Serbia Resists US-led Bullying

BY GREGORY ELICH
MAY 24, 2022


National Assembly of Serbia. Photograph Source: Boris Dimitrov – CC BY-SA 3.0

Little more than half a year has passed since Belgrade hosted the Non-Aligned Summit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the movement’s founding, and Serbia is increasingly under fire for upholding the organization’s principles.

Russia’s ill-considered invasion of Ukraine has provided US imperialism with the opportunity of a lifetime, supercharging NATO and US military expansion and transforming the conflict into a proxy war. By sending arms to Ukraine and urging it on to total victory rather than a negotiated settlement, the hope in Washington is that the war can be prolonged. The expectation is that sanctions would then have enough time to bring about the collapse of Russia, which would advance the project of isolating the People’s Republic of China.

Washington is in no mood to countenance neutrality, and no effort is spared to persuade or bully other nations into imposing sanctions on Russia. While the US has met with limited success in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Europe is a different matter, where only one nation maintains a neutral stance – Serbia.

Serbia voted in favor of the UN resolution deploring the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling for the unconditional withdrawal of forces. It also supported the UN resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the war and is donating €3 million to aid Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons. [1]

Serbia planned, however, to abstain in the vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Before the vote was scheduled, Western officials met with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković, warning him that Serbia faced punishment unless it joined the West in expelling Russia. Russia’s Gazprom is a majority shareholder in the Petroleum Industry of Serbia. That relationship provided the EU with a decisive leverage point to get its way. Serbia is wholly dependent on Russia for its oil supply, and the earliest possible avenue for diversification is two years away if a planned pipeline from Bulgaria meets its target date. [2] It was pointed out that the EU would be meeting on the day of the UN vote to decide whether or not to allow Serbia to import Russian oil, which has to pass through EU territory. Selaković was told that unless Serbia voted against Russia, it risked a complete cutoff of its supply of crude oil. Furthermore, he was cautioned that Serbia’s path to joining the EU would be blocked, and Western investments would be withdrawn. The EU’s vote on Serbia’s oil supply was initially scheduled for 4:00 PM on the day of the UN vote but was delayed by two hours to see how Serbia voted before the EU would make its decision. Russia made calls to Serbia, too, although no threats were made. [3] After Serbia switched its vote to comply with the EU’s position, the EU granted it an exemption to import Russian oil. [4]

However, Serbia is drawing a firm line in its refusal to sanction Russia. Economic sanctions are a form of siege warfare in which collective punishment is visited upon an entire population. For Serbia to impose sanctions is to join someone else’s war, an action incompatible with its non-aligned status. Serbia knows well the harm done by sanctions, based on the economic ruin it experienced when it was the target of sanctions during the 1990s. It is easy for those in the West to dismiss or ignore the reality of sanctions. No one who has lived through sanctions can do the same. As one Serbian political analyst noted, “Sanctions are an instrument of war; they are often more devastating than bombs, and Serbia is not at war with Russia.” [5]

Coercive economic sanctions unilaterally imposed by states can be regarded as contravening international law in their impact on the human rights of targeted populations, including denial of food, medical care, employment, and even life itself. Sanctions are, of course, the first tool of choice for Western nations.

“People talk about choosing sides. No, we have our own side, Serbia’s side,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić asserts. “We were bombed by 19 NATO countries and sanctioned. We haven’t imposed sanctions against anyone…because we don’t believe sanctions change anything. You can pressure and force Serbia, but that is our genuine opinion.” [6]

Aleksandar Vučić had a more personal experience with Western respect for international law when he was targeted for assassination in 1999. One night after the United States dropped three laser-guided bombs onto the home of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in a failed attempt to murder him and his wife, [7] it next tried to kill Vučić, who was information minister at the time. Vučić received a fax from CNN inviting him to a live broadcast interview. CNN asked him to arrive for makeup at Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade at 2:00 AM sharp for a program scheduled for half an hour later. At 2:06 AM, NATO missiles pulverized the building, killing 16 people. The first missile struck the makeup room, where NATO expected Vučić to be. Luckily for Vučić, he was running behind schedule and arrived after the attack. [8]

Washington was again disappointed in its hope to see Vučić removed from the scene when he trounced his conservative opponent in this year’s presidential election. That leaves US and EU officials with only their arsenal of bullying tactics. Every day, Western diplomats contact Serbian officials, relentlessly pushing their demands. According to an unnamed Serbian source, “Serbia is threatened with diplomatic channels by withdrawing all investments from Serbia, even sanctions in the banking sector, and some European countries go so far as to mention removing Serbia from the Schengen list,” [9] which allows citizens visa-free entry to EU nations.

Western officials dispense with diplomatic niceties when delivering their threats. “You cannot understand the scale of the rudeness of those who threaten this country,” Vučić observed, “and the bottom line is that they want to break Serbia’s freedom spirit and ability to make decisions on its own.” [10]

Last month, in talks characterized as “difficult,” a delegation of US senators visited Belgrade in a failed attempt to persuade Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia. The senators also complained about Serbia’s purchase of a Chinese FK-3 surface-to-air defense system.[11] If the US expected this high-powered delegation to bend Serbia to its will, it was sorely disappointed.

Talk is not the only means of bullying available to the West. Air Serbia is the only European airline company with active routes to Russia, a fact that has not gone unnoticed. Over two days in a row last month, NATO warplanes closely followed Air Serbia flights coming from Moscow, the second of which tracked the airliner inside Russian airspace. It was a clear attempt at intimidation, prompting Vučić to announce that his government would “request information from NATO to see who was trying to be the smart guy and with what fighter planes they were endangering civil aviation and civilians on a flight…” [12]

Most of Serbia’s trade is with European nations, so it aspires to join the EU. During the decade that it has been a candidate, Serbia has been asked to clear one hurdle after another as it chases a moving target. The main sticking point is the insistence by EU and US officials on Serbia agreeing to the independence of Kosovo, its province that was ripped away through NATO violence. No politician in Serbia could be elected as president who would agree to the violation of the nation’s territorial integrity, and that creates an insurmountable impasse on advancing to EU membership. “As sweetly as you are now talking about the territorial integrity of [Bosnia-Herzegovina] and Ukraine,” Vučić recently responded to an unsympathetic German reporter, “why didn’t you say so in 1999 about Serbia? When it comes to territorial integrity, I would ask you to step into our shoes. In 1999, no one was interested in Serbia’s territorial integrity.”[13]

Despite the challenges in attaining EU membership, Vučić argues that economic factors necessitate that “our strategic path is the path to Europe,” and Serbia has no alternative. [14] How that goal can be achieved in the face of Western intransigence is another question. For many in Serbia, weary of Western threats and overweening demands, the concept of joining the EU is beginning to curdle. Unrelenting demands, pressure, and blackmail have taken a toll, and for the first time, a poll of Serbian citizens showed a majority are opposed to membership. [15]

Certainly, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, founder of the Movement of Socialists, a coalition partner with Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party, has started to sour on EU membership. Vulin regards the demand for sanctions as a clear signal “that the EU does not want Serbia” and adds, “They measure our love for Europe with hatred of Russia…I don’t want to hate anyone.” [16] Vulin believes that for Western leaders, “it is more important for Russia to be defeated than to achieve peace in Ukraine.” Serbia, he says, does not want to play that game. “The countries that bombed us, I would not say that they have the moral right to ask us to join their own policy.” [17]

It is also apparent that the benefits of EU membership do not apply equally to all, as Zoran Milanović, president of neighboring Croatia, pointed out recently regarding his nation’s place in the union. “We give a lot. We win a little bit. Some things cross all borders, how they treat us and small nations.” [18]

Serbia’s strong economic relationships with China and Russia have long rankled Western leaders, who have never ceased trying to disrupt them. However, it is not in Serbia’s interests to bend to US and EU dictates. Russian and especially Chinese firms have played an instrumental role in Serbia’s ambitious infrastructure improvement project. Furthermore, China and Russia offer the most robust support Serbia can rely on in the United Nations to counter US attempts to formalize its violent theft of the province of Kosovo.

Western officials are unrelenting in demanding that Serbia consent to Kosovo’s independence. Last year, US President Joe Biden sent an insulting “congratulatory” message to Vučić on Serbia’s Statehood Day holiday. Biden encouraged Vučić to “take the hard steps” toward EU membership, including “instituting necessary reforms” and “mutual recognition” with Kosovo. [19] Earlier this month, with the support of Western officials, the province of Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe. [20] It also announced its goal of joining NATO. [21]Serbian intelligence services also learned that “two large countries” – it is not hard to guess which – are actively providing “serious logistical support” to Kosovo to compel more countries to recognize its independence. [22]

Responding to these provocative developments, Vučić remarked, “It is clear that key western countries are running this game,” and that Serbia would oppose them peacefully and diplomatically but with “no surrender.” The problem, he added, “is that everyone thinks they have the right to create Serbia’s policies” and that “they have the right to order how Serbia will behave.” [23]

Recently, G7 foreign ministers quickly followed up on the pressure campaign by issuing a statement calling upon Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia and “normalize” relations with Kosovo. [24] “G7 leaders hammered on the immutability of Ukrainian borders and urged Belgrade to join them unconditionally,” Vučić observed, “even though those same countries in Serbia rudely violated the principle of border immutability two decades ago and robbed us of part of our territory.” [25]

Serbia’s stance has been consistent. “Our only principled position,” announced Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, “is that we are against sanctions on Russia, as well as that we respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and consider it wrong to violate that integrity.” [26]

Washington is not so consistent, treating international law as a menu, where an item may be chosen or ignored according to taste. Ukrainian territory is regarded as sacrosanct, whereas the US backed the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and currently campaigns for Serbian and international recognition for its theft of the province of Kosovo. Similarly, it is ramping up efforts to promote Taiwan’s separation from China and encourage separatist tendencies on the mainland. The hypocrisy can be hard to stomach. “My guts turn when I hear of principles and respect for territorial integrity,” Vučić complained. “They ask us to respect someone’s integrity, and what about ours?” [27] Concerning the unceasing pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo, Vučić commented, “As they say, Ukraine will not give up its integrity at any cost, and then you demand that from Serbia. For Serbia to give up its integrity, it can only happen with a gun to the forehead.” [28]

It is now Washington’s moment. The United States believes it can capitalize on the conflict in Ukraine to more thoroughly impose its will on other nations and compel obedience in furtherance of geopolitical domination. Serbia, situated in Europe, is in a particularly vulnerable position. The population of Serbia is nearly united in opposing sanctions on Russia, with the percentage in support measuring in a single digit. An even lower number favors EU membership at the cost of recognizing Kosovo.[29] Yet, the EU sets those as the two primary conditions Serbia must meet for it to be welcomed into the union. Western punishment for Serbia’s independence is already taking a toll, according to Vučić: “The price we pay is huge; we essentially have no access to the capital market.” [30]

In the weeks and months ahead, Serbia can expect to be confronted by escalating threats and blackmail. Vučić vows that although his government will “try to preserve peace and the future of Serbia,” it will not be easy. “I have never seen or dreamed of experiencing this in my life,” he said. “I have never seen such pressure. We face hysteria, and no one wants to hear, let alone listen. Unprecedented hysteria; diplomacy no longer exists.” [31] Western arrogance is not going to dissipate. It is in the DNA of imperialism. As a small nation, can Serbia maintain its sovereignty and independence and hold out against the combined might of the West? And what punishment will it have to take?

Notes.

[1] “Brnabic: Serbia to Donate 3 Mln Euros to Ukraine,” Tanjug, May 5, 2022.

[2] “Србија Даје Помоћ Од Три Милиона Евра: За помоћ деци и расељенима унутар и ван Украјине,” Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[3] “Вучић о гласању у УН: Првобитна одлука била је да будемо уздржани,” Politika, April 7, 2022.

Milenković, D., “Четири Претње Пре Гласања: Како су западне дипломате притискале нашу земљу да би је натерале да подржи резолуцију против Русије, Večernje Novosti, April 9, 2022.

[4] Србија ће бити изузета из ЕУ санкција на нафту и гас, Politika, April 8, 2022.

[5] Katić, Nebojša, “Србија и политика санкција,” Politika, April 23, 2022.

[6] Dunai, Martin, “Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic Rejects Sanctions on Russia,” Financial Times, April 21, 2022.

[7] “Serbs See Pre-dawn Strike on Milosevic Villa as an Attack on Yugoslav History,” Irish Times, April 23, 1999.

[8] Robert Fisk, “Taken in by the NATO Line,” The Independent (London), July 7, 1999.

[9] “Can Serbia Survive the War in Ukraine? What the West is Threatening Us With?” B92, March 2, 2022.

[10] Александар Вучић за РТС: Незамисливе размере безобразлука оних који прете Србији, биће много тешко, Radio Television Serbia, April 7, 2022.

[11] “US Urges Serbia to Join Sanctions Against its Ally Russia,” Associated Press, April 19, 2022.

“Вучић: Србиjа плаћа велику цену због неувођења санкциjа Русиjи,” Tanjug, April 21, 2022.

[12] “НАТО ловац пратио лет ‘Ер Србије’ у руском ваздушном простору,” Politika, April 7, 2022.

“NATO Warplanes Follow Air Serbia Jet Flying from Russia,” Tanjug, April 8, 2022.

[13] “Покажите Мало Поштовања Према Земљи у Којој Је Убијено 82 Деце!Овако је Вучић одговорио на провокативно питање новинара Дојче велеа!,” Večernje Novosti, May 5, 2022.

[14] “Вучић Поручио Грађанима: ‘Огромни су притисци на нашу земљу, наставићемо да се боримо’,” Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[15] Katy Dartford and AP, “For First Time, a Majority of Serbs Are Against Joining the EU – Poll,” Euronews, April 22, 2022.

[16] http://www.mup.gov.rs/wps/portal/sr/aktuelno/aktivnosti/03c82eeb-80b9-4650-8ad4-18d2383d72dd

[17] Sideris, Spiros, “Minister: Those Who Bombed Serbia Cannot Ask it to Join Russia Sanctions,” Euractiv, May 6, 2022.

[18] Jurica Kerbler, “Милановић у Вуковару: Нисам ултранационалиста, желим мир између Срба и Хрвата,” Večernje Novosti, May 6, 2022.

[19] https://www.predsednik.rs/en/press-center/press-releases/congratulations-of-the-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-on-the-serbian-statehood-day

[20] Cvetkovic, Sandra and Baliu, Doruntina, “Kosovo Applies for Council of Europe in Move Sure to Anger Serbia,” Radio Free Europe, May 12, 2022.

[21] “Kosovo PM Albin Kurti Expresses Willingness to Join NATO and European Union,” First Channel News, May 18, 2022.

[22] “Четири државе повукле признање КиМ, две велике земље помажу Приштини,” Politika, May 13, 2022.

[23] “Нема повлачења пред уценама и ултиматумима,” Politika, May 13, 2022.

[24] https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/-/2531266

[25] D. Milinković, “Три Срамне Уцене Г7 Пред Србијом: Отели нам Косово, а траже да поштујемо украјинске границе,” Večernje Novosti, May 16, 2022.

[26] Brnabic: The Main Task is to Preserve Peace and Stability in the Region,” Telegraf, April 20, 2022.

[27] https://vucic.rs/Vesti/Najnovije/a49913-Vucic-Svi-zajedno-moramo-da-radimo-na-istoj-politici-vucic.rs.html

[28] “Vučić for RV Prva: ‘I Won’t Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period,” B92, May 15, 2022.

[29] “Више од 80 одсто грађана Србије против санкција Русији и уласка у НАТО,” Politika, May 20, 2022.

[30] “Vučić for RV Prva: ‘I Won’t Give Territorial Integrity of Serbia at Any Cost, Period,” B92, May 15, 2022.

[31] “Вучић Са Патријархом: Притисци ће бити све већи, ја ово никада нисам видео – наше је да сачувамо мир,” Večernje Novosti, May 18, 2022.

“Vučić with the Patriarch: ‘Unprecedented Hysteria, Diplomacy No Longer Exists,” B92, May 18, 2022.


Gregory Elich is a Korea Policy Institute associate and on the Board of Directors of the Jasenovac Research Institute. He is a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, a columnist for Voice of the People, and one of the co-authors of Killing Democracy: CIA and Pentagon Operations in the Post-Soviet Period, published in the Russian language. He is also a member of the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific. His website is https://gregoryelich.org Follow him on Twitter at @GregoryElich.

Serbia’s new government to include US-sanctioned ex-intelligence chief with close ties to Russia


Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia’s intelligence agency attends a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 8, 2021. Serbia’s new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States, the prime minister - designate Milos Vucevic said on Tuesday April 30, 2024. The inclusion of Vulin into the new government suggests further shift toward Russia despite Serbia’s proclaimed pro-EU path. 

Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia’s intelligence agency listens during a press conference of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 8, 2022. Serbia’s new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States, the prime minister - designate Milos Vucevic said on Tuesday April 30, 2024. The inclusion of Vulin into the new government suggests further shift toward Russia despite Serbia’s proclaimed pro-EU path. 

Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia’s intelligence agency, right, stands in front of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on July 15, 2019. Serbia’s new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States, the prime minister - designate Milos Vucevic said on Tuesday April 30, 2024. The inclusion of Vulin into the new government suggests further shift toward Russia despite Serbia’s proclaimed pro-EU path. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

 April 30, 2024Share


BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s new government will include a former intelligence chief who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States, the country’s prime minister-designate said Tuesday.

Aleksandar Vulin will serve as one of several vice-premiers, said Milos Vucevic as he announced the composition of his future Cabinet, which is expected to be voted into office in the coming days in Serbia’s parliament.

Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership but has maintained friendly relations with Russia and refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

The inclusion of Vulin into the new government suggests strengthening of ties with Russia despite Serbia’s formally proclaimed pro-EU path.

Opposition Movement of Free Citizens party said that by including Vulin in the new government, “Serbia is no longer nominally on the European path.”

The liberal party said that Vulin’s nomination heralds “international isolation of Serbia, conflicts in the region, ties to Russia and the introduction of bans on all civil liberties in our country.”

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In July, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.

Vulin resigned as the director of Serbia’s intelligence agency BIA after the sanctions were imposed on him. He had previously served also as both the army and police chief.

Vulin has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Russian Federal Security Service and the other was awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vucevic, the new prime-minister designate, previously served as Serbia’s defense minister.

The formation of the new government follows a tense parliamentary election in December that saw the ruling populist right-wing party of President Aleksandar Vucic win most seats in the 250-member assembly. The vote fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities reported by both local and international monitors. An opposition group organized street protests in the wake of the election.

Serbia’s strong tech sector growth defies brain drain

Impact Hub Belgrade is helping to foster the tech ecosystem in Serbia. 

/ Impact Hub Belgrade


By Clare Nuttall in Belgrade and Glasgow

 July 8, 2022

LONG READ


International companies in search of tech talent and innovative local startups are converging in Serbia, an emerging high-tech hub that is especially strong in blockchain and game development.

The latest figures, announced by Nenad Popovic, Serbia’s Minister without portfolio in charge of innovations and technological development, on June 21, are startling: Serbian startups attracted over $135mn of investments in 2021 – more than six times as much as in the previous year. Meanwhile, the Digital Serbia Initiative (DSI), an NGO whose aim is to develop a globally competitive digital economy in Serbia, has its own database of startups that number over 350, and the organisation estimates there are many more, probably around 400-500 in total.

Alongside them are the international companies drawn to Serbia by the availability of tech talent and relatively low costs; DSI CEO Nebojša Bjelotomić cites costs that are two to three times lower than in major European cities combined with the quality of life in Belgrade. Among the major global companies in Serbia are Microsoft, Intel, Dell and a number of game developers such as Endava and UbiSoft.

While some Serbians are happy to work for international companies, others choose to strike out alone. This has created a growing startup scene in the last few years. Many of these new startups are nurtured by the Impact Hub Belgrade, a co-working space and a business incubator. The hub is housed in what started out as the Palace of Co-operatives, then in the socialist era became a radio studio. Now furnished with co-working desks and coffee bar, the decor pays homage to this history, and during the recent lockdowns a 21st century take on the radio studio, the podcast.rs service, was launched.

Speaking to bne IntelliNews, co-founder Nenad Moslavac recalls just how much things have changed in Serbia’s startup scene over the last eight to 10 years. “Back in 2014 it was difficult to explain what a startup is; starting your bakery is not a startup,” says Moslavac. However, even now not everyone has the startup mindset. “Serbia, like many other European countries, is a rather comfortable place… being a tech engineer puts you in a very comfortable situation. It’s difficult to take off those comfortable shoes to become a startup founder.”

Other industry insiders also believe the attitude to entrepreneurship is changing. “I think we are going through a modification of attitude. On one side entrepreneurship is maybe not something very strongly engrained in the mentality of the Serbian people, but on the other side our younger guys grew up on Silicon Valley, seeing successful entrepreneurs riding off into the sunset … this had an impact on Serbia,” says Bjelotomić.

Summing up what has happened in Serbia in recent years, Nemanja Petrovic, co-founder and business strategy adviser at startup Traken, says: “the IT sector development caught everyone by surprise. It grew organically – that’s the best thing.”

Bringing people together

Both the DSI and Impact Hub are working to bring people together – whether it’s large tech companies, startups, investors, government officials or all of these – with the aim of growing and developing Serbia’s tech ecosystem.

The DSI works with companies and the government, as well as organisations that support startups such as incubators and academic programmes. “We want to be the house for IT … we try to be middleman between big players, small players, academia, institutions, startups,” says Bjelotomić.

“You can’t really succeed without everyone being involved,” he stresses.

Nikola Mijailovic, CEO and co-founder of startup Joberty, comments on the recent changes. “Honestly, the last couple of years has been crucial for the startup ecosystem in Serbia. New accelerators, hubs and VC funds are emerging, and Serbia isn't an exception,” says Mijailovic. He also comments on the acceleration programmes in Serbia, saying: “Mentoring, investors, lectures, grants and networking are the key benefits and provide tremendous support for the startup ecosystem.”

Impact Hub also seeks to create a community for startups, and bring them into contact with investors and the wider tech community. “We are a window to the world, we try to reach out to entrepreneurs in Belgrade and beyond,” Moslavac says. COVID-19 was a challenge in that respect. However, by taking things online, the hub was able to reach out beyond Serbia to entrepreneurs in other countries in the Western Balkans.

The Serbian government is also increasingly aware of the importance of the growing tech sector, and is engaged in a dialogue with the industry. This led to, for example, the 2021 law on innovation which introduced for the first time a definition of a startup, as well as a registry of startups.

“There is a dialogue with government … there is an effort to create a better environment for the whole ICT sector and keep the ecosystem open, making it easier to start up companies,” says Traken’s Petrovic.

Investors consider Serbia

The other component of the startup ecosystem is funding. Serbia is gradually getting more locally focussed investors, a similar trend to that seen elsewhere in Southeast Europe and helped by the European Investment Fund (EIF) that was the cornerstone for a number of venture capital funds in the region. More recently, the government initiated a €50mn venture fund of funds. Among the regional venture capital investors active in Serbia are South Central Ventures, Bulgaria’s LAUNCHub Ventures and Fil Rouge Capital of Croatia.

However, Bjelotomić argues there is more still to do. “To attract serious VCs and for deal flow to be sturdy and interesting for someone from abroad, our ecosystem needs to develop further, probably go up another 50% before three of four different VCs will be continuously working in this area.”

Both Impact Hub’s Moslavac and representatives of startups like Joberty and Traken believe the country needs more business angels and other pre-seed investors. Mijailovic tells bne IntelliNews: “What I would like to see more in the future are angel investments. Also, I would like to see more potential investors from the corporate world become motivated to invest in startups, get involved in the ecosystem, learn about them and support them to succeed.”

Blockchain for the energy sector

Traken’s Petrovic makes a similar point. So far Traken has been bootstrapped and secured grants, but it is now looking for seed investment. Its team have participated in several EU accelerators. Unlike first time founders, its co-founders have the advantage of already running a blockchain development studio, which gives them access to talent and other resources.

Traken, where the team developed a data tracking, management and exploitation tool for smart electrical grids, is part of Serbia’s growing blockchain segment. Back in 2019, advisory and research organisation Startup Genome report identified Serbia among the top five destinations in the world according to the number of blockchain developers. Serbia and nearby Novi Sad were found to have a particularly promising blockchain ecosystem.

Petrovic has a broad range of industry experience including as a former economy ministry adviser, on smart city projects and a venture capital investor, experience that he now aims to bring to the energy sector.

The Traken team are getting ready to pilot the project with international distribution service operators (DSOs) after an initial pilot with local startup Cargo (the Serbian Uber). “It is a good time for us because integration of renewables was a problem for the systems even before this energy crisis,” says Petrovic. “If you want Europe to move to sustainable, renewable energy, then you have to deal with viable sources of energy that need better tools to manage flexibility.”

He references the “huge potential” of the 50% of installed solar capacity owned by individuals that is not currently part of the market. “The only way to manage it is by using blockchain. We created a system that validates the source, validates the data from source and connects data to the individual,” Petrovic explains.

The other standout area within the Serbian tech sector is game development. According to data from the Serbian Games Association, there are currently about 130 teams and companies in Serbia that are actively working on the development of games and other services closely related to the gaming industry. The organisation estimates that more than 2,200 people work in the video game sector, with another 450 jobs set to be created in 2022. Overall the Serbian video game industry had a turnover of around €125mn in 2021.

Among the most successful local companies is Belgrade-based mobile games developer Nordeus, creator of Top Eleven Football Manager and strategy game Heroic – Magic Duel. The company was acquired by Take-Two Interactive for $378mn in 2021.

Bjelotomić believes Serbian game developers can get even bigger. “Maybe we don’t have a unicorn in gaming but at least have really big global players in the market. And you never know, a single hit can make difference,” he says.

Food and agriculture

He also points to biotech and agritech as an area where Serbia has strong potential, given that “we are still predominantly an agricultural county”. New technologies to increase food production and – the other side of the coin – to reduce food waste are becoming increasingly importance in the context of climate change and the need to feed the world’s growing population.

Serbia’s second city of Novi Sad is home to the BioSense Institute that works on projects that span bio systems and IT. The institute, now an important research centre with hundreds of international partners, started out as a small group of people who believed in the idea that IT and bio systems would meet in the future, director of the institute Vladimir Crnojević said in an interview with bne IntelliNews in April. That was back in 2005-06. “At that time it was science fiction,” he says. However, he adds, focusing on that area “was a really good bet, because now it’s completely melting. The borders between bio systems and IT are getting lost”.

Today, the institute is organised in three research centres: the centre for bio systems, the centre for sensing technology and the centre for information technology. Technologies developed under its research projects are used in Serbia and elsewhere.

Another aspect of feeding the world’s growing population is reducing food waste, an issue tracked by Serbia startup EatMeApp, developer of a smart assistant that helps users make educated decisions about how and when to use their food.

“Our grandmothers and their attitude about food are our inspiration. They built into our DNA that throwing food away is not under any circumstances a reasonable thing to do. So, one day in front of my open refrigerator it struck me while I was getting ready to throw away a chicken filet (again!) – what if we have an app that sends reminders about food expiration dates?” says co-founder Aleksandra Lønningen, explaining how the company came into existence.

“Eat Me App conceptually grew since then, but it’s core mission a to assist people in making conscious and educated food consumption decisions,” Lønningen adds. “The result is less food waste, less CO2, more disposable income.”

Android and iOs versions of the app have already been released, and Lønningen says the company’s user base is growing organically thanks to early adopters. This summer there are plans to accelerate adoption with an intensive user acquisition strategy.

Lønningen believes the current difficult times – countries across Europe and much of the world are experiencing rapid inflation including of food prices – are encouraging people to live more sustainable and reduce food waste. There is also an environmental dimension. Lønningen cites data showing that food waste is the third largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, and within that household food waste accounts for 60% of total food waste. To give an idea of the scale, she says, a “family of four on average throws €30-50 weekly straight to the garbage bin”.

While there are a growing number of apps in the food waste space, EatMeApp differs from others, Lønningen says, because it is targeted at households rather than businesses such as restaurants and grocery shops. “Because we believe that the most important and numerous agent of change is – us, people, citizens.”

International talent

With local startups growing up, and the demand for skilled workers in international companies also increasing, the need to keep and retain talent in intense, a challenge cited not only in Serbia but across the region.

Joberty was set up precisely with this in mind. The company was born out of its founder’s experience of the search for talent; Mijailovic is a former CEO and co-founder of an HR company in Serbia.

“I had experienced first hand the difficulty of finding developers. And even if you magically happen to find them, it was about culture fit with the company, and developers would stay approximately 1.5 years with the IT employer … It was frustrating, so I've decided to do something about it. The idea existed in my head only for some time, and then I started opening up,” Mijailovic said.

Mijailovic and his wife Dusica, one of the company’s four co-founders and its product manager, began exploring the possibility of building a real product around this. “I never dreamed that something that was just an idea in my head would become a reality so soon. In 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia, Joberty was born, and ever since, it has grown each year exponentially. I couldn't be more proud of the team that works very hard to deliver such amazing results,” Mijailovic said.

Today, the company has 25 employees, who Mijailovic describes as its key asset, and operates in Serbia, Croatia and Romania. It currently has over 50,000 registered users, 15,000 reviews on the platform, and co-operating with over 1,200 tech companies in Southeast Europe.

Global software engineering firm DataArt, which has been present in the Balkans since it entered Bulgaria in 2016, recently acquired Belgrade-based Software Nation. “We feel confident about establishing our presence in Belgrade because of the well-rounded tech sector, and the solid tech talent in the country and the region,” said Mikhail Zavileysky, head of organisational development at DataArt, at the time of the acquisition. He describes the labour market in Serbia as “strong and developed”, pointing to particular strength in Java and .NET skills.

“DataArt has always viewed the Balkan region as promising. Now we’re focused on Belgrade, but we’re planning to open a second office in Novi Sad – a prominent university town with great talent,” Zavileysky says, commenting to bne IntelliNews on the partnership with Software Nation.

"We’re actively recruiting locally, and we welcome everyone who’s decided to relocate to Serbia. Erik Popovic, SVP DataArt Balkans, is spearheading our effort and helping us find the best talent. Remote recruiters are helping us as well."

Later in 2022, developer of online military games Wargaming announced the opening of two new studios in Belgrade and Warsaw following its decision to quit Russia and Belarus after the invasion of Ukraine. The company commented that both cities have “fast developing technology sectors with enormous potential”.

Working with the brain drain

Serbia, like other countries in the Western Balkans – and across most of emerging Europe – has experienced mass emigration and population decline in the last few decades. That makes competition for talent all the more intense.

The DSI’s Bjelotomić notes that the brain drain is a huge problem for Eastern Europe, especially Southeast Europe, though he believes it has slowed down recently, for two reasons. “First IT is such global industry it doesn’t matter where you sit, you can do your job anywhere. The second factor is corona; when the going gets tough, the best thing is to go home.”

When it comes to tacking the brain drain, Bjelotomić believes the good jobs offered by the IT sector can help. “These are the good jobs, where people get to be creative, to grow personally and professionally. They are the guys that don’t leave … in that sense helping startups is almost like social service.”

Impact Hub’s Moslavac acknowledges the problem of brain drain and the difficulties in reversing it, but says it’s important to look for the positives. “We have good examples from other counties where lot of good talent left, but brought back knowledge and often funding,” he says. “I don’t think the brain drain is something that can really be stopped, but probably there are ways for Serbia to benefit more from great people that are not physically here.”

Petrovic also talks of Serbia’s “very big technical diaspora”, with highly educated Serbians who left their home country now sharing experience and knowledge. Like Bjelotomić, he believes there has been movement back into Serbia since the start of the pandemic, not least because it was one of the first countries in Europe to roll out a mass vaccination programme.

He believes Serbia has benefited from its relationships with developing countries forged during the Cold War when Yugoslavia was one of the leaders of the non-aligned movement. Even today, Serbia is well known among those nations. “We’re a brand in these countries, [young people are] still coming here to go to college,” he says. This brings new talented graduates into Serbia.

More recently, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, countries across emerging Europe, including Serbia, have received a flood of immigrants, among them numerous tech professionals. These include both Ukrainians fleeing the war and Russians and Belarusians who can no longer live with their government’s actions and their countries’ international isolation. DataArt’s Zavileysky comments that the Serbian market "is welcoming many engineers from Russia and Ukraine, which certainly has an impact”.

Starting with education

The start of creating a new generation of tech talent lies in education, and the DSI is reaching out to universities and schools to help. The organisation has been working with the education system from elementary school right through to postgraduate level. This includes the Master 2.0 programme where the DSI brings different faculties together to create cross-disciplinary master programmes that give students the skills to work in industries such as game development.

Industry representatives say that while Serbia provides a good technical education more needs to be done on the commercial side. “We need to change that,” says Bjelotomić. “It’s good that we are good engineers, but it’s important to note that people investing in startups are predominately from the financial sphere. They are looking for entries and exits, not necessarily for the best technology.”

Similarly, Moslavac says that Serbia has a strong education that is “left over from the old system of building good engineers”. However, he says, “being a good engineer doesn’t make you a good businessman … to build a a good startup you have to understand business. There are a lot of smart people around but it’s not about building a perfect product, it’s about having a perfect customer for the product.”

On the other hand, Traken’s Petrovic is positive about Serbia’s "very good old school, technically based curriculum” which, he believes, “is a goldmine if you know how to act on it”. This education is coming into its own with the emergence of the blockchain industry.

Global companies with Serbian roots

One constraint cited many times by industry figures in Belgrade is the small size of the Serbian market. That being the case, ambitious startup founders look to go international from the start or at least early on in their development.

“The size of the market is a challenge for startup founders here. It’s a very small market with not such a startup culture,” says Maslovac. “Serbia is place of talent – there is certainly a lot of talent in Serbia, especially tech talent – however, such a market makes it very difficult to build a product or service for the customer, as this is a numbers game. This is why it’s very interesting to approach the market of the Western Balkans, which has a potential 20mn users instead of 6mn for their services.”

Some of the really standout Serbia-founded companies went abroad early on. Among them is consulting, software engineering and digital product development company HTEC Group, which now has its headquarters in San Francisco. In 2021, the company bought up Momentum Design Lab in Silicon Valley, following this with the announcement of a $140mn investment from Brighton Park Capital for global expansion. That deal was among the largest initial funding rounds by dollar value in Europe in the past year, HTEC said at the time.

Following the latest investment round, the aim is to “build HTEC into one of the most impressive global technology consulting companies,” said Aleksandar Cabrilo, CEO of HTEC Group at the time of the investment. The company, founded in 2008 as a startup within the Business Technology Incubator of Technical Faculties of the University of Belgrade, has now grown into an international company that employs over 1,000 people.

Startups interviewed by bne IntelliNews also referenced international expansion. Traken, for example, is seeking to work with electricity companies from other European countries rather than focussing on Serbia.

Joberty is fundraising for a seed round that it plans to use for its expansion to global markets, including the US. “Our plans are ambitious, but simply that's the only way to go,” said Mijailovic. “The startup scene is very fast-paced, and if you move slowly, you might still survive, but you won't win big time. Big dreams took us here, and we won't stop until we succeed globally.”

EatMeApp’s Lønningen says "going global” when asked about the future plans for the company. At the same time, however, she talks of the power of Serbia’s culture and social networks. “[Co-founder] Sanja Dramicanin] and myself … want to create even stronger momentum in Serbia,” Lønningen says. “We dream big, cross-border, but our heart is where our home is and our grandmothers are.”

Serbian democracy activists feel betrayed as freedoms, and a path to the EU, slip away

JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Tue, December 12, 2023
 

KRALJEVO, Serbia (AP) — When Serbia began talks to join the European Union in 2014, pro-Western Serbs were hopeful the process would set their troubled country on an irreversible path to democratization. A decade later, that optimism is gone, replaced by feelings of betrayal — both toward their government, which has slid toward autocracy, and the EU, which has done little to stop it.

Predrag Vostinic, 48, says he became a democracy activist by necessity — his way of pushing back against the rising authoritarianism, government corruption and organized crime gripping the Balkan nation. Since May, a grassroots movement he founded in the central city of Kraljevo has joined weekly protests against the government of President Aleksandar Vucic, part of a wider movement.

He and other members of the group faced threats in the streets and on social media. Other government opponents, in Kraljevo and elsewhere, have been sidelined at work or sacked from their jobs in state-run companies, he said.


Still, he said, it’s worth it: “You become sort of a public voice for people.”

Pro-Western Serbs like Vostinic hoped the EU would act as a counterweight, drawing Serbia back to a more democratic path. Instead, Brussels has held back, as Serbia diverted from the EU's stated values, activists say.

“This is one of the reasons why EU’s losing credibility and why the pro-European part of the Serbian society is in a defensive position, because there is nothing to defend," said Vladimir Medjak, deputy head of the European Movement in Serbia and a former member of the EU membership negotiation team.

Even before Vucic came to power in 2012, Serbia was slow to complete the reforms needed to qualify as an EU candidate, such as ensuring the rule of law and a market economy that could integrate with the bloc. And in recent years, after declaring EU membership a strategic goal, it has instead sought stronger ties with Russia and China.

STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY

Serbia’s struggle for democracy began with the fall of Communism in the late 1980s and the wars that followed the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s warmongering in the 1990s turned Serbia into an international pariah, while NATO bombed the country in 1999 to stop the war in the breakaway province of Kosovo.

Milosevic was ousted in 2000 by pro-democracy parties openly backed by the West, setting the stage for reintegration into the international community and the start of democratic reform.

“It wasn’t good enough … but you still had a country where things started to resemble European standards,” said Dragan Djilas, a former mayor of Belgrade who is now one of the leaders of a pro-European coalition that is challenging Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party in parliamentary and local elections on Dec. 17.

“We had free elections, we had the possibility of change (of power) in elections … No one threatened you for thinking differently and no one blackmailed you,” he said. “Today’s Serbia ... would not even be allowed to become a candidate for EU membership.”

Public support in Serbia for joining the EU stands at about 40%. Under the circumstances, pro-democracy activists say, that counts as a success.

EU DEALS CAUTIOUSLY WITH SERBIA

The EU’s enthusiasm for enlarging the bloc waned after 2013, when Serbia’s neighbor Croatia became the newest country to join. The EU had accepted 13 new member states since 2004, most of them in Central and Eastern Europe and needing substantial injections of financial support. The prospect of taking in additional members who would be a drain on the EU budget was hardly enticing.

And then there was Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The move was not recognized by Belgrade — nor by some EU member countries with separatist movements of their own, such as Spain, or with close ties to Serbia, such as Cyprus and Greece. The wars of the 1990s had subsided, but Serbia’s unresolved final borders left a huge question mark over its suitability to join the EU.

The EU paid lip service to further enlargement with regular membership updates but made little response as Vucic steadily took over the levers of power in Serbia. Over the years, he and his authorities installed loyalists in key government positions, including the military and secret service, and imposed control over the mainstream media while stepping up pressure on dissent.

“Problem is that all this happened during the EU’s watch,” Medjak said.

With war raging in Ukraine, analysts say the EU has been careful not to push Serbia further away, even as Belgrade refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow. The U.S. and EU have worked closely with Vucic to try to reach a deal in Kosovo, where tensions at the border have threatened regional stability.

ANTI-DEMOCRATIC TIDE RISES

Vucic dismisses criticism that his government has curbed democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organized crime to run rampant. Pro-government tabloids and state-run media, such as the broadcaster RTS, give scant coverage to the opposition, while dozens of rights groups have faced investigations into their finances.

Vucic regularly blasts Djilas and other opposition leaders as enemies of the state and “thieves” who are taking instructions from Western embassies. Mainstream pro-government media give them no opportunity to respond to the allegations.

During the wars of the 1990s, Vucic was an extreme nationalist who supported Milosevic’s aggressive policies toward non-Serbs. After Milosevic fell, Vucic reinvented himself as a pro-European, helping to found the Serbian Progressive Party in 2009 and pledging to take the country into the EU.

He never delivered on his promises.

Since 2014, Serbia has dropped down the international rankings on democracy. Reporters Without Borders says journalists are threatened by political pressure, while Transparency International ranks Serbia below most countries in the region when it comes to fighting corruption.

In recent years, Serbia's ruling party has "steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organizations," said the monitoring group Freedom House in its most recent report.

Serbia’s Ministry for European Integration did not grant an interview to the AP, citing the upcoming elections. EU officials also declined to comment.

While activists lament the stagnation of its EU membership bid, Serbia recently received a strong vote of confidence from Italy’s far-right premier, Giorgia Meloni.

Flanked by Vucic, Meloni praised his statesmanship, saying, “Europe isn’t a club who decides who is and who is not European.’’

A CHALLENGE TO SERBIA'S PRESIDENT

In recent months, Vucic has faced a new challenge to his authority. In May, 19 people, many of them children, were killed in two back-to-back mass shootings. The attacks shocked the public, galvanizing protests against a climate of fear and intolerance promoted by the ruling elite.

As he has done in the past when he felt he was losing his grip on power, Vucic called snap parliamentary and local elections for dozens of Serbian towns and cities, including Belgrade.

In response, the protesters formed their own electoral coalition, fielding candidates across the country. Vucic himself is not a candidate this time, but the opposition has hopes of denting his authority by taking control of some local councils.

Political activist Vostinic, who braved pressure from the ruling party in Kraljevo to lead protests there, said Serbia’s society had taken a wrong turn, allowing “people with bad intentions to fill in the gap.”

The EU, he said, is no longer an ally in defending its own values but has focused on economic and other interests, more concerned about countering Russia and China.

Public disappointment is such that “we who support the respect of European values are starting to feel uneasy," Vostinic said.

Opposition leader Djilas is even harsher, saying that “EU politicians largely are allies of Aleksandar Vucic.”

“As a student, my dream was Serbia as a part of Europe, of the European Union,” he said. “I have to admit that now the dream is sometimes turning into a nightmare.”

___

AP writer Frances D’Emilio contributed from Rome.

____

This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a pre-election rally of his ruling Serbian Progressive Party in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. When Serbia formally opened membership negotiations with the European Union, back in 2014, it was a moment of hope for pro-Western Serbs, eager to set their troubled country on an irreversible path to democratization. Those days are long gone. Now, they feel betrayed, both by the government and the EU. 

(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

COVID-19: Serbia arrests 71 in protest over handling of pandemic
By Sommer Brokaw

Police face off with protestors during the protest against the strict measures to fight the coronavirus in Belgrade, Serbia, on Friday. Photo by Andrej Cukic/EPA-EFE

July 11 (UPI) -- Serbian police said they've arrested 71 people involved in protests over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Protesters began taking to the streets Tuesday after President Aleksandar Vučić announced that Belgrade would be placed on a weekend curfew to curb COVID-19 spread. Vučić also declared that more than 2 million people will need to be vaccinated before the fall to prepare for a second wave of the virus.

The protests quickly morphed into a wider movement against Vučić's alleged mismanagement of the pandemic despite his decision to suspend a second shutdown. Protesters said they were angry about government steps, such as proceeding with the general election last week, restarting large sport events and reopening nightclubs too early, which they believe led to the need for another lockdown.


Serbian riot police guard the Serbian parliament building during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. The protests started on Tuesday when President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

Protests continued for a fourth day Friday. Thousands of people demonstrated in several cities, with protesters in the capital, hurling stones at police in front of Parliament. In Friday's clashes, 14 police officers were injured with 130 police injured since Tuesday.
Some protesters entered the Parliament building Tuesday night before being forced out by police. Film footage later appeared to show police beating unarmed protesters with batons.

Figures on the number of protesters injured have not been released.

Serbia has reported 17,728 cases of COVID-19 and 370 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University global tracker.


Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. The protests started on Tuesday when President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police detained 71 people after clashes during the fourth night of anti-government protests against the Serbian president that were initially sparked by his plans to reintroduce a coronavirus lockdown.

Fourteen policemen were injured in the rioting Friday evening when hundreds of right-wing demonstrators tried to storm the parliament building in downtown Belgrade, police director Vladimir Rebic said Saturday. Many demonstrators and several reporters were also injured in the protests.

Hundreds gathered on Saturday for another night of protests when no incidents were reported.

Serbian media reported that among the detained was a former parliament member and one of the leaders of the violent protesters, pro-Russian far-right politician Srdjan Nogo.

Serbian riot police guard the Serbian parliament building during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. The protests started on Tuesday when President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

The protesters, defying an anti-virus ban on gatherings, threw bottles, rocks and flares at police who were guarding the parliament building, and police responded with tear gas to disperse the angry crowds.

Similar clashes erupted twice earlier this week. The protests first started when populist President Aleksandar Vucic announced a strict curfew for this weekend to curb a surge in new coronavirus cases in the Balkan country

Vucic later scraped the plan to impose the lockdown. Authorities instead banned gatherings of more than 10 people in Belgrade, the capital, and shortened the working hours of indoor businesses.

Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. The protests started on Tuesday when President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Many in Serbia accuse the increasingly authoritarian Vucic and his government of letting the virus crisis spin out of control in order to hold a parliamentary election on June 21 that tightened the ruling party’s grip on power.

Vucic has denied this, although authorities had relaxed the rules prior to the vote, allowing massive crowds at soccer games, tennis matches and nightclubs.

Authorities reported 12 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday and 354 new infections, although there have been increasing doubts about the accuracy of the official figures.

The country officially has over 18,000 confirmed infections and 382 deaths since March. Health authorities have warned that Serbian hospitals are almost full due to the latest surge in cases.

Vucic has claimed that unspecified foreign security services were involved in the unrest and pledged he won’t be toppled in the streets. Some opposition leaders, meanwhile, are blaming the rioting on groups they say are controlled by the government to discredit peaceful protests.

Rebic said foreign citizens are among those detained, including people from Montenegro, Bosnia, Britain and Tunisia. He said police are looking into “foreign element in the radicalization of the protests.”
Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. The protests started on Tuesday when President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Belgrade would be placed under a new three-day lockdown following a second wave of confirmed coronavirus infections. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)


Pro-government tabloids in Serbia have claimed that Russian intelligence services were behind the unrest that is designed to destabilize the country as Western efforts mount to negotiate an deal normalizing relations with Kosovo, Serbia’s former province whose 2008 declaration of independence Belgrade still does not recognize.

Serbia is a rare Russian ally in Europe with historically close Slavic ties. The country is bidding to join the European Union after years of crisis and wars in the 1990s. Nationalist and far-right groups in Serbia are opposed to EU membership and want closer ties with Russia instead.

The Russian foreign ministry has vehemently denied any involvement in the latest protests in Serbia.

Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, July 10 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas during the fourth night of protests against the president's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Will Kosovo’s war ever end?
The country is doomed to a cycle of crises

BY TIM JUDAH
Tim Judah covers the Balkans for The Economist.

 He is the author of several books on Kosovo and the region.
timjudah1
January 3, 2023
North Mitrovica, Kosovo

There is a strict timetable to crises in Kosovo. It runs like this. First, after a disagreement between Serbia’s leader and Kosovo’s, a deadline is set by the Kosovo side to do this or that, or barricades are erected in Serbian-inhabited north Kosovo. The diplomats go into hyperdrive, harsh words are spoken, and the Serbian Army deploys to the border, making sure that clips of military convoys circulate on social media. Serbian nationalists fantasise that they are actually going to do something and Serbian tabloids froth that Kosovo-Albanians are about to wage war against their people.

At this point, parts of the Western media wake up and journalists, who never seem to clock that Nato has thousands of troops in Kosovo pledged to protect it from Serbia, think that it might invade. Then, deal done, the barricades come down until the next time.

Today, we are at the fag end of the latest cycle. The barricades which stood for 20 days have come down and everyone has gone home — but this time, it was a pretty close-run thing. The barricades were in fact trucks blocking the roads in some 14 places. Just over a week ago, as I visited one in the village of Rudare, a colleague pointed out a petrol tanker. People were not very happy about it, he said. It was full; if there were a violent incident, it could explode.

As we spoke, judges, teachers, doctors — in fact it seemed the entire haute bourgeoisie of Serbian north Kosovo — wandered up and down, chatting to friends and warming their hands on flaming braziers. Some were here because they wanted to be, others because their political appointee bosses had ordered them to be. Leaders of the main Kosovo Serb party were here too. At one point, a car zoomed up and four masked young men jumped out and strode off purposefully. In the nearby divided town of Mitrovica, where Serbs live in the north and Albanians in the south, the north is festooned with Serbian flags and spray-painted with stencilled crests of something called the “Northern Brigade”. They read: “Don’t worry… We are waiting!” But who are they? A Serbian militia in waiting? No one knows for sure.

In hushed tones, residents tell me that, in the last year, 600 men have been sent for military training in Serbia. But there is no way to know, unless you start asking questions of people who would really not appreciate them, what is true and what is a misinformation spread by BIA, Serbia’s intelligence service, which is widely believed to hold the whip hand around here. Meanwhile, locals were queuing at cashpoints. With the barricades having closed the two border posts in the north, they were worried that banks would run out of cash.

A street in North Mitrovic

Ask people in north Mitrovica what they want and, at the end of the day, it is just a normal life — the type that no one here has enjoyed for more than a quarter of a century. But how likely is this? How to cut Kosovo’s Gordian Knot, which has left the fate of Serbs and Kosovo-Albanians (and Kosovo and Serbia) tied to one another? The Kosovo war ended in 1999, but still the diplomats and political leaders have been unable or unwilling to agree on a final framework for peaceful coexistence.

In the wake of Yugoslavia’s disintegration in the Nineties, Kosovo, Serbia’s southern province, remained locked within Serbia — even though its population was overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian, rejected Serbian rule and was repressed by Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia’s then leader who had stripped the province of its autonomy. Following the Kosovo war of 1998-99 between Kosovo-Albanian guerrillas and Serbia, and then Nato’s intervention, Kosovo became a UN protectorate. In 2008, it declared independence. This was recognised by most, but not all, Western countries, and rejected by Serbia, Russia and China among others. Kosovo’s Albanians argued they had the right to self-determination; Serbia argued that its territorial integrity trumped that, even though no one in Serbia actually wanted or wants to reintegrate a region full of hostile Albanians.

Of Kosovo’s population of 1.8 million, some 100,000-120,000 are Serbs. More than half live in central and south Kosovo, while the rest live in the north, a compact area abutting Serbia. Now, say local Serbs in the north, the tables have turned. Marko Jaksic, a lawyer and political activist from north Mitrovica, says that Albin Kurti, Kosovo’s prime minister, “is doing the same things as Milosevic during the Nineties, only we have changed sides.” It is the type of argument that makes Kosovo-Albanians incandescent with rage.

Jaksic and I were talking in the Number One, a hotel café a few hundred metres from the bridge over the Ibar which divides the city in two. He starts the conversation by pointing out that exactly 10 years ago I had asked him what the solution for Kosovo was, and that he had said that the border between Kosovo and Serbia was not “up there”, meaning north of where we were, but “on the bridge”. He believes that Kosovo should be partitioned. It is an idea which comes and goes like the tide. Until he went to The Hague in 2020 to answer charges of war crimes, Hashim Thaci, until then Kosovo’s president, and Serbia’s leader Aleksandar Vucic toyed with the idea, but key Western countries moved to quash it.

Nor was partition popular in Kosovo and Serbia. The problem was not north Kosovo, but rather the precedent. If north Kosovo returned to Serbia, then what about the Albanian-populated Presevo valley in Serbia or the Albanian-inhabited regions of North Macedonia or the Serb and Croat regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina? So, Pandora’s Box remains closed. How, then, can Kosovo-Serbs live normal lives in Kosovo, especially in the north?

The answer to this question is surprisingly simple. With political will there is no issue between Kosovo and Serbia, and between Serbs and Albanians, that cannot be resolved or at least fudged. The two sides have been talking in an EU-sponsored dialogue for more than a decade and plenty of agreements have been struck — even if they have not all been implemented.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also injected new vigour into negotiations, which are led by the EU’s Miroslav Lajcak, who is supported by Gabriel Escobar, an American diplomat. However, since June, they have been firefighting, tamping down crises over number plates, identity cards and now barricades. But they have a plan, supported by France and Germany, which could be the basis for a long-term settlement. The diplomats talk of the “two Germanies”, by which they mean that Serbia and Kosovo could live side-by-side (like the two Cold War Germanies did), not recognising one another officially but as independent states.

But this is only half of the equation. In return for de facto recognition, which means being treated like a neighbouring state by Serbia, Kosovo is expected to abide by a commitment it signed in 2013 by which Serbian municipalities in Kosovo could form some type of association, giving them effective autonomy in fields such as health and education. Kosovo’s constitutional court has rejected this and Kurti campaigned vigorously against it in opposition, but now the pressure is on from his Western backers to find a way to deliver it in one form or another.

The current crisis has set back the cause of normalisation badly. Serbs have resigned from parliament, from the judiciary and, in the north, from the Kosovo police force. They also resigned from local assemblies, which triggered elections for new ones which have now been postponed until April after electoral offices in the north were attacked. Tatjana Lazarevic, the editor of the KoSSev news site in the north, says that since the Serbs quit the police, Albanian members of the Kosovo police have been sent north and locals see them “100% as an occupation force”. She adds that Serbs in the north “didn’t want to integrate into Kosovo state… and neither do they want that today”. But if there is a normalisation deal between Kosovo and Serbia, she thinks, people will just live with it.

If that were the case, if there were a deal, what choice would Kosovo Serbs have? Kosovo’s north can be a dangerous place. If it is in Serbia’s interest to make a deal, dissent won’t be tolerated. This is a place where politics and organised crime overlap, even more so than everywhere else in the Balkans.

Despite the high-stakes game played with the barricades these last few weeks, it is not all doom and gloom. Lajcak told me: “Tensions have never been higher in 20 years; mistrust has never been deeper.” But Jeff Hovenier, the American ambassador to Kosovo, struck a more optimistic note. He told me that, while the ultimate goal was mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia, “which is unfortunately not possible right now, today’s challenges can still be overcome. If you see this agreement, this work as an interim step towards that… there are real possibilities.”

Ivan Vejvoda, a Serbian analyst and head of the Europe’s Futures programme of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna concurs. Despite the current stand-off, “both sides realise they need to do this, but they are still looking for a way in which they turn out to be the winning side, but there is no winner in this. Everyone will lose out on something — or rather, no one will get everything they want. But that’s exactly what compromise is about: to achieve a situation where one goes forward.” He then proceeded to list examples from Northern Ireland to the Faroe Islands to the Basque country to the South Tyrol where all manner of workable solutions for minority rights have been secured.

Beware the Northern Brigade: “We are waiting!”

Kurti himself thinks that Serbia remains uninterested in a compromise and Vucic says Serbia will never recognise Kosovo. Vucic still wants partition, Kurti said to me and talks as if he is “in search of a time machine… sometimes he wants to go back to 1999 and sometimes to 2007 [before Kosovo declared independence], but you know… the train has left the station. We cannot go back there anymore.” Many of the diplomats find Kurti stubborn and that has lost him some Western support, but his policy of playing hardball with Vucic has been delivering results. Vucic is on the backfoot and has had to concede on several issues in the past few months: on 15 December, Kurti applied for EU candidacy and has also finally secured a promise that Kosovo’s citizens will no longer require Schengen visas from 2024.

Yet amid all these technical solutions, a part of the problem — in fact, a very big part of the problem — is personal. A few years ago, I interviewed Hashim Thaci, who had been a leading member of the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army when Vucic had been a minister in Milosevic’s government. When the interview ended, he asked me: “Are you seeing Aleksandar?” At first, I drew a complete blank — then I realised he was talking about Vucic. There are no such first name term niceties nowadays. Vucic and Kurti despise one another. When Vucic was a minister, Kurti was a political prisoner in a Serbian jail; on 1 December, Vucic publicly called Kurti “terrorist scum”. The lack of any personal rapport makes finding a deal that much harder.

After leaving the Number One in north Mitrovica, Jaksic and I walked to the bridge over the Ibar as I was returning south to Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. You can walk across the bridge, though it has been barred to traffic since 1999. Jaksic told me that, as a court administrator for the unified court of Mitrovica, he and his Albanian colleagues had parted company with tears in their eyes but as friends when he, like all the Serbs in the court, had resigned when Serbs quit Kosovo’s institutions. There was no going back now, he thought. But then we laughed about whether I would still be asking him the same questions in 10 years’ time. If I were betting, I would say there was a 60-40 chance that I will be.

SO MUCH FOR 'GREEN' MINERALS

Serbia roads blocked for 3rd weekend of lithium mine protest
Via AP news wire
Sat, December 11, 2021

Serbia Protest (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Environmental protesters blocked roads in Serbia for a third consecutive weekend to oppose plans for lithium mining, despite a bid by the country's populist government to defuse the demonstrations by agreeing to the key demands of organizers.

Several thousand people braved rain and cold weather Saturday to halt traffic in the capital, Belgrade and in other cities and towns in the Balkan nation.

The protesters want the government to fully remove any possibility of companies initiating mining projects. Environmentalists argue that extracting lithium, a key component in electric car batteries, causes huge damage to mined areas.

Serbian authorities withdrew two key laws that activists said were designed to help multinational mining company Rio Tinto open a mine in the country's lithium-rich west. Fewer people showed up at Saturday's demonstration compared to the two previous weekends, reflecting a rift among protest leaders over how to proceed.

“There will be no peace until exploitation of lithium is banned and Rio Tinto sent away from Serbia,” Aleksandar Jovanovic, one of the organizers, said.

Serbia's autocratic president, Aleksandar Vucic described continued protests as “political” after the government gave up on the two proposed laws, which involved property expropriation and referendum rules. Vucic said people would have a chance to express their preferences during the next election in April.

Serbia must tackle its environmental problems to advance toward European Union membership. Vucic has said he wants the country to join the EU, but he has also fostered close ties with Russia and China, including Chinese investments in mines, factories and infrastructure.

Environmental issues have come into focus recently in Serbia and other Balkan nations because of accumulated problems from air and water pollution. Protesters argue that authorities favor the interests of foreign investors and profit over environment protection.

'Nobody's dump': Lithium mine stirs unrest in Serbia
 

Demonstrators blocked a highway in Serbia's capital Belgrade at the beginning of December to protest against Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto's plan to mine lithium in the Jadar Valley

"No to the mine - Yes to life" reads the sign in Gornje Nedeljice 

 (AFP/OLIVER BUNIC)

Miodrag SOVILJ and David STOUT
Fri, December 10, 2021

Farmhouses and cornfields dot the gentle, rolling plains of Serbia's Jadar Valley, but underneath the bucolic surface lies one of Europe's largest lithium deposits -- the source fuelling the latest round of unrest in the Balkan nation.

The future of the vast mineral deposits near the city of Loznica has become the latest flashpoint in Serbia, pitting festering distrust in the country's increasingly autocratic government against Europe's plans for a greener future.

Billions are at stake with Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto boasting that the project has the potential to add a full percentage point to Serbia's gross domestic product and provide thousands of jobs.

In a matter of years, this impoverished corner of Serbia nestled against the Bosnian border could be transformed into one of the industrial engines turbocharging Europe's transition to lower-carbon technology considered vital for a greener future.

Lithium is a key ingredient for batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, with soaring demand for the mineral setting off a "white gold rush" as automakers scramble to secure sufficient supplies to meet their ambitious goals to roll out new fleets in the coming years.

But environmental activists and locals living near the future mining site have accused Rio Tinto and President Aleksandar Vucic's administration of cloaking the entire project in secrecy and refusing to release environmental assessment reports.

The lack of transparency, locals argue, is stoking fears the mine may leave their land in ruins.

"If the Jadar project goes through, everything will be destroyed around us," Dragan Karajcic -- a community leader in the village of Gornje Nedeljice -- told AFP.

"Wherever Rio Tinto operated, it left a wasteland behind," he added.

- Power struggle -

In Serbia, the mining project has tapped into simmering anger against Vucic. Thousands have swarmed key roads across the country in recent weeks to voice their opposition to the government's handling of the project.

Violent attacks by masked men against a demonstration in the western Serbian city of Sabac in late November sparked outrage on social media along with accusations the government was relying on hooligans to squash dissent.

With elections likely coming early next year, Vucic has sought to blunt the mounting pressure, vowing to remove amendments to one law and scrap another piece of legislation that protesters argued were written to provide favourable conditions for Rio Tinto.

The leader has also insisted the mine's future is up for debate.

"I will have to sit down and see whether we essentially want this mine or not," the president said late Wednesday.

Getting to the minerals will be no easy task, requiring extensive excavation to supply enough lithium to power more than one million electric vehicles per year, according to Rio Tinto.

The area nearby is also home to extensive borate reserves needed for the production of solar panels and wind turbines.

The mine is set to be located along the Jadar River, a tributary of the much larger Drina -- a vital source for agricultural production in both Serbia and neighbouring Bosnia.

Any contamination caused by the project along the banks of the Jadar would be felt much wider afield, activists argue.

Rio Tinto has sought to allay rising fears over the project, promising to uphold the "highest environmental standards", according to a statement posted online.

But residents in Gornje Nedeljice say Rio Tinto's track record has given them pause.

In recent years, the mining giant has been mired in controversy, with a public backlash and investor revolt forcing the company's chief executive and some top officials to step down after the firm destroyed a sacred indigenous site in Australia last year.

Critics of the mine also point to the Vucic government's poor track record with regulating its industrial sector as Serbia courted Chinese companies to invest in the country.

Access forbidden -- danger! warns a sign in front of a house sold to Rio Tinto, which has been paying top dollar to buy property where it wants to mine 

 

The Jadar valley in western Serbia holds lithium deposits that could help the world transition to electric vehicles

 (AFP/OLIVER BUNIC)

-'Nobody’s dump'-

In Gornje Nedeljice, signs saying: "No to the mine. Yes to life" hang throughout the village, where Rio Tinto has been buying up large swathes of land -- offering virtual fortunes for residents' plots that would fetch just a fraction of the price elsewhere.

The company is set to break ground on the mine next year, but is still awaiting the final green light from Belgrade.

Rio Tinto has promised the project will provide over 2,000 jobs during its construction phase and another 1,000 mining and processing jobs once it is operational.

But for Gornje Nedeljice resident Marijana Petkovic and others, the mine's potential benefits put their community's health and environment at risk at the behest of their wealthier European neighbours.

"Serbia needs to realise that we're nobody's dump for mining," says Petkovic. "Not Europe's, nor the world's."

ds/rl/spm

Civic activism roils Serbia's plans for big mining concessions


Civic activism in Serbia gives headache to ruling elite

Aleksandar Vasovic
Fri, December 10, 2021

By Aleksandar Vasovic

PRANJANI, Serbia (Reuters) -From her village home in southwestern Serbia, Ljiljana Bralovic keeps watch on snow-covered hills and a network of small roads, looking for unfamiliar cars she believes might be carrying geologists prospecting for lithium.

Environmentalist groups like the one in her village threw up roadblocks there and across Serbia for two straight weekends in protest at laws meant to ease multibillion dollar projects by foreign miners to extract lithium, borates and copper. More protests were scheduled for Dec. 11.

The blockades in late November and early this month prompted the conservative government to backtrack this week on two laws environmentalists see as beneficial to exploitation of local resources with scant regard for the risk of worsened pollution.

In the village of Pranjani, Bralovic and activists of the Mount Suvobor Ridge environmental group chased away a team of geologists and seized their rock samples.

"We learned that the Pranjani area was designated for lithium and borates prospecting...Holes are not being drilled in the ground for us to plant our famous plum trees in them," Bralovic told Reuters.

Protests also erupted in the western Jadar area where Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto has begun buying land for its planned $2.4 billion underground lithium and borates mine.

Lithium is in big global demand as a vital ingredient in batteries for increasingly popular electric cars, while borates is used in solar panels and wind turbines.

Big foreign carmakers want to secure direct access to raw materials via partnerships with mining companies to avoid bottlenecks and keep plants at full capacity.

Serbia is among central and east European countries most scarred by industrial pollution dating to former Communist rule.

But the government, seeing higher economic growth and reducing unemployment as priorities, has offered mineral resources to investors including China's Zijin copper miner and Rio Tinto.

President Aleksandar Vucic has said an environmental impact study will be carried out for the Rio Tinto project and, once complete, he will call a referendum to allow people to decide whether it should go ahead.

"Everything we build today we are leaving to our children," Vucic wrote on Instagram.

In August, Rio Tinto Serbia's CEO Vesna Prodanovic said it would meet all European Union and Serbian environmental regulations to mine lithium.

Green activists say such projects will aggravate land, water and air pollution in the Western Balkan country.

GOVERNMENT BENDS TO ACTIVISM

The road blockades prompted Vucic to send the expropriation law, which allowed faster acquisition of private land, back to parliament for reworking.

And on Friday, parliament, dominated by Vucic's allies, amended a referendum law to require that legislation comply with any referendum outcome and remove a requirement for payment of fees by any civic group to launch referendum initiatives.

Bojan Klacar, executive director of Belgrade-based pollster CESID, said the environmental protests had succeeded because they had "clear, achievable and non-divisive demands".

In another concession, the infrastructure ministry said on Thursday waste dumps which are part of the Rio Tinto lithium project must be moved out of the flooding-prone western Jadar area to another location.

"These (concessions) do not mean that all the problems in Serbia will vanish. We will keep fighting on other levels," said Savo Manojlovic, head of the Kreni-Promeni (Move-Change) group that oversaw the roadblock protests this month.

But economists warn the various protests could backfire. Sasa Djogovic of the Belgrade-based Institute for Market Research said Vucic's bowing to the demands of protesters "is testimony to an unstable business climate" in Serbia "where ... everything depends on one man (Vucic) and his inner circle."

Urgently needed foreign investors could put their plans on hold until after next year's election, Djogovic said, adding: "None has guarantees now that any major investment could come under attack from environmental protests."

(Reporting by Aleksandar VasovicEditing by Mark Heinrich)