SERBIA: Threats to Teachers & more – 28th Jan 2025

Dobar dan from BA! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 28th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Friday the 24th, numerous companies and businesses in Serbia closed for a day in support of a general strike called by the students. The reason behind the strike was the continued lack of accountability from the state officials for the railway station canopy collapse which caused fifteen deaths in the northern city of Novi Sad. In previous episodes, we had reported that at the protests ahead of the strike, students had asked various institutions and businesses to stop their activities and join the protest until their demands were fulfilled, which include the release of all documentation regarding the railway station renovation, the prosecution of those who attacked students during the blockades, the end to the prosecution of students arrested during the protests, and a 20% increase in the budget for higher education.

Meanwhile, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, held a meeting on the same day, in the central town of Jagodina, where around 14,000 people were gathered. Journalists at the scene reported that SNS members handed out sandwiches as a thank-you for participating. At the meeting, the president proposed a dialogue with the students, and asked them to go back to studying. However, the students did not accept Vucic's dialogue proposal, because they want their demands fulfilled.

Teachers from all over Serbia have joined the protests, but, unlike students, they are facing threats from the government. Last week we mentioned that Prime Minister Vucevic had threatened to fire all teachers who were protesting, noting that there were others who could replace them.

However, they have not backed down, and have even voted to completely suspend classes in primary and secondary schools on Friday the 24th. They said that they would strike until the government fulfills student demands and raised the salaries of the teaching staff to meet the national standard. After the news of the complete class suspension, the Ministry of Education ordered school principals to lower the salaries of protesting teachers.

Since we mentioned Prime Minister Vucevic, on Monday the 27th, he held a joint press conference with president Vucic, where they discussed the current state of the government amid the protests. They spoke about the protests, promising to fulfill all the demands, but Vucic also announced that there will be an urgent government reshuffle. He said that he expects the government to replace at least half of the ministers, vaguely explaining that some of them did not respond well to the pressure from the protests.

One day later, on Tuesday the 28th, Vucevic announced his resignation from his position as the Prime Minister. Milos Djuric, Novi Sad’s mayor, also announced his resignation. These announcements come hours after four SNS members physically attacked two students with baseball bats in Novi Sad, leaving them heavily injured.

Going back to the ruling party for a bit, member of the SNS and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic announced that the parliament will be holding an extraordinary session on the 29th of January where MPs will discuss a vote of confidence - which aims to show if the citizens support the policy of a leader or governing body. Brnabic said that the meeting will serve to gather both the MPs from the ruling party and those from the opposition, so that they can jointly decide on whether such a vote is needed.

Last week, we had reported that the Parliament proposed the vote to the opposition, and that the opposition rejected the proposal. However, due to the persistence of the ruling party and their push for the vote to take place, some opposition parties announced that they would not participate in the announced discussion on the 29th.

The ongoing protests in the country are not only affecting the government, but also the country’s rating of its creditworthiness. On Monday the 27th, Fitch Ratings, an American credit rating agency scheduled a review of Serbia’s credit rating on the 31st of January, due to all the tensions in the country. Recall that in August of twenty twenty-four, we reported that Fitch gave Serbia’s credit a good rating, praising its stable fiscal trends. Analysts from the financial service provider Erste Group noted that Fitch previously hinted at a possible investment-grade upgrade for Serbia, but now they believe that the current situation in the country could hold it off until later this year.

In other news, the Serbian organization Commissariat for Refugees and Migration has appealed for the displaced Kosovars in Serbia to vote in Kosovo's upcoming parliamentary elections on the 9th of February, adding that there will be organized transport to the polling stations.

Additionally, the Serbian government encouraged displaced citizens in Kosovo to vote, saying that it would protect the Serbian people living in Kosovo. The ruling SNS party publicly supported Serbian List - a Serbian party in Kosovo - which Vetevendosje, Kosovo’s ruling party, tried to ban from the elections due to their strong links with Serbia.

On the night of Tuesday the 22nd, the Serbian police detained thirteen foreigners without any explanation, and deported them from the country. The detainees were NGO workers and that day they had participated in a workshop under the organization of Belgrade’s NGO Academy. They said that the police took them to the station during the night, which prevented them from contacting their respective embassies to reach out for help.

All thirteen workers said that they were not given any reason for their detention at first, but that they received a document after their deportation from the Serbian government. In the document, the police stated that they were protecting the country’s security, with no further context. The detained citizens came from nine countries, including the neighboring Croatia, Albania, and North Macedonia.

Since we are talking about bilateral relations, foreign minister Djuric said on Tuesday the 21st that Serbia is open to hosting the potential Trump-Putin talks due to the country’s ties with Russia and its support for Trump. A few weeks ago, US President Trump hinted at the possibility of meeting with the Russian president in order to discuss the war in Ukraine and potential peace options. Ever since, Serbian officials have offered to host such talks, with Djuric noting that both Trump and Putin are popular in Serbia.

President Vucic said that Serbia is trying to hold its neutrality between Russia and the West, adding that Serbia is an ideal venue for the talks since it is not part of any military alliances, which could cause biases. Minister Djuric said that this is all part of Serbia’s effort to build more direct communication with the new US administration.

Now for the economy. On Saturday the 25th, Serbia’s Statistical Office published the data on salaries for November twenty twenty-four. They reported that the average net monthly wage amounted to around 100,000 dinars, or around 900 dollars, which is an increase of nearly eight percent compared to November of twenty twenty-three. The salaries increased by around nine percent from October to November twenty twenty-four.

Now for some updates about the environment. News outlet N1 wrote about the missing integrated permits for companies in Serbia that are heavy environmental polluters. These permits guarantee that the company meets the requirements of the law on environmental protection. N1 noted that around 200 existing facilities in Serbia require an integrated permit to operate, due to their potential to pollute. Out of these two hundred, only fifty have the permits required for their work. The Renewable Energy and Environmental Regulatory Institute, told N1 that the companies that continue to operate without integrated permits are some of the most profitable in the country, and some of the worst for the environment.

Finishing with some cultural news, Belgrade’s MTS Hall will host the international documentary film festival DOK Number 7 from the 30th of January to the 2nd of February. The festival will put special focus on the renowned American filmmaker David Lynch, who recently passed away. Tickets for the screenings are available at MTS Hall’s box office and online.

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

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

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Do daljnjeg, zbogom!