Savamala Witness Recalls Fearful Night in Belgrade
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Đorđević, told BIRN that the incident re incident the BIRNthat told Đorđević, explained. explained. Đorđević lot,” parking the of fence the hind be them with go to and askanything to bebuilt. isto front Water Belgrade complex huge the where street inthe buildings several bulldozers with demolished then upand them of some tied eyewitnesses, from phones bile seizedmo Street, Hercegovačka blocked closed. had elections general the for tions 24 April of night the on occurred that events to referring was Sport, and Education ical faces. their see not socould masks he wore they that adding said, Đorđević phone,” mobile and documents personal allmy them give to me told and me threatened car, the of out recalled. he inSavamala,” play we when park ally 21 inthe happen could that like something that believed have not could he because amovie himof minded A Maja car in Hercegovačka Street, where Iusu where Street, inHercegovačka car inthe equipment the put to lot parking the to went and equipment upthe packed gig, the finished Street, inKarađorđeva club head down’. down’. head his put him‘to told himand grabbed inSavamala men masked how recalls Đorđević, Miloš witness, approaches, a in Belgrade demolitions nighttime mysterious the of anniversary the As fearful night inBelgrade night fearful recalls witness Savamala th “They told me to put my head down, not not down, head my put to me told “They men masked of a group night That Phys of teacher a29-year-old Đorđević, me pulled literally people “Unknown “I had a gig with a band … at a nearby anearby …at aband with agig “I had to 25 ŽIVANOVIĆ th , 2016, hours after polling sta polling after hours , 2016, one of the witnesses, Miloš Miloš witnesses, the of one district, Savamala grade’s inBel overnight buildings demolished men masked of agroup since ayear lmost Continued on on Continued Vučić, Vučić, Serbia’s st century. Aleksandar Aleksandar saviour or or saviour Pages 2-3 Pages despot? page 5 +381 11 4030 306 114030 +381 - - - - - - - - Activists are preparing a widescale protest for April25 for protest awidescale preparing are Activists [email protected] Issue No. No. Issue 227 Celebrate Celebrate Friday, April 21 - Thursday, May 04, 2017 May 21-Thursday, April Friday, May Day, Day, May Page 10 Serbian th , to mark the one year anniversary of the Savamala demolitionsinBelgrade. oftheSavamala anniversary mark theoneyear , to style ‘BELDOCS’ 10 ‘BELDOCS’ anniversary anniversary Impressive lineup at at lineup Page 13 th BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY INSIGHTISPUBLISHED BELGRADE ORDER DELIVERY TO TO DELIVERY ORDER [email protected] YOUR DOOR YOUR +381 11 4030 303 303 114030 +381 Friday • June 13 • 2008 NEWS NEWS 1 9 7 7 1 ISSN 1820-8339 8 2 0 8 3 3 Photo: Beta Photo: 0 0 0 0 1 Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008 EDITOR’S WORD Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists Political Predictability While younger Socialists support joining a new, pro-EU government, old By Mark R. Pullen Milosevic loyalists threaten revolt over the prospect. party over which way to turn. “The situation in the party seems extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lag- gards that we need to move out of Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist Party official complained. “Dacic will eventually side with Many of us who have experi- Tadic in a bid to guide his party into enced numerous Serbian elections the European mainstream, but much rate ourselves as pundits when it of the membership and many offi- comes to predicting election re- cials may oppose that move.” sults and post-election moves. Nikolic agreed: “The question is We feel in-the-know because will the party split or will the ‘old- our experience of elections in Ser- timers’ back down,” he noted. bia has shown us that (a.) no single Fearing they might not cross the party or coalition will ever gain the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parlia- majority required to form a govern- ment, the Socialists teamed up with ment, and (b.) political negotiations the Association of Pensioners and the will never be quickly concluded. United Serbia Party, led by business- Even when the Democrats man Dragan Markovic “Palma”. achieved their surprising result at Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkoba- last month’s general election, it bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing quickly became clear that the re- for a deal with the Democrats. sult was actually more-or-less the Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker The reported price is the post of same as every other election result deputy PM, with a brief in charge of in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive. By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan faces extinction unless it changes. security for the Socialist leader. This is likely to continue as long Milosevic, and reformists who want However, a strong current also In addition, the Socialists are bar- as Serbia’s politicians form new ense negotiations on a new gov- the party to become a modern Euro- flows in the opposite direction, led gaining for other ministries, includ- political parties every time they ernment have divided the ranks pean social democrat organisation. by party veterans enraged by the ing capital investments, Kosovo and disagree with their current party Tof the Socialist Party, which holds After eight years of stagnation, prospect of a deal with Tadic. education, Belgrade media reported. leader (there are currently 342 reg- the balance of power between the the Socialists returned to centre stage Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Tadic has denied talk of horse- istered political parties in Serbia). main blocs and has yet to announce after winning 20 of the 250 seats in the party, recently warned of a crisis trading with the Socialists, maintain- Drawn-out negotiations are also which side they will support. parliament in the May 11 elections. if Dacic opts for the pro-European ing that ministries would go only to the norm. One Belgrade-based “It looks as if the Socialists will With the pro-European and nation- bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ “nat- those committed to working for the Ambassador recently told me he move towards a government led by alist blocs almost evenly matched, ural” ideological partners. government’s “strategic goal”. was also alarmed by the distinct the Democrats,” political analyst Mi- the Socialists now have the final say Markovic, a prominent supporter At the same time, Dacic seems re- lack of urgency among Serbian lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen- on the fate of the country. of Milosevic during the 1990s, is luctant to call off negotiations with politicians. “The country is at a tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such Nikolic believes the Socialists, led seen as representative of the “old- the nationalists. standstill and I don’t understand a move might provoke deeper divi- by Ivica Dacic, will come over to timers” in the party who want to stay “If we don’t reach an agreement their logic. If they are so eager to sions and even split the party.” Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic de- true to the former regime’s policies, with the DSS and Radicals, the par- progress towards the EU and en- Simultaneous negotiations held sire to ensure their political survival. even though these almost ruined the ty leadership will decide on future courage investors, how come they with the pro-European and national- “The group of younger Socialists Socialists for good. steps”, Dacic announced, following go home at 5pm sharp and don’t ist blocs have drawn attention to a gathered around Dacic seems to be Some younger Socialist officials the first session of country’s new par- work weekends?” deep rift inside the Socialists. in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding have voiced frustration over the con- liament on Wednesday. Surely the situation is urgent This divides “old-timers” loyal that these reformists believe the party tinuing impasse within their own Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) enough to warrant a little overtime. THIS ISSUE OF Business Insight Neighbourhood Matters Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: Costs Mounting Football Rebellion conomists are warning that pro- hile the football world watch- longed uncertainty over Serbia’s es events unfold at the Euro- Efuture could scare off investors, lead Wpean Championships in Austria and to higher inflation and jeopardise Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing prosperity for years to come. a soccer rebellion, led by fans, play- “This year has been lost, from the ers and former stars who are enraged standpoint of economic policy,” says by what they see as corrupt leaders Stojan Stamenkovic of the Econom- of the country’s football association ics Institute in Belgrade. leaders. page 5 page 10 2 BELGRADE INSIGHT, Friday, April 21 - Thursday, May 04, 2017 BELGRADE INSIGHT, Friday, April 21 - Thursday, May 04, 2017 3 SERBIA SERBIA Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s saviour or despot? Once a promoter of ‘Greater Serbia’ - now pro-Europe and in favour of regional cooperation - Vučić looks set to tighten his grip on power as Serbia’s new president. BIRN Team leksandar Vučić, Serbian Prime Minister and head of the ruling Progressive Party, won the presidential elections on April 2nd with moreA than 55 per cent of the votes cast - In the April 2016 snap election, SNS won more than 48 per cent of the votes and 131 seats in parliament. Photo: EPA although critics claim the election was In 1995 Vučić was appointed general secretary of the Serbian Radical Party. Photo: Beta marred by irregularities. market jobs, or help my brother in his “That was a process … I made mistakes. event Vučić has refused to term genocide The President-elect is due to assume business,” Vučić said in mid-September I was wrong.