6-9 November 2023
ProGlas – Prominent public figures call public to change reality in Serbia. The group, which includes actors, academics, university professors, and judges gathered to motivate the citizens to take part in the upcoming elections. In their proclamation, they said that Serbia “has become a country of humiliated and privatized institutions, in the shadow of crime aligned with the structures of power and with corruption that has become a way of life”. They said that their intention is to initiate a process to engage everyone in the changes that the country needs and “build a Serbia in which a repeat of this reality is impossible.” (N1 Belgrade, 7 November 2023)
Serbian companies ship sanctioned dual-use tech to Russia, RFE claims. Serbian companies are exporting dual-use goods to Russia that have been targeted by Western sanctions. Dual-use goods can be used for both military and civilian purposes and, among the recipients of these exports from Serbia to Russia is an IT supplier hit with U.S. sanctions in September. According to RFE investigation, this is happening despite a pledge by President Aleksandar Vučić that his country would not serve as a conduit for circumventing U.S. and EU sanctions. (Radio Free Europe, 8 November 2023)
Opposition representatives left the session of the Republic Election Commission. The main complaint of the representatives was that a large number of objections to irregularities at polling stations submitted in the last year’s elections were not accepted because objections were not recorded in the result protocols, but written on separate pieces of paper, many of which were later lost. Opposition representatives now demand that, in the December elections, objections be entered directly into the result protocols and signed by all members of the polling boards. A compromise was later reached, meaning that the president of the polling board will notify who submitted the complaint into the result protocol. (Danas (Serbian), 7 November 2023)
Annual European Commission Report on Serbia detects improvement of preparedness in only one negotiating chapter. The Report of the Commission, released on 8 October, shows that, compared to the year 2022, Serbia has only increased the level of preparedness in one chapter, namely Chapter 17: Economic and Monetary Policy. When quantified, its overall level of preparedness, on a scale from 1 to 5, is now 3.05, while last year it was 3.03. There was no assessment of “backsliding”, which was assigned last year to the chapter related to foreign policy, due to Serbia’s non-compliance with sanctions against Russia. This year, the chapter was given a grade of “no progress”. (European Western Balkans (Serbian), 8 November 2023)
Chief negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina to meet in Brussels next week. The next meeting between Petar Petković and Besnik Bislimi will take place on 16 November. EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajčák visited Pristina this week, meeting with Bislimi and opposition representatives but not with Albin Kurti. He is also expected to visit Belgrade in near future. In October, EU leaders urged Pristina to establish Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, whose Statute is currently being discussed, while Belgrade was urged to work on the de facto recognition of Kosovo. (KoSSev (Serbian), 8 November 2023)