24 February – 1 March 2024
Belgrade City Assembly session re-scheduled again. The constitutive session of the Belgrade City Assembly was deliberately postponed for a second time on 1 March with outgoing Mayor Aleksandar Šapić. Session will be re-scheduled the for 3 March, the final deadline to constitute the City Assembly. The outgoing Mayor said earlier that the ruling coalition decided to raise the level of legitimacy and try to reach an agreement with Branimir Nestorović’s “WE – The Voice from the People” movement, but added that things might have changed because the movement broke apart in the meantime. (N1 Belgrade, 1 March 2024)
Final ODIHR report on elections published, domestic actors react. The report was leaked to the media on 27 February and officially published on 28 February. Opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition stated that “the final ODIHR Report on the Serbian December elections confirmed all the election irregularities that we have pointed out”. “This report gives full legitimacy to the opposition’s request for an additional investigation into the Belgrade elections”, this coalition added. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said in a press conference that the report “puts an end to the story of electoral fraud”. (Danas (Serbian), 27 February 2024)
Tepić: Freedom House report yet another confirmation of election fraud. The new report of the Freedom House international organization clearly shows that Serbia is the negative leader in Europe in terms of threats to rights and civil liberties, said Marinika Tepić. In regard to the threats to rights and civil liberties in Serbia, Tepić pointed to “election fraud, corruption, suppression of the judiciary and media, and retaliation against opposition members.” In its latest report Freedom House said Serbia remained a “partly free country,” but noted that it is among the countries that recorded the biggest drop compared to last year. (NIN (Serbian), 1 March 2024)
Serbian military trade union leader detained after Minister’s criticism. The leader of the Serbian Military Union, Novica Antić, along with two of his colleagues, were detained on unspecified charges, two weeks after the country’s defence minister said trade unions for military personnel should be abolished. Antić has been dismissed from the Serbian Army twice in recent years. He was released on 29 February, but then re-detained on 1 March. (Balkan Insight, 27 February 2024)
Poll shows Kosovo Serbs feel unsafe. The poll, carried out by Kosovo-based NGO Aktiv, shows that 83.6 percent of Kosovo Serbs do not trust parties and politicians and the more than 95 percent think the situation in Kosovo is not good. According to the poll, 31 percent said they do not see themselves remaining in Kosovo. Almost 90 percent said they and their families were not safe last year. The poll also showed that the Serbs trust local Serbian-language media more than they trust Belgrade-based national media. (Voice of America (Serbian), 29 February 2024)
Hovenier: US dissatisfied with quality of partnership with Kurti’s government. US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said his government could not have expressed more clearly its dissatisfaction with the quality of partnership with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government. He said the Kosovo government paid very little attention to the concerns they voiced over the implementation of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) regulation on cash transactions. Hovenier added that his country will not give unreserved support to any Kosovo government. (RTS (Serbian), 29 February 2024)
Vučić: Sanctions on Russia not included in Tirana summit declaration. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told reporters that discussions on the draft declaration took “all day and all night” and that, at Serbia’s request, the points regarding the imposition of sanctions against Russia and Russia’s malign influence were removed from the proposed text. “I had a special talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and we will have a separate bilateral meeting, and as a country that has been through difficult periods, we can understand each other,” said Vučić, adding he hopes Serbia will continue to build friendly relations with Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe (Serbian), 28 February 2024)
