Latest News: Covid-19 in Serbia, the great loneliness of people over 65 under house arrest

Text by: Florentin Cassonnet | Mail from the Balkans

A press review presented in partnership with Le Courrier des Balkans.

Publicity

For the past two weeks, people over the age of 65 have not been allowed to go outside to Serbia in an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19. In buildings in large cities, there are many difficulties in obtaining supplies and loneliness weighs heavily. Latest news • Coronavirus in the Balkans: in Montenegro, on a bridge over the void to provide help

Covid-19 in Serbia: Vojvodina public hospital on the brink of explosion
Providing information on the management of the pandemic and the working conditions of carers is a feat in Serbia. The journalist of the independent nova.rs site, Ana Lalić, paid the price. His report, which we publish here in French, earned him to be arrested by the police for a 48-hour police custody. She was released this morning under pressure from public opinion and media freedom associations.
Covid-19 in Serbia: Gastarbeiters return home, new black sheep

Coronavirus, double punishment for refugees in the Balkans
In the refugee camps, there is no hot water or soap, or even the space necessary to respect the safety distances. Those who cannot find a place in these camps are condemned to live in the cold. In some cities, convenience stores even now deny them entry.
Latest news • Balkan refugees: in Bujanovac, refugees offer help against the coronavirus

Croatia: market closure a disaster for small producers
The Covid-19 epidemic forced the Croatian authorities to close the food markets, which calls into question the very survival of small producers of cheese and vegetables. The trade unions are asking for emergency help from the government, while the large retailers remain open.
Turkey: how will the pandemic affect the economy?
Coronavirus and recession in Montenegro: government does the minimum service

Kosovo: this inexcusable contempt for the political class
The old Kosovo political class has committed an act of "inexcusable contempt". In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, the LDK joined forces with the PDK to bring down the government of Albin Kurti. The blow of mouth of Besa Luci, the editor in chief of Kosovo 2.0 .

Covid-19 in Kosovo: Serb community still cut off from Pristina
The coronavirus will not reunify Kosovo. Health institutions are unable to monitor the spread of the epidemic in northern Serb communities. The Covid-19 cases are not officially notified in Pristina, but in Belgrade.

Kosovo: Kurti exchanges customs tax for the principle of reciprocity
Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti abolished 100% taxation on Serbian products and replaced it with "gradual reciprocity measures". A decision hailed by Brussels, but criticized by all the opposition parties and by Washington.

Croatia: after the Zagreb earthquake, the time for assessments
Striking Zagreb in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, the earthquake of March 22 left serious consequences. At least 7,000 buildings are damaged, including hospitals, museums and universities. Some Croats have taken refuge in temporary accommodation centers or with relatives, others have left the city. State of play.
Balkans: a region at high earthquake risk

In the Roma slums in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the great fear of the coronavirus
In the absence of basic hygiene conditions, access to drinking water and electricity, without more work or money, the Roma in the slums live in fear of the Covid-19 and fear to be the next victims of a humanitarian disaster. Report in Niš, Serbia, and in the Brčko district, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Alen Šeranić, this frontline SAR minister against the coronavirus
Alen Šeranić, Minister of Health of Republika Srpska, is praised for his management of the epidemic in the two entities, something unique since the end of the war. The man succeeded in preventing and reassuring, to the point that some asked that he be in charge of managing the crisis at the national level. Portrait.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Igman arms factory or the chronicle of an announced contamination

Greece: resistance hero Manólis Glézos is dead
It is a symbol of the Greek resistance which has just disappeared. Manólis Glézos died on Monday in Athens at the age of 97. In 1941, he had taken down the Nazi flag which flew on the Acropolis of Athens. Co-founder of Syriza, he had broken with Aléxis Tsípras when the latter accepted the austerity plans of the Eurogroup.

A crossing of Turkey, confined in a bus by time from Covid-19
When the first confirmed case of Covid-19 was announced in Turkey, I had just arrived in Van for a few days of vacation with a friend. Van is located in the far east of the country, near the Iranian and Armenian borders, more than 1600 km from Istanbul where we live. We had to drive back: 28 hours, confined to a bus. Story.

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Newspaper
• Coronavirus
• Serbia

On the same subject

The Balkan press review

In the News: State of emergency in the Balkans against coronavirus

Balkan press review

Featured: Balkans, Churches and Mosques in the face of the coronavirus epidemic

What's new: the Americas react to the spread of Covid-19