Filip Mirilovic

Interview: Nikola Radin

Budget of Belgrade - ATM for the privileged

From the auditing point of view, the biggest failure in the management of the city in the last few years is the absence of a functional management system. There is no clear and consistent connection between set goals, planning and actual spending of budget funds. The performance is almost not measured at all, it is not monitored whether the spent money produced the expected results, and risk management is practically neglected. This is compounded by the fact that laws and regulations are violated at almost every step

From the new issue

Are utilities rising for the citizens of Belgrade because of rigged tenders?

"The money of the citizens of Belgrade is spent according to the political key - for measures that bring quick political points and personal benefit," says Nikola Radin, economist and executive director of the "Belgrade on the Move" organization, for the new issue of "Vremena".

Attacks on journalists

Attacks on journalists: Half of them were carried out by police officers

The crisis reporting from the student and other protests that began in November last year exposed all the readiness of the regime to respond to the work of journalists with physical force and pressure.

Interview: Kerry Morgan

Serbia will have to continuously develop

"It is obvious that the first thing that investors are looking for is a stable and predictable environment, so finding a way through dialogue and reforms to solve the current political challenges in Serbia is very important. However, British investors tell us that they want stability in a broader sense as well. This means professional and well-regulated institutions that can make fair decisions quickly. This means courts that can make objective judgments in trade disputes, without external influences. This means an efficient and transparent system of taxation and administration that minimizes opportunities for corruption"

What is Antifa?

Anti-fascists of all countries

Historical Antifa had an ideological basis in socialism and communism, while contemporary groups include various left-wing tendencies aimed at fighting the far right, racism, neo-fascism and other forms of discrimination, including minority rights and the LGBTQ+ community.

Interview: Veljko Milić

Bullies consider female journalists easier targets

"The situation of male and female journalists has significantly worsened... It is indicative that they are exposed mainly to attacks and excessive use of force by the police. Unfortunately, the police still do not understand that their role at public gatherings is not to prevent journalists from reporting, but on the contrary - to provide safe conditions so that journalists can work."

Nursing homes in Serbia

Controls rare, glitches a lot

A special problem is represented by illegal homes for the elderly, and no one knows their number. "The alarm is raised only in cases where there is an excess or a fire in such a facility, and everything else remains under the radar. Today, none of the citizens or neighbors are interested in what is happening in someone else's yard. Who is allowed to report, when they do not know who is behind the work?", points out Nadežda Satarić.

Myths about protest

Who and why is saying that the Russians are behind the students

The regime needs the European Union. How do you explain to her why the students are protesting and why it is taking so long, while avoiding questions about the actual demands of the protest? By spinning that the protests were orchestrated from the outside - and is there a more useful conductor than the Kremlin? A part of the opposition joined the attempts to delegitimize the protests by claiming that they were the result of "Russian malign influence". They would like to convince Brussels that they are the only alternative to the regime in Serbia

Truth and myths: Serbian-Russian special ties

Both service and company

Invoking Russian intelligence gives legitimacy to claims about the Maidan and the color revolution in Serbia, which the government is promoting. In addition to convincing the already convinced, these narratives also try to influence the pro-Russian protesters - to show that the protests are not just a spontaneous rebellion, but that the European Union is allegedly behind them. Also, in the moments when the intensity of criticism from Brussels on account of the Serbian government's response to the demonstrations has partially increased, this announcement also sends a message from the outside that Belgrade can turn even more towards Moscow if necessary.

Interview: Srdjan Cvijic

Liquidation pits in the heart of Europe

"At the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies of the last century, money began to replace ideology in Yugoslavia, criminal activities increased. Criminals became a social phenomenon, and the secret service began to hire them abroad, giving them immunity in the country. This increasingly produced corrosion within the state. As a symbol of that time, I talk about Arkan in the book."

Media image of Serbia

Permanent working group for the safety of journalists

The president of the High Council of the Prosecutor's Office and member of the SRG, Branko Stamenković, tells "Vreme" that there have been several achievements of the Permanent Working Group since its establishment until today. First of all, he explains, he would single out "building an understanding of the problems that journalists face in their work", which concern possible criminal protection. He adds that it was extremely important for them, as prosecutors, to look at and understand as many circumstances and facts as possible regarding the safety of journalists and to propose more concrete measures after that.

Interview: Veran Matić

Protection of female journalists comes first

"Hate speech is a criminal offense if it is directed at a person who advocates for human rights, but not if it is directed at journalists. To conclude - the existing legal framework gives too much space for an arbitrary and ill-intentioned interpretation of the law, which results in those who harm or intimidate journalists not being held accountable."

Interview: Ana Novaković

I work in the service of the public interest, not the government

"Imagine that the man, Stan Miller, who is a hundred meters away from me and who is the main actor of the story that disturbed the public and the employees of the United Media media, will not come out to talk to the journalist, whose employer he is indirectly, but sends a lawyer to warn her that she may be fired. I could only conclude one thing - that Miller is afraid and that it is true that, at the request of Vučić, he tried to weaken and divide the media within United Media"

Serbian-Chinese relations

Why do you say friendship, but you mean bare interest

From the beginning of 2022 until today, China has invested slightly more than six billion dollars in Serbia through investments and construction - according to the data of the American Entrepreneurial Institute (AEI) think tank. For the sake of comparison, for the same period of time, more than nine billion were invested in Hungary. In the Western Balkans, Serbia leads in terms of the number of Chinese investments, but when you look at the world map on the AEI tool that maps all Chinese investments, you can see that there are still many countries, on different continents, with which China has a "steely friendship".

Summer scams

How do travel agencies cheat people with artificial intelligence?

A fairy-tale beach appears on some social network. Or a restaurant. That's where you'd want to go. There's just one problem - they don't exist

Organized crime

The bloody trail of the tobacco mafia

For years, murders linked to the tobacco mafia remained unsolved. One after another, the heads of criminals involved in the lucrative cigarette business and those who tried to expose it fell. Now the ball has started to unravel

Culture of memory (2): Origins and connections

Krajina and destinies

My parents never allowed the trip to Knin and Croatia to turn into an unattainable nostalgia - for which I am extremely grateful - but stayed within the limits of visiting those who returned. They never talked much about the war and they don't, but were always guided by memories of the pre-war period of their lives. It was only at my great insistence that I began to receive testimonies from the war years over the years

Culture of memory: Students and the police

The repressive dream of every dictatorship

With the imposition of a state of emergency and curfew, the use of the military, and eventually arrests, protesters in Chile were persecuted and punished. Decrees were introduced whereby university rectors were appointed by the army, while campuses were nationalized or privatized. It was only in 1987, near the end of Pinochet's dictatorship, that the students managed to force the regime to make concessions through a new series of protests and restore some kind of limited autonomy.

Organ donation and transplantation (2)

Why the social environment is important

The lack of public education and the absence of a clear strategy for normalizing the conversation about donation make it difficult to change attitudes about organ transplantation. In many cases, families simply do not know what their deceased member's attitude would have been, because they never discussed it. Death is still quite taboo, death is not discussed. This is precisely why most people do not express their views on donation during their lifetime, which makes the decision even more difficult for families when they are faced with a loss.

Interview: Helmut Brandstatter, Member of the European Parliament

The decision on new elections belongs only to Serbia

"We must clearly say to Mr. Vučić: 'The way you are leading this country now, you will never enter the European Union. You must respect the rule of law, other political parties, parliament and free media.'

Protests in Serbia

Flame of discontent

In the months after the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the flames of rebellion spread throughout Serbia. The first protests started in Novi Sad right after the tragedy. The authorities responded with arrests, police cordons and intimidation, but instead of calming down the protesters, new protests followed.

Authority and undermining student blockades

Inserted elements and other attempts

In what way is the regime trying to extinguish the revolt at the faculties from within? How much room for maneuver do they have? How much influence do representatives in SKONUS have on that? How is pressure exerted on faculty administrations? What else can be expected

NoviSpy software and eavesdropping on citizens

State spying on activists

The BIA does not have the legal authority to confiscate and monitor phones on its own initiative, without an express order from the court and the prosecution. But, as BIRN's research shows, she persistently does it

Law on Advertising

Betting houses stronger than the state

There are about 3.600 betting shops in Serbia, which is almost double the number of primary and secondary schools. In smaller towns, besides bakeries and pharmacies, they are mostly the only facilities. But today physical bookmakers are not even needed to develop a gambling addiction as more and more young people are gambling online. What do (not) bring new legal solutions

Interview: Hristina Vojvodić, RERI

EPS does not act on a pollution judgment

We are talking about excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide, a harmful gas that has been scientifically proven to have a negative effect on human health and the environment. It is important for citizens to know that when we talk about excessive emissions, we mean emissions that are as much as six times higher than permitted. Such multiple emissions lead to various consequences for health, with the most serious arising from excessive and long-term exposure to sulfur dioxide. This leads to a significant increase in mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases

Nuclear power plants

A fear-inducing solution

Although the potential use of nuclear energy in Serbia is currently a hot environmental topic, announcements by state officials about the construction of nuclear power plants do not refer to the recent period. The Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, stated a few months ago that this is a long-term project, and that we can eventually talk about 2039 or 2040.

Research: Online Propaganda X

Aljbin Kurti's digital policy

Dominant narratives during the network's research period include highlighting Serbian war crimes in Kosovo, constant provocations, criticism of both the Serbian government and opposition, historical revisionism, use of the Srebrenica Genocide Resolution to characterize Serbs as a genocidal people, promotion of Albanian war crimes from the Kosovo war , denying the crimes of the KLA, but also attacking Albanian members of civil society in Kosovo who are not supporters of Kurti's Self-Determination (pictured)