Western Balkans Overview Jan 20, 2025 – CWBS

Western Balkans Overview Jan 20, 2025 – CWBS

Student protests continue in Serbia

Some 50,000 students and other citizens supporting their demands protested on January 17 outside the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building in Belgrade. Armed with the slogan “Our right to know everything”, the participants expressed their discontent with the way the national TV reports on the situation in the country.

The protest began with a 15-minute moment silence in memory of the 15 people who died when a canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad train station.

The rally at the RTS was one of a series of such events held across Serbia this week. People’s discontent has intensified after another series of attacks on protesters.

The incident on January 16 caused the greatest outrage as a law student in Belgrade was hit by a car whose driver tried to drive through the area despite protesters blocking the road. The victim suffered multiple injuries and ended up in hospital. The driver has been detained.

The students’ demands remain unchanged – the publication of full documentation on the reconstruction of the Novi Sad rail station, the removal of charges against those detained during protests, the prosecution of those who attacked students, and a 20 percent increase in the higher education budget.

The authorities believe that almost all of the students’ demands have been met, but the students deny this claim, continuing to block universities throughout Serbia and taking part in rallies.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, commenting on the protests and student blockades, stated on TV Happy that “all of the students’ demands have been met,” but “this is no longer a topic and no one mentions it,” because “they have a political agenda.”

According to Vučić, preparations are underway in Serbia for a color revolution. “Foreign instructors are doing all this, they come from several Western countries, we are aware of all this, and among those who did illegal work for the Western agent network there are also people from the East,” he noted.

“We will tolerate this until a certain point, and then we will act in line to the rules that the state must respect,” the president said. “We have not raised a baton against anyone, and we will apply state coercion measures only if we have to and if we are forced to do so,” he said.

In Montenegro, ministers responsible for security see demand to resign

A protest was held in Podgorica, which the informal student group “Kamo Śutra?” (Where to Tomorrow?) organized in response to the mass murder in Cetinje, which occurred on January 1.

As reported, on the first day of the new year, a resident of Cetinje shot 13 people, mainly his relatives and friends, before committing suicide.

On the evening of January 16, protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Internal Affairs HQ before marching on toward the government building.

According to police estimates, about 6,000 people took part in the rally.

This is the second Kamo Śutra? event. The first took place on January 5. Then thousands of outraged citizens, primarily youngsters, gathered in Podgorica and Cetinje.

The first demand of the protesters is the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Šaranović and Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Aleksa Bečić, said Marko Vukčević, a representative from Kamo Śutra?

The second demand is to reduce the number of weapons on the streets.

The third demand is that protesters believe the attitude of the police towards citizens needs to be reconsidered.

The fourth demand is about the introduction of civic education in schools.

The fifth, new demand is that protesters believe that institutions should be more proactive in promoting mental health, the spokesman said.

During their meeting with journalists, the students stressed that no political party stood behind them and that they had organized the protests as free people.

However, the Democratic Montenegro party, which is part of the ruling majority and includes Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Bečić and Minister Danilo Šaranović, announced that “it is not true that some informal group of students is demanding the resignation of Bečić and Šaranović,” because “these demands are personally supported by (former Montenegrin President) Milo Đukanović, together with his criminal clans.”

Podgorica, Zagreb to start negotiations on controversial issues late Jan

The agreement was reached during the visit of the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, to Montenegro.

On January 27, the State Secretaries of the Foreign Ministries of both countries will begin consultations on the border in the area of ​​the Prevlaka Peninsula, ownership of the Jadran training sailboat, compensation payments to former prisoners of the Morinje camp, where Croatian prisoners of war were held during the war, changing the name of the swimming pool in Kotor, which now bears the one of a famous water polo player, a former guard of the Morinje camp, and other controversial issues.

While in Montenegro, Grlić Radman once again announced the position of the Croatian authorities on controversial topics. In particular, he emphasized that Jadran belongs to Croatia. As for Prevlaka, on land, as the Croatian minister said, the border “shall not be disputed”, while the border at sea should be demarked during negotiations.

As is known, Podgorica has a different view on these issues. The Montenegrin leadership has repeatedly stated that the Jadran sailboat belongs to Montenegro. As for the border on the Prevlaka Peninsula, some political forces in Montenegro (pro-Serbian ones) consider it necessary not only to negotiate the maritime border, but also to revise the current land border with Croatia in the area.

Without resolving bilateral open issues with Croatia, Montenegro will not be able to successfully negotiate with the EU on its accession as Zagreb is currently blocking the closure of the negotiation chapter related to foreign policy.

Kosovo authorities shut down more “parallel” Serbian institutions

The Kosovo police have run a series of raids on “parallel” Serbian structures that operate as part of the Serbian system. The police operation took place in municipalities in central and southern Kosovo. The establishments were closed down following the raid.

According to the Kosovo police, the operation was carried out to stop the activities of illegal establishments that violated the law and acted as “parallel” Serbian local authorities, post offices, banks, and tax administrations.

“The era of parallel and criminal Serbian institutions in the Republic of Kosovo is coming to an end,” Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla wrote on Facebook.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić decried the police raids on Serbian institutions as “terror” carried out by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

The European Union said Pristina’s closing of Serbian-backed institutions, which came in the midst of the campaign for the February 9 parliamentary elections, was in violation of Kosovo’s commitments to the EU as part of the normalization process. The EU also said it expected the status of Serbian-backed institutions to be resolved through dialogue.

Croatian minister resigns after shooting scandal

Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Josip Dabro has resigned after a video was published in the media showing him firing a pistol into the air through a car window. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has dismissed Dabro from his ministerial duties.

Josip Dabro held the government post as the nominee from the Homeland Movement (Domovinski pokret) party, which, together with Plenkovic’s HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), is part of the ruling coalition.

In his defense, Dabro explained that the incident occurred when he was not a minister, and that the shooting involved a non-combat firearm, using non-combat cartridges, and that he now regrets the incident.

Another scandalous resignation of government minister Plenkovic has further reduced trust in the ruling coalition and HDZ.

Serbia, Hungary agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation in energy sector

The current geopolitical situation and regional problems, as well as strengthening bilateral cooperation, were the key topics of the talks held on January 18 in Belgrade by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with the participation of Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali.

The main focus was on the implementation of infrastructure projects and energy security, given the strategic importance of Serbia and Hungary as energy corridors in the region, Vučić reported on his Instagram.

“Today, the security of natural gas supply for Hungary and Central Europe and low natural gas prices for Hungary are ensured by the Turkish Stream. Serbia is also in this situation, since the supply of natural gas to Serbia is mainly carried out through this pipeline. Therefore, it is a common interest of Hungary and Serbia, which we will never give up, that the Turkish Stream pipeline operates reliably and safely. To this end, we have strengthened our cooperation, realizing that the energy security of Hungary and Serbia can no longer exist without each other,” Péter Szijjártó said in a video address posted on Facebook following the talks. The meeting in Belgrade took place against the backdrop of the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine and the imposition of U.S. sanctions against the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS). In this situation, the Serbian and Hungarian authorities are trying to join forces to ensure the stable operation of the energy sector in both countries.

North Macedonian PM attends Trump’s Inauguration

North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski became one of two European heads of government and the only leader from the Western Balkans to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also came to the event.

During the visit to the US, the Macedonian Prime Minister held a number of meetings with representatives from the Trump administration. In particular, Mickoski met with Richard Grenell, the President’s Special Representative for Special Missions.

“We discussed the latest developments, the challenges we face as a country, and our strategic interests related to membership in the European Union. I also called for greater involvement of our strategic partners in this regard,” the North Macedonian Prime Minister wrote on Facebook.

Experts assessed Mickoski’s visit as a success of Macedonian diplomacy and a chance to deepen relations with the U.S. In addition, Skopje apparently hopes to engage Washington in a positive resolution of the Bulgarian veto on Macedonia’s European integration.