SERBIA: Rerun & more – 5th Mar 2024

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 5th of March twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Saturday the 2nd, Belgrade’s mayor Aleksandar Sapic announced the re-run of the local Belgrade elections. He said that this decision had nothing to do with the voting irregularities that the international observers reported in December. Sapic, who is a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, explained that they have a high standard when it comes to election legitimacy, denouncing the allegations of irregularities and adding that they are not afraid of the rerun, as they are optimistic about the outcome.

The opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence supported the voting re-run, with some of the members saying that such a decision was a victory for the whole opposition. The formal deadline for Belgrade city assembly formation was on Sunday the 3rd, however, with the announcement of the new local Belgrade elections, the outgoing assembly will remain in place until the voting results. Even though Sapic did not specify the new date for the elections, the SNS said that they would be held as soon as possible.

Another thing that the SNS and the Serbia Against Violence opposition coalition welcomed is the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Right’s report on the December twenty twenty-three elections, expressing satisfaction, but for completely different reasons.

The SNS said the report ended the voting fraud allegations and contained fewer recommendations than reports from previous years, proving the electoral environment has improved. The opposition coalition, however, said that the report confirmed all the fraudulent activities during the voting period.

The report’s aim was to provide recommendations to the Serbian government in order to increase election legitimacy and prevent fraud. It confirmed the allegation against the SNS by listing the instances of voter buying, ballot box stuffing, and the bussing of voters from foreign countries.

Moving on, Freedom House, a non-profit organization focusing on political advocacy surrounding issues of political freedom and human rights, published a report on the state of democracy in the world. With the grading system of free, partly free and not free, Serbia received the grade of partly free. The report blamed the ruling SNS party, saying that it “steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties.” They said that the SNS put pressure on independent media as well as on the opposition and civil society organizations, by harassing them and promoting violence. Freedom House also touched on the recent parliamentary elections, and said that the SNS broke many laws, adding that President Vucic also promoted his campaign by controlling both the state-owned and private media outlets.

The Serbian regime has also received criticism from Kosovo’s PM Kurti during the Parliamentary Diplomacy for Regional Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration conference on Monday the 4th. Kurti called out the Serbian government for its autocratic policies, adding that Serbia is a threat to the peace in the Balkan region. He said that the country is the problem in the Balkans because Serbia supported Russia and because Vucic refused to sign the Brussels agreement on the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations and its annex.

On the other hand, on Wednesday the 28th, Serbia signed a joint declaration supporting Ukraine’s peace plan at the Tirana summit in Albania. The plan consists of ten key points, including the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country. Despite constantly maintaining friendly relations with Russia, Vucic agreed to support Ukraine in its mission, and signed the declaration, which labels Russia’s invasion as the greatest threat to European security and international peace.

In other news, Novica Antic, the president of the Military Union of Serbia, and Predrag Jevtic, the general secretary of the union, were arrested for the second time on Friday the 1st on suspicion of embezzlement. They were first detained on Tuesday the 27th, then were released and they should have gone to court on Thursday the 29th. However, Novi Sad’s Higher Court said that it had modified the previous proceedings and ordered the men to be imprisoned for up to thirty days because of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office’s appeal. They did not give any reasons, which is why the defense legal team of both men unanimously stated that there was no evidence for their charges. The defense said that they believe the SNS orchestrated these arrests, since they occurred two weeks after the Defence Minister, a member of the SNS, called the trade unions for military personnel a “stupidity.” The SNS doesn’t want the union to exist.

Speaking of law, Maja Popovic, the Minister of Justice, met with the Director of the Academy of European Law on Friday the 1st, and spoke about the academy’s cooperation with Serbia. Popovic said that the country intends to join the Academy, since it could organize the training of Serbian judges, public prosecutors and lawyers, whose constant improvement is important. The Academy’s director welcomed Serbia’s intentions to train local law professionals, adding that the Academy is ready to welcome the country as its full member.

Last week, the Interior Ministry announced the Prosecutor’s Office investigation into police violence on two people during a drug raid in Belgrade. The complaint, which the LGBT rights organization Let it be known submitted, said that police officers beat and humiliated a gay man and his roommate. The Interior Ministry said that if the allegations are true, the police officers will be fired and punished. Let it be known said that the police broke into the apartment because of a report that there were drugs inside, with no search warrant. The assaulted residents stated that the police insulted, beat and sexually assaulted both of them, adding that the attack began when the officers spotted a pride flag on the wall.

In some news on the economy, the State Statistics Office stated that the average net salary in Serbia for the month of December was around 900 dollars. In a press release, they said that the average gross wage amounted to 1,200 dollars, and that the gross salaries saw a nominal increase of nearly fifteen percent, and a three percent increase in real terms in the January–December twenty twenty-three interval compared to the same period in twenty twenty-two. The report also said that the median net salary for December twenty twenty-three was around 650 dollars.

Serbia’s Minister of Internal and External Trade said on Thursday the 29th that the year-on-year inflation in February dropped below five percent, which he said is a great result compared to the previous year’s inflation of around sixteen percent. The minister said that this is due to the implementation of the Better Price campaign, which focuses on the price reduction of basic foodstuffs and household items. The year-on-year February inflation has also decreased from January’s by around two percent.

Still on economy, the statistical office reported on Thursday the 29th that Serbia's year-on-year economic output grew by four percent in twenty twenty three’s last quarter. They said that the gross domestic product increased by almost one percent compared to twenty twenty three’s third quarter.

For twenty twenty-four, Serbian officials predicted that the main factors for the increase in the economy will be the construction and tourism sectors. The World Bank forecasted that the Serbian economy would increase by three percent in twenty twenty-four.

And to close this edition, some business news. The 31st Kopaonik Business Forum opened on Sunday the 3rd, featuring over 300 speakers who will participate in panel discussions, special events and peer-to-peer sessions. It will last until Wednesday the 6th, and this year’s theme is A New Global Context: The Challenges of an Uncertain Future. The Forum, which is held on the Kopaonik mountain, will host speakers from the political, financial and business fields, and it will feature presentations of new academic and policy papers.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week.

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Do daljnjeg, zbogom!