The year they were eaten by the virus

ANTIMASKER - They believe that masks take away people's freedom of speech and then every other type of freedom. Particularly aggressive parents are anti-maskers who signed a petition in August: I don't want my child to wear a mask at school! The recommendation of the Crisis Staff that children constantly wear masks in schools and that they can eventually take them off (when everyone is sitting in the benches and not talking) is therefore very "elastically" interpreted. Whether children wear masks at school or not depends on the personal attitude of teachers and the majority opinion of parents. Well, how do you like it? Therefore, the absence of institutions was replaced by the opinions of unprofessional individuals who gave themselves the right to decide on it. Anti-maskers also claim that masks are unhealthy, in fact toxic, because they say they reduce the flow of oxygen, ignoring the generations and generations of surgeons and doctors who have spent their lives wearing masks. The biggest absurdity is that in Serbia, as well as in some other countries, masks started to be worn first because of the polluted air, and only then because of the virus. Anti-maskers, by the way, do not express a revolt against the extremely polluted air in Serbia, as they organized themselves in the fight against those who want to take away their basic right to deeply inhale Serbian smog.

ANTIVAXERS - The same as anti-maskers, only an older group, there are them in all societies, more or less. According to a public opinion survey by the Globsek organization, 56 percent of Serbian citizens do not trust the vaccine against covid 19. This public opinion survey was conducted in nine countries of Central Europe and the Western Balkans, with more than 1000 respondents from each of those countries participating in it. About 38 percent of all respondents think that there are fewer people suffering from covid-19 than their governments portray, while 34 percent of all respondents think that covid-19 is a "fake" disease. 24 percent of all respondents in nine countries of Central Europe and the Western Balkans think that the vaccine will be used to insert a chip and control people, but most of them are in Montenegro (40%), Serbia (38%) and North Macedonia (35%). , and the least in Hungary (21%) and Poland (24%).

MONTENEGRO ELECTIONS - Proof that it can. After 30 years, the DPS of Milo Đukanović is not in power in Montenegro.

FUND - A term whose basic meaning, according to Štaznača.com, is land, immovable property and the income it brings; the anatomical meaning is: the bottom of a body cavity, e.g. stomach bottom; in theaters by this term they mean their entire property in costumes and decorations. This ambiguous word, however, was pointed out to us by the country's president, Aleksandar Vučić, when it was noticed on social networks that he wears expensive jackets, jackets and sneakers, and his salary is no more than 150.000 dinars. Jackets and jackets from several thousand euros each, sneakers from 500 euros and at a discount. Dejan Bulatović from SSP recalculated: one pair of the president's sneakers can buy 1500 loaves of bread. For every tenth child who is hungry in Serbia, 1500 loaves of bread are like a house. Then the president said that the jackets were being brought to him from the "fund". A convenient word to mislead the public because it has multiple meanings, so who is going to deal with it. It was dealt with by "Vreme" (see the text "The Secret of the President's Closet" by Jovana Gligorijević, no. 1546). Elem, "presidential fund" in the theatrical sense does not exist, there is only the state fund, more popular as the budget, or our pockets.

GORAN VESIĆ - The personification of the city government in Belgrade and its most annoying character. The public was particularly annoyed when he presented his "Book about Belgrade" to the rescuers of the 15-year-old girl Minja D. from the fire on Dorćol, Pavlo Gavura, Lazar Eres, Nemanja Držajić, David Niki and Nenad Janković on behalf of the City Assembly and all the citizens of Belgrade. Vesić, by the way, appears in all forms and aggregate states, as the deputy mayor of Belgrade, as the mayor himself, as a raider of the SNS. As such, he is necessary to the Party, but unsympathetic. It could be said that even the respect of Nebojša Čović as the mayor of Belgrade among the citizens during the era of Slobodan Milošević was significantly higher than that enjoyed by Vesić. Therefore, it will not be a miracle if Šapić is a candidate for mayor. Public opinion surveys are in favor of the fact that the candidate Vesić would be Vučić's gift to the opposition.

ELECTIONS IN THE USA - Aleksandar Vučić participated in Donald Trump's campaign, he signed the Washington Agreement, which is extremely inconsistent with EU policy and UN Security Council resolutions, and he called on American Serbs to vote for Trump. Trump lost, and Vučić lost the side.

JOHNICE - A marijuana farm named after the pier of the same name on the southern coast of Mount Athos, 10 km south of the Hilandara monastery. The marijuana farm in Stara Pazova was gladly visited by some ministers of Vučić's government. From this January affair buried by the corona crisis, it remained completely unclear how it is possible for Predrag Koluvija, otherwise the first accused owner of Jovanjica, alone, without the help of the police and secret services (read the state), to organize such a business. The question of all questions is whether Koluvija called Andrej Vučić, the brother of the president of the state, immediately after his arrest. The Jovanjica affair will have a judicial epilogue, according to the number of announced witnesses with the proverbial inert judiciary, in ten years, that is the opinion of knowledgeable lawyers. Those who read the manuscript of the secret services believe that the verdicts will be passed quickly because the goal is to cut off in time all possible tentacles of the mafia hydra that has wrapped itself around the very top of the state.

KORONA - It will be remembered as a synonym for the year 2020 even though the name of the disease caused by this virus is covid 19. On Monday, December 21, the first two news that appeared on Google when searching for the term "corona" were that the newly elected president of the United States, Joseph Biden received Pfizer's corona vaccine and others, that more and more countries (more than 40) are introducing travel bans and stopping the transport of goods with Great Britain due to the new strain of the corona virus being transmitted, as epidemiologists claim, up to 70 percent faster than previous variants of that virus. By the time this issue of Vremena was closed on Tuesday, December 22, the Government of Serbia had not decided whether to suspend air traffic with Great Britain, but Prime Minister Brnabić said that such a decision would be made "if necessary." Whether the word "corona" will be synonymous in Serbia in 2021 depends on the vaccine; see under vaccine.

CRISIS HEADQUARTERS - The crisis headquarters was first the election headquarters of Aleksandar Vučić (during the state of emergency), just as today it is a fig leaf for defending the state budget by curtailing the work of cafes and gyms. The "holiday" of the Crisis Staff from May 7 to June 21 was an unequivocal call by that "profession" for the citizens of Serbia to go to the polls. KŠ started working again after the elections, since the jump of the epidemiological curve in Serbia was no longer possible to hide. BIRN's discovery that the number of new infections on a daily basis and the number of deaths caused by the corona virus were faked throughout the election campaign meant only one thing: public health was sacrificed for the sake of the election, just as the same health is being sacrificed today so that the SNS state does not goes bankrupt. Nothing could prevent the established rule that the epidemiological curve decreases with the increase of pre-election and electoral activities and vice versa. Just as the number of infected and sick citizens has decreased in recent days with the increase in pre-holiday fever, cafes and restaurants are open again until 20 pm instead of 17 pm, only without music. Or what someone said on the FB profile of Far Away: "Now when the number drops, they introduce the chorus."

HOME TESTS - A complete media hit was the news that the rapid antigen tests of the so-called "Beograd" pharmacies arrived. home tests for corona, ninety-eight percent reliable, a substitute for the PCR test, approved by the Agency for Medicines and costing only 1296 dinars! This was all stated by the director of Pharmacy "Beograd" Jasminka Bjeletić, and she also vividly explained to us how to use a stick to penetrate deeply to the root of the nose, then gently twist it, noting that the tests are easy to use, but that they should be administered by a healthcare professional , she noted in a statement for Tanjug. Now, some media were of the opinion that it was less important about the health worker who should perform the test, some that it was not important at all, so they published the news as they already thought it should be. Some citizens felt the same way about this, some that, some read the articles about "home tests" half way through, some just the title and sub-heading. Only, the "home tests" literally burst into flames in one day. A day later, a warning came from the Crisis Staff that citizens should not be tested themselves, but should see a doctor. Director Bjeletić was more precise in her next statement: these are not home tests and are not a substitute for PCR tests (she denied it herself), citizens must not test themselves. "Beograd" pharmacies sell tests based on the ALIMS solution, but only for professional use. The prime minister gave the final verdict: "The home tests for the corona virus that appeared in pharmacies were not approved by ALIMS and were withdrawn from sale." Whether the test was approved by the Medicines Agency or not depends again on the interpretation of individuals, Jasminka Bjeletić, the prime minister Brnabić, but also countless "homely considerations", of course. ALIMS said that the test is approved for professional use, but does not have a specific CE certificate for self-testing products. So, it was approved, but "inaccurately" advertised. The opposition SSP is demanding the dismissal of Jasminka Bjeletić, who has been identified as the main culprit in "misleading the public". The "home test" case is a reliable picture and occasion, with two lines, about the chronic consideration of semi-professional and non-professional party and other thinkers and the absence of institutions in the state.

LOCKDOWN - Locking, closing, preventing freedom of movement. Lockdown is the British Collins dictionary's word of the year. This dictionary defines "lockdown" as a state of standstill in a country, a suspension of normal public life. Some Serbian dictionary could soon declare this word as the term of the decade. Almost, the suspension of normal public life is in force here. In Serbia, it has absolutely nothing to do with restricting the work of cafes and gyms.

MAFIA - One of the favorite sports of Aleksandar Vučić and his police ministers: announcements of showdowns with the mafia. Since 2012, when he came to power, not a single election cycle, new government or reconstruction of the existing government has passed without phrases about the fight against crime and corruption. On the streets of Serbian cities, however, it is raining like in the nineties. Affaires and evidence of numerous abuses by both regime officials and local powerful people in Serbia remain hidden in Vučić's bizarre version of the deep state. It doesn't matter if you are a Vulin (aunt) or a Jutka or a licensed state arms dealer - for your safety during this kind of fight against the mafia - you don't have to worry. Otherwise, when a firecracker explodes in Serbia, "skaljars" and "kavčani" will be accused, and they are not ours. Others are therefore to blame.

MAKIŠKO FIELD - The biggest water source of the city, which is threatened by another megalomaniacal project of the city administration. By moving the boundary of the narrow sanitary protection zone of the water source and renaming the agricultural land to construction land, the city government plans to build another "Belgrade on water", this time - on Belgrade's drinking water. "We are talking about 700 hectares of public domain land that formed the narrow zone of sanitary protection of the Maki water source," explains architect Dragoljub Bakić. Belgrade no longer has clean air, Belgrade will not even have drinking water.

SNEAKERS - The President of Serbia was photographed with his brother Andrej and son Danilo in the Church of St. Mark with a celebratory cake on St. Nicholas. All three had masks and "zenja" sneakers, which they say can be found at a discount for 500 euros. Twitter users shared the photo with the comment: "Fundus sneakers"; see under fundus.

RAKITA - Example that it can. Macolama on the tube. Activists of the Movement "Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina" and the villagers of Rakita village drilled the pipeline of MHP "Zvonce" in the bed of the Rakita River with mace and "hilti" drills. They only implemented the decision of the Ministry of the Environment, which was not implemented even after a year and a half.

photo: irfan ličina / tanjug

RESPIRATOR - The most expensive Serbian word in a state of emergency, like today's vaccine. The number of ventilators that Serbia had before the onset of the pandemic was declared a state secret, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabić explaining that the number of ventilators in each country is a state secret, but that we have "enough". New ones, she said, are purchased "for every safety and for every eventuality". However, it was one of the first deceptions at the time of the first impact of the corona crisis. Not only is the number of ventilators not a state secret "in every country", which was easily and quickly proven, but the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, revealed to the public just a few hours after the Prime Minister's statement how many ventilators Serbia has: "Now we have 1008 ventilators, three times more than in 2009, and in 20 days we will have another 500."

ASSEMBLY - The most expensive Serbian reality shows, Vučić's version of the American reality show "The Apprentice". Similar to Trump's candidates, Vučić's parliamentary candidates, of whom there are many more than in the American reality show, are competing for a better job in "Vučić's state-company", since they are now only on the "parliamentary" salary. Just as Trump shared life and professional lessons with his candidates, apprentices, in these shows, President Vučić also shares lessons with his apprentices from studios with national frequencies. The executive producer of Vučić's "The Apprentice" is the state of Serbia; write it yourself.

TOYO TYERS - The Japanese tire factory "Tojo Tires" should reach the production of 2023 million tires per year in Indjija by 5. President Vučić said that it is the largest Japanese investment. But because we gave the Japanese 63 hectares of land and 41 million euros in aid for the plant in Indjija. And yes, it will be the only plant of this Japanese company on European soil. Vučić and the Japanese promise that everything in Serbia will be done according to environmental regulations. In Zrenjanin, however, the Chinese tire factory Linglong is under construction, and the Chinese investor was issued building permits before the study of the impact of this industry on the environment was prepared. The RERI (Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment) warns that the state not only did not oblige the Chinese investor to comply with its regulations, but was an accomplice in the violation of the regulations: "The citizens of Zrenjanin, as well as the citizens of the whole of Serbia, still do not know what is the impact of this project on their health", said Jovan Rajić from RERI. It should be remembered - when he sold the Smederevo Ironworks to the Chinese Hestil, Vučić boasted that the Chinese have their own interest here because they have to shut down the iron and steel factories in China: "Because, I guess, of clean air, which I don't understand enough, to tell you honestly, and I would be interested in that, that's their job, their thing."

UNITED AGAINST COVID - In July of this year, three thousand doctors signed a public appeal for the dismissal of the Crisis Staff and a letter addressing the KŠ with objections to their work during the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis headquarters was not replaced, the doctors who signed the petition were replaced, fired and intimidated. In the meantime, the rebel doctors continued to make proposals about the measures that should be introduced to prevent the transmission of the corona virus, or appeal to institutions such as the "Batut" Institute for Public Health. In the latest open letter to the director of "Batuta" Verica Jovanović, they state that "nowhere in Europe and most of the world are citizens deprived of information about the frequency of covid-19 as in Serbia".

VACCINE - The plane with 4800 doses of Pfizer vaccine landed on Tuesday, December 22, at Belgrade's "Nikola Tesla" airport. The National Coordination Team for Immunization has adopted a plan for the preparation and implementation of vaccination. Serbia signed a contract with Pfizer on the supply of 1,8 million vaccines. A new delivery is expected next week, and Pfizer told BIRN that "all contracted quantities, i.e. 1.800.000 vaccines, will be delivered in the next three to six months." As this vaccine is given in two doses three weeks apart, 900.000 citizens will be able to be vaccinated by summer. The Pfizer/Bayontec vaccine, by the way, is the only one that has been approved by ALIMS in our country. In Croatia and Slovenia, however, as well as in the EU, mass immunization starts next week.

WINCH - One of the largest unorganized landfills in the Balkans. It often burns and pollutes the air.

photo: marija janković

POLLUTED AIR - Serbia is first in Europe and ninth in the world in terms of mortality from the consequences of pollution, primarily air pollution. The eight countries before Serbia are: Chad, Central African Republic, North Korea, Niger, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan and Somalia. Serbia is next, and India is in tenth place. According to the AirVisual application, Belgrade was often among the top five, mostly among the top ten capital cities, both last year and this year, and there are days when we are at the top of the list of the most polluted capital cities in the world. Symbolically, on the World Clean Air Day on November 3. Even without this and similar applications, polluted air can be seen and, unfortunately, felt, but Prime Minister Brnabić rejected claims that Belgrade is the most polluted city in the world. She admitted, however, that the problem exists: "We solve all problems, including this one," she said. That is something to worry about.

GOLDEN PHALLUS - Andrej Josifovski, better known as the Pianist, placed his sculpture "Keep light" between two assemblies, the city and republic, and cheered passers-by and people on social networks. The artist and architect is known for his large-format works of art, such as, for example, the figure of Jovan Memedović made of 4000 plastic bottles that he collected in the Sava River and thus drew the public's attention to the polluted rivers in Serbia on World River Day. According to Pianista, the sculpture "Keep light" is a warning to the local society about all the problems that surround us: "It was made in the spirit of large actions of erecting some kind of monuments, fountains, cutting down trees, destroying architecture, polluting rivers... The list is long, and what It is interesting that this is also a candidacy for the only real mayor of this city"; see under goran vesić.

LIFE - By the end of this year, 7800 babies will be born in GAK in "Narodni Front" in Belgrade alone. Where are they born? What awaits them?