Stories about Serbia
Serbian freelancers protest new taxation law that threatens to push thousands into poverty
Told for years that their line of work was not regulated by law and had no framework for taxation, digital workers are now expected to pay hefty taxes in retrospect.
Slander campaign threatens Serbian civil society and independent media
Accusations of complicity in a coup d’état and assassination of the president, as well as death threats have been voiced against prominent civil society organizations, drawing European Parliament's condemnation.
Rape case involving major film star and senior politician reignites Serbia's #MeToo movement
The scandal comes on the heels of a similar development that sparked a new #MeToo movement in Serbia in January 2021.
Serbia expels US neo-Nazi after investigative website Bellingcat outed his location
Queens, New York native Robert Rondo bragged about helping local neo-Nazis restore Serbian nationalist graffiti that had been defaced by anti-fascist activists.
Citizens protest against impunity for online sexual predators in North Macedonia
Public dissatisfaction with the authorities' inaction exploded on the anniversary of the unveiling of a scandal involving a Telegram group for sexual predators called Javna Soba (Public Room).
Famed Serbian film director arrested after former students accuse him of rape
The scandal has captured the Balkans' social media conversation in recent weeks.
Hypocrisy vs history debate follows death of former Yugoslav actress Mira Furlan
The legendary Babylon 5 actress was hounded from her home in Zagreb in 1991 because she opposed chauvinistic nationalism; she rebuilt her life and career from scratch in the USA.
Remembering the Mexican parody songs of the former Yugoslavia
A selection of the greatest hits of the 1960s-1980s YuMex wave.
Why Macron’s tweet on the Serbian Patriarch's death angered so many people in the Balkans
Why would someone who claimed to defend secular, enlightened values invest France's institutional political capital with a figure who symbolized everything that is backward and racist about Serbian society?
In the Balkans, COVID-19 measures may not apply to religious leaders
A bishop's funeral in Montenegro last week drew thousands of maskless mourners.
The importance of ‘unlearning’ the past: Interview with Balkans expert Keith Brown
"Critical thinking [...] liberates us from the illusion that figures in the past imagined their own identity in terms of the nationalisms of their future."
Serbian government first flaunts, then denies having sold weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan
Mixed messages by President Aleksandar Vučić may be an attempt not to antagonise close partners Russia and Turkey.
Netizens across former Yugoslavia celebrate 75 years of women's suffrage
"And women managed to win that right -- be careful not to faint -- under communism."
Serbian cartoons expose political manipulation about COVID-19 vaccines from China and/or Russia
Serbian government has announced that it will provide the population with vaccines against COVID-19 from an undisclosed source, inspiring political cartoons.
Disinformation about Belarus spreads in the Balkans via online portals and social media
Fact-checkers from Serbia and North Macedonia have been detecting and countering disinformation favoring the authoritarian regime in Belarus in the mold of previous propaganda narratives from pro-Kremlin troll armies.
Documentary exposes the threat of facial recognition surveillance in Serbia
Online documentary warns the public about privacy risks emanating from a newly installed video surveillance system equipped with Chinese facial recognition technology.
Serbia protests point to crisis of legitimacy for Vučić government
Serbian authorities unleashed a wave of violence at recent protests in the capital, causing some to wonder whether the government is finally starting to lose its control over the narrative.
The 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre: Remembrance amid genocide denial
“... the glorification of war criminals inflict[s] tremendous suffering on the survivors and their families. Leaders in the region have publicly denied the genocide, even calling Srebrenica a hoax..."
Serbia's first #MeToo trial ends with three-month prison sentence for high-profile predator
Some other women with complaints about the former mayor's behaviour were effectively forced out of the small community.
‘Why did your father die?': Serbia's COVID-19 chaos spills onto Belgrade's streets
"To this day I haven't received his tests. The paperwork said that he died from the corona [virus]. No ventilators were available."
Authorities in Republika Srpska accused of burying genocide memories in tourism bid
The Vilina Vlas hotel hosted unspeakable crimes during Bosnian War in the 1990s. But it is still being billed as a haven for family breaks.