10-13 November 2023
Farmers stage protests in several areas, ruling party officials cause an incident. Having already staged a protest in May this year, Serbian farmers have again taken to the streets because their demands regarding subsidies and other issues have not been met. Farmers have not accepted the invitation of Ministry of Agriculture for talks yet. Following Monday’s protest, a group of men alleged to be supporters and officials of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party blocked the house of one of the organizers of the protest in the village of Bavanište, in Vojvodina, but were forced to leave when other farmers blocked their cars with farm machines. Opposition coalition “Serbia against Violence” in Vojvodina announced that they support the demands of farmers and condemn authorities’ attempts to break up new protests by fraud and force. (N1 Belgrade, 13 November 2023; N1 Belgrade (Serbian), 14 November 2023)
Aleksandar Vučić: If the opposition wins, I will not be president. Vučić stated at the pre-election meeting of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Smederevo on 12 November that, if the opposition wins the parliamentary elections, he would resign as President. “If they win the elections, I will give them a mandate. But I will no longer be president, because I cannot do anything for the citizens of Serbia after that. And I want the people of Serbia to know that,” he added. Vučić is not a candidate in the upcoming elections. (Nedeljnik (Serbian), 12 November 2023)
CRTA polls: For the first time, more citizens gave Aleksandar Vučić a negative than a positive rating. Raša Nedeljkov, director of the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), said “our opinion polls show that there are more citizens who gave Vučić a negative rating than a positive one; there were always more people who thought positively of him, and for the first time after the May tragedies, citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with the direction Serbia is going.” (N1 Belgrade (Serbian), 13 November 2023)
NADA coalition will file a lawsuit against Vučić and SNS. Conservative NADA coalition announced on Monday that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is using “unprecedented manipulation and fraud” by calling supporters of that coalition and falsely presenting themselves and telling falsehoods that they are in the pre-election coalition with Dragan Đilas (from “Serbia against Violence” coalition). NADA will file lawsuit for the offense of false representation and fraud. (Nova.rs (Serbian), 13 November 2023)
Vučić attended Paris Peace Forum, no meeting with Kurti. Vučić said there was no initiative for him and Kurti to meet in Paris. He added “For us it will be important to preserve peace, the life of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, but I don’t think there will be any serious progress, and I don’t think the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) will be established as long as Kurti is in power in Pristina.” Vučić met with French President Macron on the sidelines of the Forum and invited him to visit Serbia. (RTS, 10 November 2023)
BIRN: Belgrade paid for lawyers defending Kosovo Serbs accused of corruption. In at least two court cases in 2021, the Serbian government used its budget to fund the legal defence of defendants in Kosovo courts, documents obtained by BIRN have revealed. The files show that five Kosovo-licensed lawyers, three Albanians and two Serbs, received funds from Serbia’s government to defend Kosovo Serbs accused of corruption-related charges. (Balkan Insight, 13 November 2023)
