Vucic and Kurti Meet in Brussels to De-escalate Tensions & more – 27th June 2023

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 27th of June twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Thursday the 22nd, President Vucic and Kosovo’s PM Albin Kurti met in Brussels with Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, and Miroslav Lajcak, EU Special Representative, in an attempt to de-escalate the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

After the meeting, Borrell said that he is certain both Kurti and Vucic understand the severity of the situation. He added that he urged Kurti to hold new municipal elections in the north of Kosovo as soon as possible and to withdraw the boycotted mayors. He also asked Vucic to immediately release the Kosovo policemen who Serbian police arrested and to withdraw those who are still protesting from the vicinity of municipal buildings in Kosovo.

Recall that on the 29th of May, the tensions flared up as Kosovo Serbs boycotted the municipal elections that had a low turn out of four predominantly Serb municipalities. Serbs protested against the newly elected mayors. During the protests, Serbs as well as some NATO peacekeepers sustained injuries.

As per Borrell’s request, on Monday the 26th the Higher Court in the town of Kraljevo in Serbia ordered the release of three Kosovo policemen who Serbian police arrested two weeks ago, on the 14th of June. However, the court added that they have confirmed the indictment against them for illegal possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials. However, Kosovo accused Serbia of kidnapping the detained policemen, after stating that they never crossed into Serbia. After the release, PM Kurti said that Serbia violated the human rights of these policemen, adding that the arrest was an abduction and that others must hold Serbia accountable.

Speaking of arrests,

On Friday the 23rd, Kosovo police announced that they arrested another Kosovo Serb on suspicion that he had participated in the violent clashes between Serb protesters and the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR. Recall that last week, Kosovo police arrested Kosovo Serb Milan Milenkovic for participating in the boycotts of the newly elected mayors.

The arrest took place the morning after the meeting between Kurti, Vucic and Borrell in Brussels. Serbia’s Office for Kosovo said that Kosovo purposefully timed the arrest, so that they would not receive direct condemnation from the EU representatives. They added that the newest arrest only showed that Kurti will not de-escalate, and that he wants to provoke more tensions instead.

Kosovo police also arrested a couple of Kosovo Serbs on suspicion that they had attacked Kosovo journalists last week. After those arrests, hundreds of Kosovo Serbs gathered in North Mitrovica last week to protest against it. Leading the protest were medical workers, including the staff of the Clinical Hospital Centre. The protesters carried signs and banners requesting Kosovo to put a stop to Kurti’s terror. On the same day, at the protest in Leposavic, the families of the arrested Serbs addressed the crowd, saying that their children were not guilty, and that they were protesting peacefully. They also demanded the release of all those arrested.

With the tensions flaring up in Kosovo, Serbia's army commander urged NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo to step up measures to protect Serbs in those areas of Kosovo where they are a minority. The day after the meeting between Kurti and Vucic in Brussels, General Milan Mojsilovic addressed a statement to KFOR, saying that the international community in Kosovo is not fulfilling its obligations in keeping its citizens safe. He added that he has professional cooperation with the KFOR commander and that Serbia is following the events in Kosovo with great anxiety. On the same day, Kosovo soldiers marched through the southern, Albanian part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica. The EU representatives have later said that they are very alarmed by the marches, as well as by the recent arrests of Kosovo Serbs.

The eighth Serbia Against Violence protest took place on Saturday the 24th in Belgrade and other twenty cities across Serbia. These included Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Vranje, among others. The message of the protest was the same as of all the previous editions, and it was the resignation of president Vucic, top representatives in media, certain police officers, and security service officials. Protestors also called Vucic an authoritarian, and demanded that Serbian media stop broadcasting reality TV shows that promote violence.

The protests began as a response to the two mass shootings which happened in late May. Ever since, protesters have been calling for government accountability.

After the shootings, the government has launched a nationwide disarmament campaign which urged citizens to surrender their illegally owned weapons. The government also told citizens that they will not face any charges if they willingly give up their weapons. So far, Serbia’s citizens have handed over around 100,000 firearms and explosive devices, as well as four million pieces of ammunition. Even though the campaign was set to finish on the 8th the government has extended it until the 30th of June. After that, president Vucic said that there will be further extension.

In some news on the economy,

The Ministry of Economy has launched public consultations regarding the Draft Law on the Management of Companies Owned by the Republic of Serbia. Trade unions, but also the general public, submitted the highest number of objections to the draft law, due to the possible privatization of state-owned companies. The president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions, or ASNS, explained that trade unions want the law to clearly state that state-owned companies will remain state-owned. The Draft Law foresees that a total of twenty three public companies will change their legal form and become either joint-stock companies or limited liability companies. The president of ASNS added that it is necessary to bring order into public companies to prevent uncontrolled spending of state money, as well as widespread employment of people who are close to the ruling party.

On Wednesday the 21st, Business Register Agency reported that the Serbian economy generated a profit of around eight billion dollars, despite the numerous challenges it faced in twenty twenty-two. Serbia has also seen an increase in the number of employees by almost 5,400. Companies' total revenues amounted to nearly 160 billion dollars intwenty twenty-two, which is almost twenty percent higher than in twenty twenty-one. Small businesses had a good economic year as well, with a positive net result of five hundred million dollars, which is seventeen percent higher than in twenty twenty-one. Public enterprises are the only industry that recorded a loss of around 700,000 dollars.

On the same day, Member States of the Bureau International des Expositions, or BIE, elected Serbia to host the Specialized Expo twenty twenty-seven. Specialized Expos, officially known as International Recognised Exhibitions, are global events designed to respond to a precise challenge facing humanity. Specialized Expos also allow countries to build pavilions and transform the host city for years to come. Serbia will host the next Specialized Expo in Belgrade under the theme Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All which will take place from the 15th of May until the 15th of August,twenty twenty-seven.

In some news regarding energy,

The head of Serbian state-owned company Srbijagas and the head of Hungary's leading natural gas trader MVM CEEnergy signed a contract to establish a new joint gas company, Serbhungas. The new company will be based in Novi Sad and will tackle gas trading. After the signing, president Vucic said that Hungary and Serbia have also agreed on ways to efficiently and quickly build an oil pipeline between Novi Sad and Hungary. He said that Serbia is working on ways to trade gas with MVM in a way that grants Serbia better gas prices for Serbian trading companies. The Hungarian Foreign Minister said that establishing the joint natural gas trading company Serbhungas and building a crude oil pipeline connecting the two countries is part of Hungary’s energy diversification strategy.

Now onto some health updates.

About 530 COVID-19 cases were confirmed, with zero deaths this week. Compared to last week, the number of confirmed cases has increased by around a hundred.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Do daljnjeg, zbogom!