Balkan Press Review
In the News: in Serbia, how Aleksandar Vucic prepares his show of force
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, January 4, 2023. AP - Darko Vojinovic
Text by: Courrier des Balkans Follow | Philippe Bertinchamps
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It must be "the biggest demonstration in the history of Serbia". Destabilized by the wave of citizen anger that followed the killings that left 18 dead in early May, Aleksandar Vučić summoned his supporters Friday night in Belgrade. Thousands of buses are commandeered, sandwiches are planned and the participation of officials is "highly recommended". A week earlier, a monster citizens' demonstration took over the streets of Belgrade. But for the regime-backed media, the streets of the capital were almost empty that night. Deciphering a propaganda system.
In Montenegro too, cases of violence involving young people or adults are increasing. In schools or on the streets, violence is trivialized. But is this really a phenomenon amplified by the media, as the authorities claim? One thing is certain: weapons are proliferating in Montenegro, without a licence, and no one knows their exact number. Police have tightened controls since the Cetinje massacre in July 2022, but the campaign to disarm the population is still stalling.
Elections divide Istanbul's families
In Turkey, after the first round of the presidential election, families are divided. Thus, the family of Nurullah, 28 years old. While he and two of his brothers support Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, their parents and the fourth brother chose Erdoğan. Chronicle of the life of an ordinary family in Istanbul, where two visions of Turkey are opposed.
Ghosts of History
Are today's social realities determined by the past, or rather by the image we have built of this past? The geographer Beatrice von Hirchhausen tracked down these "phantom borders" that continue to haunt Romania. A way of questioning the meaning of the notions of "Balkans" or "Central Europe". Maintenance.
Theater of fierce fighting between Ukrainians and Russians, Bakhmut, in the Donbass, was, in the eighteenth century, the ephemeral capital of New Serbia and Slavo-Serbia. This experience is often evoked by Serbian volunteers leaving to fight on the Russian side... Let's take a look back at a little-known story.
Art in step and ecstasy in love
European Capital of Culture in 2023, Timișoara, Romania, wants to bring street art to heel. The town hall of the capital of Banat intends to drastically tighten the conditions of activity of artists performing in the public space, while subjecting their performances to prior censorship. Artists are concerned about these surveillance methods.
It is in sevdah, traditional music of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which literally means a "state of love ecstasy", that Božo Vrećo, born in 1983 in Foča, drew the strength to heal wounds, sing of departed loves and regain the strength to live. Interview with the man who defines himself as a "missionary of the soul".
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Read on on the same topics:
- Serbia
- Press review
- Aleksandar Vucic
- Turkey
- Romania
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina