play to the public. the to play dis permanent its reopened history Serbian artand of repository chief the psyche. national Serbia’s in place faded its and interior breathing living, museum’s the between that day. summer’s ablistering on noon at cafes Belgrade of languor the with odds at isutterly site building the world. other awhole entering like feels P making. the in years 15 Museum, National refurbished Serbia’s of preview asneak BIRN gets Srdjan MUSEUM REOPENS NATIONAL SERBIAN ALMOST FORGOTTEN, On June 28, after a 15-year absence, absence, a15-year 28,after On June is however, difference, bigger The labourers, with buzzing and Dusty GARCEVIC of Serbia’s National Museum Museum National Serbia’s of façade renovated freshly the upat looking and fences tion construc the behind assing +381 11 4030 306 114030 +381 - - 1844. in founding its since identity and ture cul Serbia’s modern of shaping in the institution akey artand Yugoslav-era inSerbia, artefacts valuable most the some to home building, the of pening reo grand the of ahead BIRN apreview gave museum, the at PR of head and tor tions to the building’s layout or size.” or layout building’s the to tions altera drastic any –without ditioning con air and fire-safety –security, duced intro were systems new changed, were installations atrium. “The ground-floor imposing inthe explained vanovic HamMilo roof,” the to basement the Game Summit Great The Page 8 “The building was refurbished from from refurbished was “The building cura senior HamMilovanovic, Lidija [email protected] Continued on on Continued Issue No. No. Issue 255 page 5 Friday, June 29 - Thursday, July 12,2018 July 29 -Thursday, June Friday, - - - - - - - National Museum’s permanent display has been absent from Serbia’s cultural life since June2003. since life cultural Serbia’s hasbeenabsentfrom permanent display National Museum’s Countryside Serbian the in Sounds Summer Page 14 BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY INSIGHTISPUBLISHED BELGRADE ORDER DELIVERY TO DELIVERY ORDER [email protected] YOUR DOOR YOUR +381 11 4030 303 114030 +381 Friday • June 13 • 2008 NEWS NEWS 1 9 7 7 Photo: Srdjan Garcevic Srdjan Photo: 1 ISSN 1820-8339 8 2 0 8 3 3 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, June 29 - Thursday, July 12, 2018 BELGRADE INSIGHT, Friday, June 29 - Thursday, July 12, 2018 3 SERBIA SERBIA COMMENT Could Ex-President Nikolic be Serbia’s Comeback Kid? Normalising Ties Essential, EU Tells Serbia, Kosovo Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci at a meeting in Brussels on June 24 with EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Photo: Beta Ahead of a new ropean paths and essential for sustain- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic "I will not hide at all, the people will any new members to "import" oustand- able regional stability”. and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci make a decision about their future,” ing disputes with neighbouring coun- meeting between In its conclusions on the EU's enlarge- agreed at a meeting in Brussels on June Vucic told journalists in the town of tries. Serbia's and Kosovo's ment policy and on the EU-Western 24 to intensify work on comprehensive Kraljevo, Beta news agency reported. Balkans stabilisation and association normalisation of relations in the com- Asked whether that means a refer- presidents due in process, adopted June 26 it urged both ing weeks. endum in Serbia, he said a decision on sides to “continue on their respective “The High Representative and the a referendum would be made after “a The EU Council said it two weeks, the EU European paths, while avoiding that Presidents had an intensive and pro- compromise solution, which is not bad has reminded both either can block the other in these ef- ductive discussion on the framework for citizens, is reached”.