Vulin Resigns from BIA & more – 7th Nov 2023

Dobar dan from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Serbia Update from the 7th of November twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Serbia.

On Friday the 3rd, Aleksandar Vulin, the head of Serbia's Security Information Agency, BIA, announced his resignation in a statement on the Agency’s website. Vulin blamed the EU and the US for pressuring him to resign, adding that the West would use his role in BIA to threaten Serbia with sanctions further.

Recall that in mid-July, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Vulin because they suspected him of being involved in corrupt activities, such as transnational organized crime, illegal narcotics operations, and misuse of public office.

Upon announcing their sanctions against Vulin, the US labeled him as a threat to the safety of the Western Balkans because he supported Russia and his involvement in corrupt activities. They also said that Serbia needs to root out corruption and organized crime to avoid sanctions, which included Vulin’s dismissal—this way he would be less influential in the state, which means that his criminal activities won’t be directly tied to BIA and the nation.

The West also pressured Vulin to resign because it is asking Serbia to align its policy with the EU’s, which includes sanctioning Russia for its violence towards Ukraine and recognizing Kosovo’s independence, both of which Vulin is strongly against.

Vulin added that he refuses to become part of the “anti-Russian hysteria” to keep his position and that he sees his resignation as a victory for not changing his views as the West pressured him to.

Despite Vulin’s resignation, the EU has not stopped targeting Serbia, this time for the lack of progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

On Tuesday the 31st, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, visited Belgrade for a meeting with President Vucic to discuss Serbia’s relations with Kosovo and the progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. At the meeting, von der Leyen said that both Serbia and Kosovo must respect the agreements they had made in Ohrid earlier this year, referring to Kosovo’s creation of the Community of Serb Municipalities and Serbia’s de facto recognition of Kosovo. She added that the Ohrid agreement also insists that Serbia does not stand in Kosovo’s way of joining any international organization, such as the EU or the UN.

President Vucic disagreed with the de facto recognition of Kosovo and said that Serbia would not recognize Kosovo’s independence since it went against Serbia’s constitution.

Speaking of the Serbia-Kosovo relations…

On Friday the 3rd, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, or BIRN, and Internews Kosova published a report called Media Reporting on Serbia and Kosovo Relations: Conflict or Cooperation. The report showed that around a third of media stories are related to incidents and disagreements between Serbia and Kosovo, and that the other two-thirds focus on diplomatic negotiations and policy efforts. The document stated that the media has limited sources, with high-level officials promoting their agendas. The report says there are no direct quotes from opposing figures, which allows media outlets to slightly change the narrative of the stories regarding Kosovo-Serbia relations since Kosovo-based journalists are paraphrasing Serbian politicians and vice versa. The report also highlighted that these media outlets rarely present the lives and perspectives of ordinary people. In its conclusion, the document urged media and journalists to expand their sources, amplify the voices of citizens, and highlight topics that are related to cooperation and peace-building.

While on the topic of bilateral relations…

The police forces from Serbia and Hungary have agreed to work together on the Serbia-Hungary border to tackle the criminal gangs involved in the shooting that occurred a few weeks ago and left three people dead. The Interior Ministry in Belgrade said that a Hungarian police officer will join Serbian police to ensure peace and prevent people-smuggling gangs from clashing at the border. They added that the presence of the Hungarian police officer will guarantee that the information about the smuggling of migrants always reaches the Serbian police force on time.

Recall that on the 27th of October, near the city of Horgos at the border between Serbia and Hungary, three individuals died in armed clashes between Afghan people-smugglers. After the incident, Serbia deployed officers from the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and the Gendarmerie. The police have since arrested many people at the border, among which are two Albanians from Kosovo who are suspected of smuggling migrants and supplying them with weapons.

In other news…

On Wednesday, the 1st, president Vucic set the date for the early parliamentary elections and confirmed that they will be held on the 17th of December. Aside from the early parliamentary election, cities across Serbia will also have local elections. After announcing the elections, Vucic dissolved Serbia’s National Assembly, which exercises supreme legislative power in the country and can adopt and amend the Constitution and elect the Government, before it could serve its four-year-long mandate.

Political experts have noted, however, that the elections and the absence of a working parliament will allow Vucic to postpone decision-making regarding the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. They also said that these elections allow Vucic to solidify his ranks and rebrand, as his ruling Serbian Progressive Party is losing its popularity amid the Serbia Against Violence anti-regime protests.

Speaking of this series of protests…

The 27th Serbia Against Violence protest was held in Belgrade on Saturday, the 4th, in front of the Parliament. The protesters marched to the headquarters of the Radio Television of Serbia, or RTS, a path they named ”a media route.” The protest moderator Smiljan Banjac called all attendees to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections and added that that is the only way to change the regime, which is the main goal of Serbia Against Violence protests. Banjac said that Serbia has been facing sadness and fear after the mass murders in the Belgrade Elementary School Vladislav Ribnikar and near Mladenovac, after which the protests started.

The protest organizers, however, said that the Serbia Against Violence protest organization must change, adding that regular gatherings in the format of protesters walking down the media route will stop, although they did not specify what changes they would apply.

In some news on economy…

The State Statistics Office, or RZS, announced in a flash estimate that the Serbian economy grew by 3.5% annually in the third quarter of twenty twenty-three. Many sectors experienced growth in September twenty twenty-three compared to September twenty twenty-two, some of which are the manufacturing industry, growing by three percent and the electricity and gas supply sector by four percent.

While on the topic of economy, the Business Registers Agency published their statistics on income, net profit, total assets and equity, net loss, and total loss of companies in Serbia in twenty twenty-two. They reported that last year, the total revenues of domestic companies amounted to around 163,000 dollars, which is an increase of nearly twenty percent compared to twenty twenty-one. At the beginning of twenty twenty-three, around 440,000 companies and small businesses registered themselves, most of which were in the wholesale and retail sector, as well as business consultancies, catering facilities, and software development companies. The activity with the highest income is non-specialized wholesale trade, followed by the retail trade and the construction of residential and non-residential buildings.

Moving on…

From the 8th to the 12th of November, the Japanese-Serbian Film Festival will be celebrating its jubilee edition in three locations in Belgrade - the Cineplexx Gallery, the Yugoslav Film Archive, and the Yugoslav Film Archive’s Museum. The event’s organizers said that the Festival will have the latest Serbian and Japanese feature films, anime, panel discussions, master workshops, and exhibitions. The Japanese-Serbian Film Festival is a festival aimed at cross-cultural exchange through film and anime, whose holding is a long-standing tradition in both Belgrade and Tokyo. For more information about the festival, check out the link in the show notes.

Now for some health updates…

Last week, the Institute for Public Health confirmed around 3,900 COVID-19 cases, with zero deaths. Compared to the previous week, the number of confirmed cases has decreased by almost 500.

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