading Students, the teachers are with you. They also said they felt disrespected by the government and the ruling party officials and felt dissatisfied with the proposed pay increase of five percent.

They referred to the recent discussion the trade unions had with the government, in which PM Vucevic warned teachers that they would get fired if they did not show up for work.

Moreover, the Serbian Bar Association announced a seven-day-long protest on Saturday the 18th, during which they will not be working at all in order to support the students and the teachers.

While on the topic of protests, the independent energy workers union of the Serbian energy company EPS announced on Tuesday the 14th that they are planning to stage a strike. Dragoslav Ljubicic, the union’s main representative, said that they are awaiting approval from the Association of Branch Trade Unions Independence before going on a strike and protesting in front of the EPS headquarters in Belgrade.

He said that the reasons for the strike were the dire state of the power sector, and the corruption within the company. The trade union called for the dismissal of the EPS’s general director, its executive and supervisory board, as well as the removal of the Minister of Mining and Energy.

On that note about energy, president Vucic met with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban on Saturday the 18th projects on infrastructure and energy safety. Recall that last week, the US imposed sanctions on the state-owned energy company NIS due to its majorly Russian ownership. After the meeting, Orban said that the halt of the gas supplies from Russia poses the risk of a serious energy issue in Europe. Both officials said that they reached an agreement on accelerating the joint energy investments, and added that they intend to double the capacity of connections between Serbia and Hungary’s power grids.

Aside from gas, over the past few years Serbian officials have been considering nuclear energy as a way to expand the country’s energy sources. However, Slobodan Bubnjevic, from the Institute of Physics in Belgrade, said that Serbia lacks professional staff to operate nuclear power plants, which could be the biggest problem for nuclear energy development. Bubnjevic said that due to the state’s ban on nuclear facilities, the country has lost experts in the field, adding that it will take years to change that. He called for the government to invest more in professional training of individuals in nuclear physics, but estimated that it would take around two decades to fully bring Serbia back on its feet when it comes to nuclear stability.

At the end of twenty twenty-four, Serbia lifted the moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants, due to the pressure from the EU to diversify its energy supplies. The ban was introduced back in Yugoslavia in nineteen eighty-nine, after the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

On Wednesday the 15th, Kosovo officials announced that they had closed several Serbia-run parallel institutions, including post and tax offices, because Kosovo was against them operating within their territory. Svecla, Kosovo’s Interior minister, called these institutions criminal, saying that they violate the constitution by not recognizing Kosovo’s independence.

Petar Petkovic, the head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, condemned the closures, calling the operation an act of terror on Serbians in Kosovo. He explained that these institutions provided Serbians citizens in Kosovo with administrative and welfare services to support them independently of the Kosovo government.

Now for some news on the economy. Last week, the State Statistical Office said that the inflation rate for December twenty twenty-four stayed the same as in November, and was around four percent. Compared to December twenty twenty-three, inflation decreased by nearly four percent. They noted that the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by around four percent annually, and added that they have the biggest weight in the consumer basket. Additionally, prices of housing, water, and energy rose by around three percent in December.

Another statistic that increased year-on-year is the number of tourists in Serbia. Memic, the tourism minister, reported on Friday the 17th that two million foreigners visited the country last year, which was an increase of twelve percent compared to twenty twenty-three. The foreign currency inflow from tourism rose by nine percent in twenty twenty-four compared to twenty twenty-three. Additionally, Memic said that the number of overnight stays has also risen, amounting to nearly six million, which is an increase of around eleven percent year-on-year.

When it comes to the environment in Serbia, citizens are mostly worried about the air quality due to the recent fires at the landfill in the western town of Valjevo. On top of the already poor air quality in Valjevo, which has been rated as the most polluted city in Serbia, the fires that broke out a few weeks ago at the illegal landfill contaminated it even more. Residents have complained about worsening health conditions, particularly those who have asthma. The local Public Health Institute also issued a statement about the pollution, but the authorities have still responded.

In some cultural news, the southern town of Pirot is hosting its 12th annual Fair of the Ironed sausage on the 25th and 26th of January. With thirty-six exhibitors at the fair, visitors will be able to try this unique food. The fair will also feature distilleries, wineries, and a cultural program consisting of traditional folklore dance and music, among others.

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

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

We’ve heard from some of you that you’d love to subscribe but don’t want to spend money. Well, great news! Subscribing to the Rorshok Serbia Update is absolutely free! That’s right, whether you listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or YouTube, hitting that subscribe button won’t cost you a thing. Subscribing is one of the best ways you can help us grow and continue bringing you the updates you love. So go ahead and subscribe! If you need any help, feel free to reach out to our team at info@rorshok.com.

Do daljnjeg, zbogom!