10-12 December
Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector put in trial operation; Serbia will import natural gas from Azerbaijan. The officials (Aleksandar Vučić, Rumen Radev, Ilham Aliyev and Emanuele Giaufret) put gas interconnection into trial operation together, at a ceremony at the Trupale gas station near Niš. They said that the commissioning of the interconnector will contribute to the improvement of energy security not only in Serbia, but also in the whole of Europe. Interconnector was mostly financed by the EU. (Politika (Serbian), 10 December 2023)
Serbia Against Violence representatives ask police to provide election security. Miroslav Aleksić and Marinika Tepić turned to the Serbian Internal Affairs Ministry with a request that uniformed police officers provide security for the 17 December elections, and safeguard the transportation of election materials to the Republic Election Commission (RIK). Aleksić and Tepić told reporters they made this request so the police would prevent irregularities in the electoral process. (Blic (Serbian), 12 December 2023)
Thousands marched in Belgrade against the demolition of the Fair. Several thousand people marched in Belgrade at the protest “March for the Fair.” The organizers called for the signing of a petition for the protection of the Fair, which will be submitted to the Institute for the Protection of Monuments. The city authorities plan to move the Belgrade Fair from its current location to Surčin in the next five years, but activists and part of the public oppose the demolition of this symbol of Belgrade at its current location. (Danas (Serbian), 10 December 2023)
RT Balkan had joined efforts to discredit the ProGlas initiative. Negative campaign against ProGlas in pro-government media has been ongoing since early November when the initiative was launched. Last week, the Russian state media outlet in Serbia, Russia Today Balkan (RT Balkan) also joined the effort. RT Balkan “investigated” the alleged connections between ProGlas and civil society organizations in Serbia, Soros, CIA and the United States. RT Balkan, in a manner well-known in Serbia, targets civil society organizations in Serbia and the ProGlas initiative. (European Western Balkans, 11 December 2023)
Government drafts bomb threat protocol prior to elections. Serbian government is working on a protocol to deal with bomb threats in schools prior to next Sunday’s elections when some polling stations will be in elementary and high schools. (N1 Belgrade, 11 December 2023)