Issue No. 226 Friday, April 07 - Thursday, April 20, 2017 ORDER DELIVERY TO Language Central Serbia made Famed YOUR DOOR +381 11 4030 303 Café: Belgrade's easy: Topola, contemporary [email protected] - - - - - - - ISSN 1820-8339 1 international Aranđelovac and artist's legacy on BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY 0 1 melting pot Kosmaj display Page 5 Page 10 Page 13 9 7 7 1 8 2 0 8 3 3 0 0 0 COMMENT Even when the Democrats longas continue to likely is This also are negotiations Drawn-out Surely the situation is urgent Many of us who have experi We feel in-the-know because bia has shown us that (a.) no single no (a.) that us shown has bia party or coalition will ever gain the governa form to required majority negotiations political (b.) and ment, will never be quickly concluded. achieved their surprising result at last month’s general election, quickly itbecame clear that the re sult was actually more-or-less the result election other every as same in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive. as Serbia’s politicians form new political parties every time disagree with they their current party reg 342 currently are (there leader political parties in Serbia). istered the norm. One Ambassador Belgrade-based recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of urgency among politicians. Serbian “The country is standstill at and a I don’t understand their logic. If they are so eager to progress towards the EU and en theycome how investors, courage go home at 5pm sharp and don’t work weekends?” overtime. little a warrant to enough Students keep up pressure EDITOR’S WORD Predictability Political By Mark R. Pullen elections Serbian numerous enced rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election re sults and post-election moves. our experience of elections in Ser - - - - - - - - - - Serbia's - economicNEWS on "Vučić dictatorship" strategy As the media needsNEWS and government tweaks, not “The situation in the party seems “Dacic will eventually side with Nikolic agreed: “The question is Fearing they might not cross the Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkoba The reported price is the post of In addition, the Socialists are bar Tadic has denied talk of horse- At the same time, Dacic seems re reach an agreement “If we don’t Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) Source: put out various a U-turn party over which way to turn. extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lag gards that we need to move out of one Socialist shadow,” Milosevic’s Party official complained. in a bid to guide his party into Tadic the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many offi cials may oppose that move.” will the party split or ‘old- back down,” he noted. timers’ threshold to enter parlia 5-per-cent ment, the Socialists teamed up with Association of Pensioners and the the led by business United Serbia Party, man Dragan Markovic “Palma”. bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats. of deputy PM, with a brief in charge security for the Socialist leader. gaining for other ministries, includ ing capital investments, Kosovo and education, Belgrade media reported. trading with the Socialists, maintain ing that ministries would go only to those committed to working for the “strategic goal”. government’s negotiations with luctant to call off the nationalists. with the DSS and Radicals, par ty leadership will decide on future steps”, Dacic announced, following par new country’s of session first the liament on Wednesday. - - - - theories about - Serbia relies heavily who is behind the page 10 anti- Vučić protests on foreign direct in Serbia, students investment (FDI), but it should be a starting say they will point – not a dead hile the football world watch es events unfold at the Euro However, a strong current also However, Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of Markovic, a prominent supporter Some younger Socialist officials Neighbourhood Matters faces extinction unless it changes. flows in the opposite direction, led by party veterans enraged the Tadic. prospect of a deal with recently warned of a crisis the party, if Dacic opts for the pro-European “nat bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ ural” ideological partners. of Milosevic during the 1990s, is seen as representative of the “old- timers” in the party who want to stay policies, true to the former regime’s even though these almost ruined the Socialists for good. have voiced frustration over the con tinuing impasse within their own Football Rebellion Football continue to take Austria and pean Championships in Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing led by fans, play a soccer rebellion, enraged ers and former stars who are by what they see as corrupt leaders football association of the country’s leaders. end. W Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008 Issue No. 1 / Friday, - - - - to the streets until - their demands are Srđan GARČEVIĆ met. ne major economic is- page 5 sue on the Serbian elec- tion campaign trail was Filip RUDIĆ whether or not the gov- ernment's reliance on et Out! Get out! Oforeign direct investment (FDI) is a sus- conomists are warning that pro over Serbia’s uncertainty longed “This year has been lost, from the Get Out!” thou- tainable and realistic strategy for devel- After eight years of stagnation, the pro-European and nation With Nikolic believes the Socialists, led “The group of younger Socialists Business Insight Costs Mounting future could scare off investors, lead investors, lead future could scare off to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come. says standpoint of economic policy,” Econom the of Stamenkovic Stojan ics Institute in Belgrade. to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan to Serbia’s Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euro pean social democrat organisation. the Socialists returned to centre stage after winning 20 of the 250 seats in elections. parliament in the May 11 alist blocs almost evenly matched, the Socialists now have the final say on the fate of country. by Ivica Dacic, will come over to if only out of a pragmatic de Tadic, sire to ensure their political survival. gathered around Dacic seems to be adding said, Nikolic majority”, the in that these reformists believe the party sands voices oping the economy. E - - - - to the rhythm The country has focussed on attract- - of drums have ing foreign investment and remov- echoed through ing state influence ever since Serbian the centre of Belgrade every evening strongman Slobodan Milošević was “G Friday • June 13 2008 since Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Min- toppled in 2000. During the presiden- ister, won the April 2nd presidential elec- tial campaign PM Aleksandar Vučić tion in Serbia. highlighted his government's achieve- ments in drawing foreign investment THIS ISSUE OF into the country. Belgrade Insight IS SUPPORTED BY: IS SUPPORTED Continued on page 2 The protests were mainly attended by young people and students. Photo: Beta The government-reported level of on a new gov ense negotiations ernment have divided the ranks “It looks as if the Socialists will Simultaneous negotiations held This divides “old-timers” loyal Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists Tadic Lure of government, old pro-EU While younger Socialists support joining a new, over the prospect. revolt Milosevic loyalists threaten in Belgrade By Rade Maroevic FDI last year was around €2 billion, the which holds of the Socialist Party, the balance of power between the blocs and has yet to announce main which side they will support. move towards a government led by the Democrats,” political analyst Mi lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such a move might provoke deeper divi sions and even split the party.” with the pro-European and national ist blocs have drawn attention to a deep rift inside the Socialists. T highest since Vučić's Serbian Progres- COMMENT sive Party (SNS) assumed power in 2012. However, it was still below the FDI inflows from before the global crisis of 2008. Higher education is reinforcing A significant proportion of the invest- ments were poured into labour-inten- sive industries, where government sub- Kosovo's ethnic divide sidies are high. This led to an increase in the employment rate from around 35 for the Ministry of Education to address While this was one of the first points per cent in 2012 to around 45 per cent in Despite years of international efforts the situation. agreed between the two governments 2017. aimed at integration, the system of higher As well as being affected by corrup- already in 2011, it has failed in the im- Opposition candidates, including tion, political collusion and poor levels plementation phase, however. Vuk Jeremić and Saša Radulović, ar- education in Kosovo continues to reflect of performance, universities in Kosovo This failure has had obvious negative gued for greater state involvement in also remain ethnically separated: de- consequences for the job opportunities the economy and the reduction of sub- and replicate the country's deep ethnic spite major international efforts, this of young graduates, both Serbs living in sidies for foreign investors, which they divisions. separation has deepened since hos- Kosovo and Albanians living in Serbia. see as excessive and even disadvanta- tilities in Kosovo ended, although the While discussions are still ongoing, geous for local investors. Ervjola SELENICA demic, persistent and structural prob- topic remains largely absent from pub- side part blames the other for obstruct- Their criticism of Serbia's develop- lem that has only worsened in the last lic debate.