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BOBAN JEVTIĆ: Screenwriter

BRANISLAV ŠOVLJANSKI: News Director, N1 Srbija

September 2026 | ISSUE Nº 118 | FREE COPY

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SWISS NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION

REFLECTIONS

I LEAVE THIS CHAPTER AS A FREE MAN

Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

Serbian politician

PROF. DR. ĐURO MACUT

SWISS NATIONAL DAY SPECIAL

BRANKO RUŽIĆ

BRAZIL IS SERBIA’S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER IN LATIN AMERICA H.E. MARIA CLARA DE ABREU RADA Ambassador of Brazil to Serbia

MONTENEGRO AT EUROPE’S DOOR ANDRIJA MANDIĆ

Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro

30th BIRTHDAY OF THE YOUTH SPORTS GAMES ZDRAVKO MARIĆ

President of Plazma Youth Sports Games

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CONTENTS

September 2026

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AMBASSADOR’S INTERVIEW

BRAZIL IS SERBIA'S LARGEST TRADING PARTNER IN LATIN AMERICA H.E. MARIA CLARA DE ABREU RADA

MAGAZINE #118 / September 2026

Ambassador of Brazil to Serbia

CONTENTS 8

BELGRADE, A PLACE OF FRIENDSHIP, DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION PROF. DR. ĐURO MACUT

REFLECTIONS

Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

POLITICAL INTERVIEW

I LEAVE THIS CHAPTER AS A FREE MAN BRANKO RUŽIĆ Serbian politician

SWISS INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECIAL

ECONOMICS INTERVIEW

OVER 600 SWISS COMPANIES OPERATE IN SERBIA JELENA SADLER

Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

MEDIA INTERVIEW

NO COMPROMISE ON EDITORIAL FREEDOM BRANISLAV ŠOVLJANSKI

MONTENEGRO AT EUROPE’S DOOR ANDRIJA MANDIĆ

POLITICAL INTERVIEW

Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro

News Director, N1 Srbija

SPORTS INTERVIEW

MORE THAN A GAME ZDRAVKO MARIĆ

President of Plazma Youth Sports Games

Featured countries in this edition: BRAZIL / CROATIA / INDIA / INDONESIA / ISRAEL / IWC / JAPAN / MEXICO / MONTENEGRO / NORWAY / SERBIA / SLOVAKIA / SWITZERLAND / UK / UKRAINE / UNICEF

Published on 21st September Director2026 ROBERT ČOBAN robert.coban@color.rs Director ROBERT ČOBAN Editor in Chief robert.coban@color.rs DRAGAN NIKOLIĆ dragan.nikolic@color.rs Editor-in-Chief

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Next issue: #119 October 2026

FOREWORD

longside the disturbing scenes at the commemoration and funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, the footage from Red Star Belgrade’s stadium was particularly shocking. Above all, there was the image of Ratko Mladić accompanied by the words “Direction: Potočari”, which, in a way, acknowledges everything that has been denied by Belgrade for the past three decades: Serbia’s involvement in the war in Bosnia and its support for the crimes committed there in the name of the Serbian people. Everyone understood what “Direction: Potočari” meant. Another banner, however, was less widely understood. The quote, “Take that down! Climb up there, man, don’t make me tell you ten times,” belongs to General Ratko Mladić, who said it upon entering Srebrenica. The moment was captured on camera, allowing Red Star supporters, 31 years later, to refer back to it while mourning the general’s death. And perhaps even that might somehow have passed unnoticed, had the general’s 1995 order not referred to the removal of a street sign bearing the name of Reuf Selmanagić Crni, a Muslim from Srebrenica and a member of the Yugoslav Partisan resistance during the Second World War. History remembers him as a man who saved his Serbian neighbours and fellow townspeople from the Ustaše, gathering them together, hiding them and helping them reach liberated territory. General Mladić never learned that history lesson during his lifetime. Neither did the Red Star supporters. And so we find ourselves, like mindless barbarians, celebrating destructive orders and tearing things down simply because they bear a different name, without stopping to consider that behind that

name may be someone to whom we owe not merely a street, but a monument in Belgrade. Two weeks later, similar scenes unfolded on the streets of Pristina and other cities across Kosovo. Mass demonstrations and unrest followed the verdict handed down by the Hague tribunal against Hashim Thaçi and other former KLA commanders. Tears and bowed heads on the streets of Pristina, shattered windows at the government building, and unrest outside the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague: these were the images that followed the first-instance verdict against the four former Kosovo leaders on 16 September, sentencing them to a combined 81 years in prison for war crimes. Hashim Thaçi, Kosovo’s former prime minister and president and a former commander, together with three other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), stood trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999. “They bear criminal responsibility for the war crimes of unlawfully detaining 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, the torture of 303 and the murder of 96,” the judgment stated. The victims included Kosovo Albanians regarded as political opponents or collaborators with the Serbian authorities, as well as Serbs and Roma. The verdict against Hashim Thaçi and the others deprived Serbian nationalists of one of their longstanding arguments: that the international tribunal in The Hague is “anti-Serb”, prosecuting only Serbs while acquitting everyone else. The reactions in Pristina to Thaçi’s conviction and those in Belgrade during Ratko Mladić’s funeral are two sides of the same Balkan syndrome, according to which there are “our” criminals and “theirs”. Ours are the good guys; theirs are not. Whenever I see scenes like these, I think of American films about Nazi war criminals who were tracked down and brought to trial decades later, Music Box, for example. Outside the courthouse, there are always demonstrations by people standing in solidarity with the victims, never by those supporting the perpetrators. In the “civilised world”, after all, that sort of support is kept “behind closed doors”, or these days perhaps expressed on social media through fake profiles. Never openly in public, never under one’s own name. That rule does not apply in the Balkans. We demand freedom for “our” criminals and punishment for “theirs”. And as long as that remains the case, we will remain far removed from both the European Union and anything resembling a normal society.

Robert Čoban

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Photo: Print Screen

Crime and Punishment

by United Nations

STATEMENT

Statement by United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Chaloka Beyani, on Ratko Mladić and genocide denial NEW YORK, 8 SEPTEMBER 2026

CHALOKA BEYANI Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide

Photo: United Nations

nited Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Chaloka Beyani is following with concern the public expressions of genocide denial and glorification of convicted war criminal, the deceased Ratko Mladić, in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The largescale public commemoration of Mladić, including the participation of political figures and official ceremonial elements, is both deeply inappropriate and profoundly disturbing. It relativizes serious crimes under international law, assaults the dignity and experiences of victims and survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mladić was judicially found guilty of. It is incompatible with efforts to advance accountability, mutual understanding, and sustainable peace in the region. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice determined conclusively that a genocide was committed in Srebrenica in 1995. In his capacity as a commander of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), Mladić was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war by ICTY in 2017 and sentenced by the Tribunal to life imprisonment. The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal

Tribunals affirmed the convictions on 8 June 2021. This conviction further reinforced that criminal accountability for international crimes, including the crime of genocide, is individual and cannot be collectively attributed to a community as a whole. The facts established by ICTY do not get extinguished by one’s death. Special Adviser Beyani echoes the statement made by the Secretary-General on the passing of Ratko Mladić, and his call to all those in positions of power to refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes committed by him and which have been adjudicated. Special Adviser Beyani notes with regret the persistence and rise of genocide denial, the glorification of Mladić and the crimes he committed, and the alarming participation of public officials and institutions in these acts. The Special Adviser calls for prompt accountability in such cases, including for any use of language that incites hatred, and he stresses the important role of media in this regard. Building a society that prioritizes the prevention of atrocity crimes begins with affirming the reality and truth of what happened in the past. This includes acknowledging the pain and suffering of all victims. The voices of those championing such a future must be louder and stronger than those who deny the truth of the past. People across the region deserve a future free of fear, in which the painful legacy of wartime strengthens the resolve to prevent such darkness and atrocities from ever recurring.

AMBASSADOR’S INTERVIEW

by Mijat Kontić

Brazil is Serbia’s Largest Trading Partner in Latin America The Architecture of Universal Dialogue: How Brazilian Diplomatic Tradition Shapes Global and Regional Partnerships

riginally conducted for the Diplomata television programme, this in-depth conversation with Her Excellency Maria Clara de Abreu Rada, Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Republic of Serbia, explores the expanding ties between Brasília and Belgrade. Grounded in Brazil’s long-standing diplomatic tradition of international law, dialogue, and universal engagement, Ambassador Abreu Rada discusses opportunities for deeper cooperation in agriculture, high-tech innovation, renewable energy, and investment, as well as prospects for further engagement in the lead-up to Belgrade Expo 2027.

Your Excellency, your career has spanned multiple continents and multilateral organisations. How has this broad exposure shaped your diplomatic philosophy, and how does it guide your work here in Serbia?

forms the very foundation of our diplomatic philosophy and guides our professional ethic. Brazilian diplomats undergo rigorous training focused heavily on international law, international affairs, and history. Throughout

BRAZIL IS A RELIABLE, OPEN, AND STEADFAST FRIEND Thank you for having me. To answer that, I must begin by highlighting a core characteristic of Brazil: we are a country that is naturally open, welcoming, and deeply transparent. This openness

my career, I have had the privilege of serving across diverse postings—including Beijing, Geneva, Budapest, and Tirana—before assuming my current post as Ambassador in Belgrade. These

varied experiences deepen our understanding of global diversity, enabling us to offer a constructive, open dialogue to our international partners. Brazil maintains diplomatic relations with every UN member state, which is a major asset. It demonstrates that we are open to different realities, committed to active dialogue, and grounded in a strong ethic of mutual respect. Turning to your assignment in Belgrade, how do you assess current opportunities, and how do you view Serbia’s role within Brazil’s engagement across Europe?

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Ambassador Aleksandar Ristić, Serbia’s Ambassador in Brasília, to build complementary two-way investment flows.

I view current challenges and opportunities as two sides of the same coin. While relations between Brazil and Serbia have always been exceptionally warm, there is immense untapped potential to expand them further. We have significant room to deepen cooperation across new technologies, innovation, trade, cultural exchange, and tourism. Serbia holds a unique position as a candidate country navigating EU integration while simultaneously maintaining a balanced, multivector foreign policy that engages with partners across the Global South. This broad outlook creates valuable points of alignment with Brazil. Furthermore, Serbia offers a strategic gateway for Brazilian business expansion into the wider Western Balkan market. The bilateral friendship between Brazil and Serbia has deep historical roots dating back to 1938. What key historical milestones define this relationship, and how are high-level contacts driving progress today? Our history is defined by consistent demonstrations of friendship and solidarity. In the 1960s, Yugoslavia became one of the first countries to establish its embassy in Brazil’s new capital, Brasília—a deeply symbolic gesture that remains remembered today. Similarly, Brazil maintained an uninterrupted diplomatic presence in Belgrade throughout the difficult crisis years of the 1990s, never closing its embassy. Our Serbian friends frequently recall this steadfast commitment with great appreciation. Building on this strong historical foundation, our bilateral relations have recently intensified. Following Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić’s visit to Brasília, where he met with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, we opened new avenues for collaboration in agricultural cooperation, technology, and economic exchanges. Regarding regional stability and international law, what is Brazil’s stance on Serbia’s EU integration and its territorial integrity? Brazil remains consistently supportive of Serbia’s EU integration path, as well as its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Brazil does not recognise Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.

CULTURE IS OUR MOST EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENT FOR BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER This position is rooted in fundamental principles of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244. For Brazil, adherence to international law, respect for sovereignty, and peaceful negotiation are non-negotiable principles. We firmly believe that sustainable solutions can only be reached through open dialogue, mutual respect, and strict observance of international legal frameworks. Brazil is globally recognised for its leadership in environmental diplomacy, from the Rio Earth Summit to the Paris Agreement. How does Brazil integrate sustainability into its broader economic policies, and what opportunities exist for joint initiatives with Serbia? For Brazil, the climate agenda is inseparable from social and economic development. Environmental protection must go hand in hand with energy transition, social inclusion, and sustainable economic growth. Brazil possesses one of the world’s highest levels of biodiversity, an energy matrix dominated by renewables, and advanced agricultural capabilities. Sustainability is embedded directly into our economic policy. There is rich potential for cooperation with Serbia in sustainable energy, biofuels, water management, and green technologies. Connecting

universities, scientific institutions, and think tanks between our two countries could accelerate joint research and the transfer of innovation in these fields. Brazil is Serbia’s primary economic partner in Latin America. How can both nations expand commercial exchange and mutual investments? While Brazil is currently Serbia’s largest trade partner in Latin America, trade remains concentrated in a limited number of sectors, such as coffee and basic commodities. Our goal is to diversify the trade basket by opening the Serbian market to a broader range of Brazilian agricultural and manufactured exports, while identifying Serbian products that can enter the Brazilian market. Technical and operational discussions between our respective agricultural standards authorities are currently progressing well. Beyond trade, investment represents a strategic pillar. NC Group, the Brazilian owner of Galenika, is a prime example of successful Brazilian foreign direct investment in Serbia. Galenika’s strong operational track record demonstrates the Serbian market’s strength to other prospective Brazilian investors. Conversely, we are actively working to encourage Serbian corporate investment in Brazil, coordinating closely with

Belgrade will host Expo 2027 under the theme “Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All”. How does Brazil plan to participate and leverage this global platform? The core themes of Expo 2027— sport, music, and play—align perfectly with Brazil’s cultural identity. Music, dance, and athletics are natural expressions of our national character. Preparations for Brazil’s engagement are underway, and we intend to utilise Expo 2027 to highlight Brazilian innovation in smart mobility, healthcare, sport, and culture. Beyond technology, Expo 2027 offers an ideal venue to expand tourism and promote deeper cultural understanding between Brazil, Serbia, and the wider region. Speaking of culture, how does Brazil plan to foster deeper intersocietal connections with the Serbian public? Culture is our most effective instrument for bringing people together. Brazilian society is fundamentally multicultural—formed by Indigenous peoples, European settlers, African traditions, and generations of global immigrants. This rich blend defines our music, dance, cuisine, and social lifestyle. Through our cultural diplomacy in Serbia, we aim to present this diversity through live musical performances—spanning Bossanova to Samba—dance workshops, and artistic exhibitions. Sharing our optimism and joy of life (joie de vivre) with the Serbian people builds genuine emotional connections that reinforce formal diplomatic ties. To conclude, Your Excellency, what is your long-term vision for Brazil-Serbia relations, and what message would you like to share with the citizens of Serbia? My team and I are committed to adding another positive chapter to the long history of Brazil-Serbia friendship. We have fertile ground for cooperation across economic, scientific, and cultural fields. My message to the Serbian people is simple: Brazil is a reliable, open, and steadfast friend. We extend a friendly hand across all circumstances, and we are here to build a shared, prosperous future together.

Belgrade, a Place of Friendship, Dialogue and Cooperation Sixty-five years after the historic First Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, Belgrade once again had the privilege of welcoming friends from different parts of the world and serving as a place of dialogue, mutual respect and understanding PROF. DR. ĐURO MACUT Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

or Serbia, the commemorative gathering marking this important anniversary represented far more than a reminder of a significant chapter in the history of international relations. It was also a reaffirmation that we remain an important part of this community today, and that the principles which brought countries together in Belgrade in 1961 — peace, sovereignty, equality, dialogue, and the right of every nation to freely choose its own path – are just as relevant today.

The world has changed profoundly over the past six and a half decades. New political and economic centres have emerged. Technology has transformed our societies. The challenges we face have become more complex and increasingly interconnected. Yet the need for dialogue has not changed. Nor has the need for the voice of every country, regardless of its size, population or economic strength, to be heard and respected. That is precisely why I believe that the legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement should not be viewed merely as part of our shared history, but also as an opportunity to build the future on those foundations.

THE NEED FOR DIALOGUE HAS NOT CHANGED There is, however, an important distinction to be made: non-alignment is not the same as neutrality. Serbia is not neutral when it comes to the fundamental principles of international law. Our position is clear. We stand for respect for international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful

resolution of disputes. We cannot be neutral in the face of violations of peace and international law. Non-alignment, in the tradition we value and to which we belong, means remaining open to cooperation with everyone, on an equal footing and with full respect for every country. These are the principles on which we seek to build our relations, and this approach is fully consistent with Serbia’s national interests and strategic objectives. Our relations with the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement are already producing very tangible results. Their principled respect for Serbia’s territorial integrity, as well as the position taken by a large number of these countries regarding Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, is of exceptional importance to us. Many of these states know from their own history what it means to struggle against colonialism, apartheid, domination and injustice, and therefore have a particularly strong understanding of the importance of protecting a state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. But our cooperation goes far beyond political support. Through initiatives such as the “World in Serbia” programme, young people from partner countries come to study at Serbian universities, creating ties that can last for generations. At the same time, the economic potential of cooperation with the Global South is enormous — from agriculture and energy to healthcare, infrastructure, digitalisation and emerging technologies. We should not pretend that we live today in the era of former Yugoslavia, nor that Serbia possesses the same capabilities it had at that time. The world has changed, and so have we. But Serbia still has a great deal to offer. In the past, we sent our engineers and construction companies across the world. Today, we export knowledge, technology and digital services as well. Serbian companies can build factories, develop infrastructure, export agricultural products and provide sophisticated services thousands of kilometres away from Serbia. In today’s interconnected digital world, distance is no longer the obstacle it once was. Our responsibility as a Government is to open those doors politically and create opportunities for Serbian companies. Whether we are talking about exporting agricultural products to Algeria, a Serbian company participating

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REFLECTIONS

in the construction of a factory in Nigeria, or our IT sector entering new markets, these relationships ultimately have a very concrete purpose: new jobs, new markets and new opportunities for the people and economy of Serbia. At the same time, none of this is at odds with Serbia’s European path. On the contrary, our European path and our cooperation with the countries of the Global South rest on many of the same values – respect for peace, dialogue, equality, cooperation and international law. Serbia remains firmly committed to European integration. But as a sovereign state, we also have both the right and the responsibility to cultivate friendships around the world. As President Aleksandar Vučić has emphasised on many occasions, Serbia does not forget those who stood by us when times were difficult. There is no contradiction in welcoming European leaders to Belgrade while at the same time engaging with the presidents and prime ministers of countries in Africa, Asia and other parts of the Global South. On the contrary, I believe this demonstrates the strength and credibility of Serbia’s position. Under President Vučić’s leadership, Serbia has developed the capacity to engage in dialogue with both East and West, and with North and South. We can welcome European leaders and representatives of European institutions while at the same time

SERBIA STILL HAS A GREAT DEAL TO OFFER

maintaining close and genuine relations with Ghana, Somalia, Algeria, Tanzania and many other countries around the world. Such an independent approach will not always suit everyone. But the success of our foreign policy

should not be measured by how much it pleases others, but by the results it delivers for Serbia and its citizens. Most importantly, the people of Serbia must not pay the price for our independence. On the contrary, our goal is for them to derive tangible benefits from it and to take pride in the fact that their country is respected and welcome — in Europe and the United States, but also across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The ties connecting Serbia with the countries of the Global South are therefore not a matter of nostalgia for times gone by. They are part of our heritage, but they are also strategic capital that we must use to build the future. For me, one of the most important messages of this anniversary is clear: we should respect and preserve history, while ensuring that the partnerships we build today are oriented towards the future. Belgrade was the place where such a vision was articulated 65 years ago. I am proud that today it can once again be a place from which we send the world a message of peace, dialogue, sovereign equality and cooperation. Our task now is to turn that message into concrete partnerships — political, economic, educational, scientific and cultural — that will benefit generations to come. Let us cooperate with everyone and build friendships with everyone, while ensuring that no one is allowed to interfere with our own choices.

INTERVIEW

by Mijat Kontić

UNICEF Must Remain an Independent Voice that Defends the Interests of Children Children’s Rights, Data-Driven Governance, and Multilateral Introspection FALI IME fali titula

riginally conducted for the Diplomata television programme, this extended conversation with Michel Saint-Lot, former Representative and Area Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Republic of Serbia, draws on his extensive experience in Serbia and previous international assignments, including key posts in India and Haiti. Saint-Lot reflects on cross-sector partnerships, protecting and empowering marginalised children, the role of data in shaping effective policies, and the challenges facing global multilateralism. Mr Saint-Lot, to begin our conversation, could you share your reflections on Serbia during your time here, especially compared with your other international missions around the world? What stood out to you most about your experience in Serbia?

I will share an anecdote with you. When I was appointed to my role in Serbia with UNICEF, some people expressed reservations and doubted whether I should even come, assuming that as a Black diplomat, I might encounter racism or struggle to operate effectively in the country. My position was firm: insti-

collaboration, mutual respect, and productive partnership. Beyond that warm personal reception, another key aspect was the remarkable collaboration we established with the Serbian Parliament. Over two years, we engaged directly with parliamentarians to discuss child welfare and ensure children’s

THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR CHILDREN IS COMPLETELY NON-NEGOTIABLE tutional reluctance to deploy personnel based on assumptions was wrong, as no person of colour had been appointed to this post for decades prior. When I arrived in Serbia, I found the opposite of those warnings. People were highly professional, welcoming, open to collaboration, and ready to engage in constructive dialogue. Even when we held differing views, we always found common ground whenever the conversation turned to protecting children. My five years here were defined by genuine

rights were integrated into Serbia’s political and policy framework. That level of direct institutional cooperation with a national parliament is not something you see in every country. A third major element was the active engagement of both the media and the private sector. In Serbia, public and private media outlets—including RTS, Nedeljnik, Vreme, and Politika—have historically given prominent coverage to children’s issues, providing vital platforms to present national strategies for child

development. Major corporate entities and financial institutions—such as Komercijalna Banka, Raiffeisen Bank, the central banking sector, Nordeus, and hospitality leaders like the Metropol and Square Nine hotels— also stepped up to support UNICEF’s mission. UNICEF served as the facilitator, but these partners drove real assistance for Serbian children. Finally, I must highlight the extraordinary contribution of our UNICEF National Ambassadors in Serbia: Ana Ivanović, Novak Đoković, and Saša Đorđević. They used their global renown, personal authority, and visibility to advocate for children and support groundlevel programs across the country. They played a major, irreplaceable role during my mandate. That level of cross-sector involvement is impressive. Looking back at your broader career within the United Nations system, are there specific innovations or models you developed that remain highly relevant for global development today?

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Yes, during my assignment in India around 2004–2005, we established a pioneering telemedicine program in Hyderabad, in southern India. We designed a system that allowed people in remote areas, who typically lacked access to healthcare infrastructure or private medical services, to connect 24/7 with medical professionals. If advanced intervention was required, the system dispatched emergency vehicles and connected patients with private sector healthcare providers within 15 minutes. It proved how public-private integration and technology can solve urgent humanitarian needs. On a diplomatic level, coming from a country and a family deeply rooted in politics since the 1800s, I learned two fundamental lessons: communication, dialogue, and respect. You must take the time to understand your partner’s position and core needs thoroughly. Development work does not happen in a vacuum. While tactics and political positions require negotiation, the end goal—ensuring the best possible outcome for children—is completely non-negotiable. When all parties agree that children are the primary beneficiaries, you will always reach a successful objective. During your mandate in Serbia, UNICEF placed a strong emphasis on programs supporting the Roma community. What crucial insights or lessons emerged from that work that remain relevant today? When I arrived in Serbia, we actively supported the Roma Health Mediators program, an initiative I worked on closely alongside dedicated colleagues in our office. The hardest form of marginalisation for children occurs when legal protections exist on paper but fail to reach the ground. Laws, conventions, and international instruments are meaningless unless they are fully implemented and respected in everyday life. When articles in the media began highlighting cases of Roma children facing barriers at school entry or suffering discrimination, it sparked necessary public debate. It made society realise that systemic barriers must be actively dismantled, not ignored. From your vantage point, how can international organisations like UNICEF ensure that policy commitments translate into tangible results for children rather than remaining theoretical?

OUR MORAL AUTHORITY IS OUR TRUE STRENGTH One of the most powerful tools UNICEF developed in the mid1990s is the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, known universally as MICS. Conducted every five years with rigorous sampling methodologies, MICS provides precise data on what is happening across households and communities, going far beyond standard national aggregate statistics. In Serbia, we conducted a specialised MICS round that surveyed Roma settlements—a groundbreaking effort, as Serbia recognised the need to gather targeted data without creating discriminatory frameworks. MICS gave us undeniable, disaggregated facts showing exactly who was excluded, allowing the government to design bettertargeted policies, plan effective interventions, and allocate dedicated budgets. Serbia, like India, has increasingly adopted child-sensitive budgeting. In 2026, a new survey cycle will benchmark five years of national progress. When politicians state they have achieved specific social goals, empirical data from national statistical offices—like Serbia’s Statistical Office—is the only objective way to measure what was promised against what was delivered.

Turning to your home country of Haiti, which has been facing severe economic and institutional instability, how do you view the ongoing crisis there, and what must the international community do differently? Haiti is enduring a catastrophic multidimensional crisis. Today, over six million people are on the brink of acute humanitarian distress. This crisis did not happen overnight. Politically, there have been no parliamentary, senatorial, or municipal elections in years. Security has collapsed entirely, with armed gangs controlling over 85% of the capital. But we must ask critical questions: Haiti does not manufacture weapons or ammunition. How do youth from impoverished slums obtain assault rifles worth tens of thousands of euros? Who is financing and shipping these weapons into the country? These gangs have forced the closure of hospitals, disrupted fuel distribution, destroyed neighbourhoods, and shuttered over 1,800 schools. Following the assassination of our President in 2021, international law enforcement agencies arrested and extradited individuals implicated in the plot. Regarding international assistance: after the devastating 2010 earthquake—where 350,000 people lost their lives in 40 seconds, and over a million were left homeless—billions of dollars were raised globally. Yet massive foreign organisations retained vast sums for administrative costs while delivering minimal long-term infrastructure to Haitians.

The international community must engage in honest introspection. Decades of external mandates crafted in Washington, New York, or Paris have failed. It is time to step back and allow Haitians to make their own decisions, rebuild their institutions, and chart their own path to stability. Looking toward the future, how do you see the United Nations’ global role evolving, both in Serbia and worldwide? The global context is shifting, and international law is under immense pressure when countries act unilaterally. The United Nations cannot remain bound to the geopolitical structures established in 1945, dominated by five permanent members with veto power. Reform is urgent. The UN’s primary role globally and in Serbia must be to serve as an independent, unyielding, and principled moral voice. Our moral authority is our true strength. We must advocate fearlessly for marginalised populations, back our claims with reliable data, and help sovereign institutions build longterm capacity. On a personal note, Serbia will always hold a warm place in my heart. The relationships I formed here endure, and my home country remains a close friend to Serbia. Beyond my professional work, I fondly remember vibrant cultural experiences here, such as the Belgrade Tango Festival—one of the largest in Europe —which brings together thousands of dancers worldwide. It reflects the unique energy and warmth of the Serbian people.

FEATURED INTERVIEW

by Dragan Nikolić

I Leave This Chapter as a Free Man

BRANKO RUŽIĆ Serbian politician

fter decades in the Socialist Party of Serbia, Branko Ružić is entering a new chapter of his political career. Following his expulsion from the SPS and decision to give up his parliamentary seat, he speaks about political independence, responsibility, student protests and the principles that will shape his next political move. You were recently expelled from the Socialist Party of Serbia, a party you had belonged to for virtually your entire political career. You said that while the decision was formally made within the SPS, it was politically made elsewhere, and that the

SPS had accepted the role of a branch office of the SNS. That is a very serious assessment. What exactly do you mean? I do not dispute that the SPS Statutory Commission met and

was looking less and less like a relationship between two political partners, and increasingly like one in which one party sets the boundaries of political conduct for the other.

THERE COMES A POINT WHEN SILENCE IS NO LONGER LOYALTY voted. I am talking about the political environment in which such a decision became desirable and, ultimately, inevitable. My conflict with part of the SPS leadership did not arise because I woke up one morning and decided to be disobedient. For years, I had been warning that the relationship between the SPS and the SNS

We can talk about coalition politics, compromise, and the responsibility that comes with participating in government. All of that is legitimate. But partnership implies that you have the right to your own political identity, your own position, and the right to speak up when you believe something is wrong. If

the price of remaining in a partnership becomes silence, then we are no longer talking about a partnership. The problem begins when partnership ceases to be a political choice and becomes a condition for survival. A party that fears losing power more than it fears losing itself has already made the costliest political compromise of all. That is precisely why I do not see my expulsion as a personal tragedy. Political freedom is priceless, and its true measure is revealed when you are prepared to pay a price for it. I have accepted that price without bitterness and without any need to portray myself as a victim. There comes a point when silence is no longer loyalty, but surrender of who you are.

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A break with the SPS opens a wider debate about political independence, responsibility and the future of Serbian politics

FEATURED INTERVIEW

Your former party colleagues respond that you spent years at the top of the SPS, served as a minister in several governments, and were one of the people who implemented the very policies you now criticise. Isn’t it legitimate to ask why you stayed on that political course if you believed the SPS was losing its independence? Of course it is legitimate. And I will not shy away from that question. I have no intention of rewriting my own biography or presenting myself as someone who only entered Serbian politics yesterday. I was part of the government; I made decisions, some good, some undoubtedly wrong, and I am not looking for an alibi for my share of the responsibility. That is the only honest way to approach the work I have done. The easiest thing for me would be to claim today that I was right all along. I wasn’t. But it would be even worse if my own mistakes deprived me of the right to recognise them and correct them. Political relationships, however, are not frozen in time. Cooperation between the SPS and the SNS did not look the same in 2012 as it does in 2026. The balance of power, the way decisions are made, and the room the SPS had to pursue its own policies have all changed. When I believed something was wrong, I said so while I was still a member of the SPS, not only after my expulsion. I had already faced political consequences for some of those views even before I was expelled. For me, loyalty to a party has never meant an obligation to stop thinking. Quite the opposite: if you genuinely care about an organisation, you have a duty to tell it even what it does not want to hear. Just two weeks before your expulsion, Ivica Dačić said the SPS would contest the elections independently, which you welcomed as a good first step. Do you now believe the SPS ever had a genuine willingness to regain its political independence? Running independently in an election does not, by itself, amount to political independence. The SPS has contested elections on its own list before, only to enter a coalition with the SNS afterwards. That is why I said it was merely a first step. The crucial question was what would come next. Would the SPS go before the voters to offer its

YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE SHOWN THAT FEAR IS NOT HEREDITARY own political platform and then, based on the election results, decide independently what course to take, or was there already a political decision that everything would continue as before once the election was over? If the latter is the case, then running on a separate list becomes more of an electoral tactic than an expression of political independence. Independence is not measured by whether you have your own logo on the ballot paper, but by whether you have the right to make your own decisions after the election. Political independence begins where the need to ask in advance what the stronger partner will think of your decision ends. I no longer have a say in those matters, and I do not wish to lecture my former party colleagues from the sidelines. But I still believe Serbia has considerable room for an authentic socialist and modern social democratic political option. Whether the SPS or another political organisation will occupy that space in the future will be for voters to decide.

Following your expulsion, you announced that you would give up your parliamentary seat, and a few days later you did so. Why did you consider that important? Because I won that seat on the SPS electoral list, once I was no longer a member of that party, it seemed entirely natural to me to give it up. I did not want to turn it into a political spectacle or portray my decision as an act of heroism. I see it as a matter of political integrity, collegiality, and respect for the people with whom I stood on the same electoral list. If you part ways politically with a party but obtained your seat through that party’s list, I believe it is only right not to retain it as a personal privilege. I did not want to keep something that was no longer politically mine. Public office only has meaning as long as the political and moral grounds on which you accepted it remain intact. In politics, people talk a lot about principles when they cost nothing. What reveals far more about a person is what they do when

standing by those principles requires them to give something up. Your stance on the student protests differed from the government’s prevailing position. You were even suspended from the SPS for attending the protest on 15 March. In your view, what have the students changed in Serbia? Above all, they have put the question of accountability back where it belongs, at the heart of public life. And they have shown that a generation cannot be kept in line through public office, employment, party affiliation, or labels imposed by television. The students have done something politics had long failed to do: they have forced society to distinguish once again between authority and holding office. By attending a student protest, I was not switching political camps. I went because I believe that, in a democratic society, young people have the right to question their government, demand answers and protest. Politicians who respond to every question young people raise by asking who is behind them show they have failed to understand what is happening before their eyes.

FEATURED INTERVIEW

The students will not solve all of Serbia’s problems, nor should anyone expect them to. Nor are they under any obligation to become a political party. But they have opened a space where it is no longer so easy to claim that everything is fine simply because institutions formally exist. Young people have shown that fear is not hereditary. That may be their most important political message to this generation of those in power. The worst thing a government can do is regard its own young people as the enemy. A state that does not know how to engage in dialogue with its students has a far more serious problem than a single protest.

I AM NOT INTERESTED IN POLITICAL SPACE THAT HAPPENS TO BE VACANT. I AM INTERESTED IN POLITICAL SPACE THAT IS WORTH FILLING among political elites on how to divide up public offices. What it needs is a minimum consensus on rules that will apply equally to everyone, regardless of who is in government and who is in opposition. In a public statement following your expulsion, you said that you considered it your duty to remain politically active. Do you already know what your next political step will be? A new party, joining an existing political option, or something else? I will not decide under the pressure of events or simply because I am expected to find a new political home as quickly as possible. I do not need to prove to anyone that I am still politically relevant by announcing, seven days after my expulsion, which party I am joining. I am not interested in political space that happens to be vacant. I am interested in political space that is worth filling. I will make my decision calmly, based on very simple criteria. I want to take part

in a politics that sees Serbia as a democratic, socially responsible, and institutionally sound state, where alignment with those in power is not a source of privilege, and opposition is not a reason to deny anyone their rights. I believe in social justice, solidarity, the dignity of work, and the state’s responsibility to people who cannot overcome the inequalities of modern society on their own. I regarded that as socialist politics while I was in the SPS, and that is how I understand it today. An administrative decision can remove someone from a party’s membership. It cannot erase their convictions. I do not yet know the name or organisational form my future political engagement will take, and it would be irresponsible to invent an answer today to make it sound appealing. I am not looking for a place within the existing political landscape. I am far more interested in whether that landscape is right for the Serbia we need. I do know,

however, what I do not want. I do not want a politics in which loyalty matters more than competence, obedience more than institutions, and party affiliation more than the law. If, looking back from where you stand today, you had to close the chapter of your time in the SPS in a single sentence, what would that sentence be? I would not close it with anger. I gave a large part of my life to the SPS, made friendships that no single decision can erase, and took part in things I am proud of, as well as things I would probably do differently today. I accept that record in its entirety. Some political ties end long before that fact is formally put on paper. But political life does not end when membership in one party does. A new future does not require us to invent a new version of the past. It requires us to learn something from it. You can leave politics defeated, disappointed or angry. I am leaving one chapter of my political life as a free man, proud of what I have done and with a clear conscience because I refused to remain silent when I believed that my party and my country deserved better. For me, what makes staying in politics worthwhile is still to come.

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Serbia is approaching elections after a prolonged period of deep political polarisation. Is it enough for citizens to once again choose between the government and the opposition, or does the country need bigger changes in how the state functions? Elections are necessary, but elections alone cannot resolve what has become a chronic problem in our society. Democracy is not tested on election day, but every day between two election cycles. Serbia must restore trust in its institutions. Citizens must be able to trust that prosecutors will do their job regardless of whose name appears in a case, that judges will rule according to the law, that the police will not discriminate based on political affiliation, and that public-sector employment will not depend on a party recommendation. The fight against corruption must cease to be a political issue that is switched on and off whenever convenient. A state is not properly governed when those in power can do anything they want, but when there are things that even those in power cannot do. And I am not saying this as someone without a political past. All of us who have participated in government bear some responsibility for the system as it exists today, myself included. That is precisely why I believe we have an obligation to speak openly about what needs to change. Electoral and media conditions matter especially. You can have a well-drafted electoral law, but if political ideas do not have a reasonably equal opportunity to reach citizens, then you have a serious democratic deficit. Serbia does not need an agreement

by Diplomacy&Commerce Montenegro

Photo: Parliament of Montenegro / M. Matković

POLITICAL INTERVIEW

Montenegro at Europe’s Door Our goal is to be a full member of the European Union by 2030 ANDRIJA MANDIĆ Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro

ontenegro stands at a new stage of its European journey — no longer a candidate that negotiates, but a state preparing for membership. All 33 negotiating chapters are open, 18 are provisionally closed, and the European Union has set up a dedicated working group to prepare the Accession Treaty. In this interview for Diplomacy, the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić, discusses European integration and Parliament’s role in it, parliamentary and economic Diplomacy, regional cooperation, and Montenegro’s place in a changing geopolitical landscape. He sees the country’s European future as a matter of 32 development, stability and reconciliation — and as a chance for Montenegro to keep

its own identity and become an example to the rest of the Western Balkans. Montenegro is often described as the front-runner for Europe and integration in the Western Balkans. As Speaker of the Parliament, how do you assess the current phase of that process, and what do you see as the key next step?

up a dedicated working group to prepare Montenegro’s Accession Treaty. That means we are no longer talking only about the prospect of membership, but about concrete preparations for the moment our country becomes a member of the European Union. The key next step is to maintain political stability and finish what remains. Parliament has shown in this period that,

SMALL STATES ARE NOT CONDEMNED TO SMALL POLITICS Montenegro is now in the most important phase of European integration since the negotiations began. We have opened all 33 negotiating chapters, and by mid-July this year, 18 had been provisionally closed. An even stronger political signal is the European Union’s decision to set

where there is responsibility and political will, it can put the legislative framework for European reform in place very quickly. Our goal is clear: we are not arriving in the European Union; we are returning to it — as an old European state, with our heads held high and with pride.

Parliament is the foundation of a democratic system. How do you plan to further strengthen its transparency, its efficiency and citizens’ trust in institutions? Trust cannot be legislated — it is earned through work, responsibility and openness. The Parliament of Montenegro already has a strong foundation. On the Regional Openness Index, it met 88.14 per cent of the indicators, the best-ranked Parliament in the region. It matters above all that Parliament is open to everyone — to its members and its staff, and to the citizens whose house it is. Before 2020, unfortunately, that was not the case. That is why, as the politician with the longest service in the current convocation, I have aimed to open our Parliament fully and to show understanding and tolerance towards all — and towards the opposition in particular

POLITICAL INTERVIEW

How important is parliamentary Diplomacy today in building a country’s international standing, and what are your priorities in that area? Parliamentary diplomacy matters a great deal today. Let me remind you that, once all the negotiating chapters are closed, ratification in the EU member states is carried out by their parliaments. When competing interests weigh down relations between states, parliaments can often open doors that conventional Diplomacy finds closed for a time. That is why, from the start of my mandate, I have insisted on intensive contact with the speakers of European and Mediterranean parliaments. I am especially proud that in 2026 Montenegro hosted, in Budva, the first Summit of Speakers and Presidents of Parliament of the member and partner states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, where we placed dialogue, stability and cooperation at the very centre of the conversation. The priority, of course, is Montenegro’s European integration. But I want us to use parliamentary Diplomacy for the economy, investment, the fight against organised crime, energy, education, and the exchange of knowledge as well. Which bilateral relationships do you consider especially important for Montenegro’s future development, and why? First, relations with the member states of the European Union, which can give us political, expert, and economic support in the final phase of integration. Italy, our great Adriatic neighbour, has a special place, as do France and other countries with strong influence on European policy. The United

Photo: Parliament of Montenegro/ F. Burzanović

In a time of sharp geopolitical change, what role can Montenegro play as a NATO member and a candidate for European Union membership? Montenegro is a small state, but small states are not condemned to small politics. On the contrary — if they are stable, predictable and able to talk to different partners, they can be very useful in international affairs. Our most important foreign-policy goal is membership of the European Union, and I truly believe Monte negro can be a regional beacon of stability and an example of how different national communities can build a better shared future. At the same time, each keeps its own identity and tradition.

THE BEST ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY BEGINS AT HOME States remains an important ally and partner of Montenegro, and we genuinely believe the current governing majority has begun a new level of relations with Washington through the signing of an intergovernmental agreement. Our relations with the countries around us matter great ly too. Our citizens are bound by exceptionally strong family, cultural, linguistic, spiritual and economic ties, and the states depend on one another in infrastructure and in the economy. That is why I have said before that a better shared future should be built on a healthy economy and better connections. Montenegro’s European future does not mean moving away from our nearest neighbours. On the contrary — the point of the Balkans’ European integration is that borders matter less, while cooperation and the free movement of people, capital, goods and ideas grow ever greater. And Montenegro, as I said earlier, will be a beacon for the other candidate countries of the Western Balkans. Economic Diplomacy is becoming one of the key instruments of development. How can Parliament contribute to a more stable investment climate? The best economic Diplomacy begins at home. It matters more to an investor to know that the law will apply in the same way

today and in five years than to be given ten fine presentations about Montenegro. So Parliament has to guarantee a predictable legal system, protection of property, fair competition, more efficient courts, transparent public procurement and clear tax rules. The fact that in July we provisionally closed Chapter 8, on competition, and Chapter 29, on the customs union, shows how far the European process has come; at the same time, it is an economic one. Montenegro has exceptional potential in energy, tourism, IT, agriculture, logistics and the development of the Port of Bar. We have to make better use of our geographical position on the Adriatic and our links to the Balkan interior. Parliament’s role is to give potential investors stable rules that apply equally to all. The European Union increasingly insists on the rule of law as the basic criterion for accession. Do you believe Montenegro can keep up the pace of reform all the way to full membership? I not only believe it — we have proved that we can, that we want to and that we must, for the future of Montenegro. The key to a better life in Montenegro is the rule of law, built on a single principle — all rights for all — and a determined fight against organised crime and corruption.

How do you assess the importance of regional cooperation for the security, economic development and European prospects of the Western Balkans? Regional cooperation is not an alternative to the European Union — it is preparation for it. If we cannot cooperate with our nearest neighbour, we can hardly claim convincingly that we are ready for a community of almost half a billion people. Our region needs more roads and railways, energy links, joint investment and markets — and fewer political barriers. A modernised Bar–Belgrade connection, in the form of a motorway and a reconstructed railway, better links with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania through the Adriatic–Ionian motorway, and stronger regional energy systems are all questions of quality of life for every citizen of the Western Balkans. The politics of reconciliation matters especially to me. The peoples of the Balkans have far more common interests than reasons for conflict. Precisely because of its national, religious and cultural diversity, Montenegro can be a meeting place. Digital transformation is changing how institutions work everywhere. Do you see room to modernise Parliament’s work through new technologies and digital services? I not only see the room — part of the process has already begun. Parliament has an Open Data platform, developed electronic services

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POLITICAL INTERVIEW

and e-petitions, and during the reporting period it launched a mobile application that gives citizens easier access to parliamentary business. The European Commission registered that very application as part of the modernisation of parliamentary work. The next phase should be even more ambitious: fully searchable databases of votes and amendments, simpler tracking of a law from proposal to adoption, a better API for the media and researchers, digital consultation with citizens, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence to analyse legislation. But digitalisation has to go hand in hand with cybersecurity. Technology should make institutions more open and efficient—not more vulnerable

Photo: Parliament of Montenegro / M. Matković

Climate change and the green transition are becoming global priorities. Is Montenegro adapting its legislation to European standards in this field quickly enough? There is progress, most visible in energy, where our national power utility, Elektroprivreda Crne Gore, chaired by Milutin Đukanović, is the outright leader in the green transition. For Montenegro, the green transition is a major development opportunity. We have potential in hydro, solar and wind power, and at the same time we are a country whose tourism depends directly on protecting our landscape and environment. My position is that the green transition must also be socially fair — and that is exactly what we are delivering through the Solari project.

Young people increasingly look for opportunities outside the region. What can the state do so that they can build their future in Montenegro? You cannot keep a young person with a patriotic slogan if they cannot find a decent job, buy or build a home of their own, and have no chance to advance in their profession. So policy towards the young has to begin with the economy. We need better-paid jobs, more affordable housing, a stronger link between the universities and the economy, support for entrepreneurship and technology companies, more professional traineeships, and a system in which knowledge pays off. But I want something more. We want to build a Montenegro that young people can leave to study, work, and see the world — and still have a reason to come back. The diaspora is not a loss if the state knows how to stay in touch with it. The greatest defeat is when a young person leaves because they have lost faith that they can succeed here through honest work How important is it that political dialogue stays above party differences when national interests and the European agenda are at stake? It is decisive. Parties exist to differ, but a state must have certain

points around which there is a minimum of national consensus. European integration, the rule of law, economic development and institutional stability have to be among them. Montenegro paid a high price, for a long time, for divisions that arose 30, 80 or 100 years ago. I think it is time to show that different identities are not a threat to the state — though, as part of that process, certain injustices must also be put right, injustices that were, unfortunately, at one point, written into some of our laws and into Montenegro’s highest legal act. A European Montenegro should be a state of reconciled people, not of victors and vanquished. I regard that as one of our most important national interests. How do you see the role of wom en and young people in Montenegro’s future political leadership, and are there mechanisms that need further strengthening? Greater representation of women and young people should not be a matter of political fashion, but of the quality of democracy. When this subject comes up, I often recall that, as a young politician in the early 2000s, I was part of a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to the Finnish Parliament, where women were already dominant in politics. Montenegro is

REGIONAL COOPERATION IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE EU

slowly moving in that direction. An important step was taken by raising the quota for the underrepresented sex on electoral lists to 40 per cent, together with a rule on the ordering of candidates meant to increase the real, and not merely formal, representation of women. Parliament also has a long-standing Women’s Parliament; in 2025 it held its seventeenth session. As for the young, we have to open the political system to people who have not spent 20 years working their way up the party hierarchy. I support mechanisms that let young people take part in shaping laws and public policy, but the final measure must be ability. I am especially proud of the generation of young politicians my party has produced, who I firmly believe will achieve great things in this profession, and I can see that other parties have excellent young people too. In an age of disinformation and accelerated media flows, how can institutions preserve their credibility and the quality of their communication with citizens? The best answer an institution can give to disinformation is not propaganda, but a fact made available in time. Transparency is the key to answering disinformation. The moment you hide something, you leave room for disinformation and manipulation. Institutions also have to learn to communicate in simpler language. A citizen should not have to be a lawyer to understand what Parliament has decided and how that decision affects their life. At the same time, we must not turn the fight against disinformation into an excuse to restrict freedom of opinion or criticism. Democracy includes views that are inaccurate, sharp and uncomfortable. A credible institution does not ask citizens to take it at its word — it gives them enough information to check for themselves what it says. If you had to present Montenegro in 2030 to international partners in a single sentence, what would that message be? Montenegro in 2030 is a full member of the European Union — a safe, prosperous, well-governed Mediterranean state of reconciled people, in which no one has to give up their Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosniak, Albanian, Croatian or any other identity to be fully at home in their own land and a fully equal citizen of Europe.

ARRIVALS

CHRISTINA DE BRUIN APPOINTED NEW REPRESENTATIVE IN SERBIA UNICEF Serbia continues its work for every child under new leadership

Photo: UNICEF

hristina de Bruin has been appointed UNICEF Representative in Serbia. In this role, she will provide strategic direction and lead UNICEF’s work, further strengthening the organization’s cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and other partners to bring about positive change in the lives of children across the country. “It is a great honour to begin this new chapter as UNICEF Representative in Serbia. Our focus will be on ensuring that every child has access to quality health, education and social protection

services, and that public policies and budgets respond to children’s needs, particularly those of the most vulnerable children,” said Kristina de Bruin, UNICEF Representative in Serbia. “This means working with the Government, development partners, civil society organisations, the private sector and other partners to strengthen national systems in the areas of early childhood development, education and child protection, so that we can achieve lasting results for children and families and reduce inequalities.” Christina de Bruin brings more than 27 years of experience in international development cooperation, humanitarian action, child rights and strategic partnerships. From 2021 to 2026, she served as UNICEF Representative in Bulgaria. Before that, she was Deputy Director of UNICEF’s Office for Relations with the Institutions of the European Union in Brussels, where she developed innovative partnerships and mobilised resources. She also represented UNICEF in its engagement with European Union partners at the political and policy levels. During her career with UNICEF, she also served as Deputy Representative in Côte d’Ivoire and held various positions with UNICEF offices in Senegal, Sri Lanka and at the

organization’s headquarters in New York. Before joining UNICEF, she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands as an adviser on human rights, peacebuilding and humanitarian assistance. Christina de Bruin is a Dutch national. She is married and has two children. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from Leiden University, completed an executive education programme in early childhood development at Harvard Kennedy School, and holds a degree in European Law, with a focus on human rights and political science.

NATIONAL DAYS

OCTOBER 2024

CHINA National Day

CYPRUS Independence Day

DEPARTURES

NIGERIA MEXICAN AMBASSADOR CONCLUDES HIS MISSION IN SERBIA

he Ambassador of the United Mexican States to Serbia, Carlos Isauro Félix Corona, is concluding his diplomatic mission in Belgrade, during which, according to Serbian officials, he made a significant contribution to strengthening relations between the two countries. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić received Ambassador Félix Corona for a farewell visit and thanked him for his personal contribution to developing bilateral relations. Vučić noted that Serbia and Mexico are marking 80 years of diplomatic relations this year and highlighted opportunities to further strengthen economic ties, trade, and contacts at all levels.

Dušan Kozarev, Secretary General of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also received Ambassador Félix Corona for a farewell meeting. The two reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral relations, while Kozarev thanked the ambassador for his dedication to advancing Serbian-Mexican ties. The meeting also highlighted activities in Belgrade and Mexico City marking eight decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Félix Corona concludes his mission after 45 years in the diplomatic service, and Serbian officials expressed confidence that friendship and cooperation between Serbia and Mexico will continue to develop after his tenure ends.

National Day

INDIA Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday

GERMANY German Unity Day

IRAQ Independence Day

SOUTH KOREA

Gaecheonjeol, ancient Korea was founded in 2333 BC

SPAIN National Day

HUNGARY

12 23

Photo: Goran Zlatković

1956 Revolution Memorial Day

UN UN Day

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PHOTO STORY

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, PART I: The Ambassadors of Pakistan and the United Kingdom with their spouses at the celebration of Pakistan’s Independence Day, Hilton Hotel, 14 August

AGE OF AQUARIUS: Bojana Stamenov and John Savage at NALED’s September Gathering, White Palace, 10 September

MOSCOW DOESN’T BELIEVE IN TEARS:

PIECE OF CAKE:

President of the National Assembly of

The Ambassador of Indonesia serves

Serbia and four Serbian Government

guests traditional sweets at the celebration

ministers at the reception marking Ukraine’s Independence Day, Embassy of Ukraine, 9 September

WAITING FOR GODOT:

of the 81st anniversary of Indonesia’s independence, garden of the Indonesian Embassy, 17 August

Alexander Titolo, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade,

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, PART II:

and Silvia Davidou, Ambassador of Romania, at the reception

Celebration of India’s Independence Day, garden of the Indian

marking Slovakia’s National Day, Embassy of Slovakia, 11 September

Embassy, 15 August

DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

31 AUGUST 2026

Indonesia’s 81st Independence Anniversary Celebrated in Belgrade The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Belgrade marked the 81st anniversary of Indonesia’s independence on 17 August

he celebration was held at the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Belgrade and brought together more than 200 participants and guests, including Indonesian nationals, friends of Indonesia, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The programme began with a flag-raising ceremony featuring the Indonesian national flag, the Merah Putih. H.E. Andreano Erwin, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Serbia, led the ceremony. A special part of the ceremony was the participation of Paskibraka, a ceremonial formation made up of Indonesian students studying in Serbia under the “World in

Serbia” scholarship programme. Their participation formed an integral part of the flag-raising ceremony marking Indonesia’s national holiday. Following the ceremony, the programme continued with a symbolic cake-cutting ceremony, during which Ambassador Andreano Erwin shared a birthday cake with representatives of different generations and fields connected with the Indonesian community and Indonesia–Serbia relations. Among those invited to take part were a representative of the older generation of the Indonesian community in Serbia, the President of the Indonesia–Serbia Friendship Association, the instructor of Sanggar Tari Bidadari, a traditional Indonesian dance

ensemble that has been active since 2003, and a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. The celebration continued with a cultural programme. The youngest members of the Indonesian community in Belgrade performed national songs, poetry and pantun, a traditional form of Indonesian literature. Guests also had the opportunity to admire traditional costumes representing different regions of the Indonesian archipelago. Indonesian cuisine was another highlight of the programme. The table featured a selection of traditional specialities, including sate ayam, mie bakso, dadar gulung and wajik, offering guests a taste of Indonesia’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. Indonesia’s Independence Day is celebrated on 17 August, commemorating the proclamation of independence in 1945. This year’s celebration in Belgrade brought together members of the Indonesian community, Serbian institutions, the diplomatic corps and friends of Indonesia in a programme combining official ceremonies, cultural performances and traditional cuisine.

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DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

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Indian Independence Day Celebrated at the Embassy of India in Belgrade The Embassy of India in Belgrade marked the 80th anniversary of India’s Independence with a solemn and festive ceremony attended by members of the Indian diaspora and friends of India in Serbia

he celebrations began with the singing of India’s national song, Vande Mataram, followed by the unfurling of the national flag by the Ambassador of India to Serbia, H.E. Abhishek Shukla. The ceremony continued with the singing of the Indian national anthem. Ambassador Shukla then read excerpts from the President of India’s Address to the Nation delivered on the eve of Independence Day, highlighting the occasion’s significance

INDIA CELEBRATES ITS INDEPENDENCE DAY ON 15 AUGUST, COMMEMORATING THE COUNTRY’S INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITISH COLONIAL RULE IN 1947.

and the values that continue to shape modern India. Particular emphasis was placed on the call by the Prime Minister of India for concerted and comprehensive efforts towards achieving the ambitious goal of Viksit Bharat 2047 – the vision of building a developed India by 2047, when the country will mark the centenary of its independence. The celebration in Belgrade also provided an opportunity to honour India’s rich cultural heritage, national unity and spirit of togetherness, while highlighting the strong and friendly ties between India and Serbia. The Embassy of India expressed its heartfelt gratitude to members of the Indian diaspora and all friends of India who joined the celebration and helped mark this important historic occasion.

DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

07 SEPTEMBER 2026

Brazilian ‘Sete de Setembro’ in Belgrade A formal reception was held at Vila Jelena in Belgrade to mark Brazil’s Independence Day, one of the country’s most important national holidays, celebrated every year on 7 September as “Sete de Setembro”, the Seventh of September

he date commemorates 7 September 1822, when Brazil declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The declaration ushered in a new chapter in the history of South America’s largest country, which soon thereafter became the Empire of Brazil. Guests at the reception in Belgrade were welcomed by Brazil’s new Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Maria Clara de Abreu Rada, for whom the event was one of her first major diplomatic gatherings in the Serbian capital.

The reception brought together members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of Serbian state institutions, political, cultural and public figures, as well as friends of Brazil. The history of Brazilian independence is inextricably linked to the Portuguese House of Braganza. The Portuguese royal family moved to Brazil in 1808, fleeing Napoleon’s advance into the Iberian Peninsula. Following Napoleon’s defeat and the royal family’s return to Portugal, Prince Pedro remained in Brazil and became a central figure in the independence movement.

Pedro proclaimed Brazil’s independence on 7 September 1822, and in October of the same year he was declared Emperor as Pedro I. In 1831, his son Pedro II succeeded him, ruling Brazil for almost six decades until the abolition of the monarchy in 1889 and the establishment of the republic. The ties between the House of Braganza and Serbia are particularly noteworthy. The Portuguese imperial family was also the family of Maria Gloria, the first wife of Crown Prince Alexander Karađorđević and the mother of Princes Peter, Philip and Alexander. In this way, the histories of Brazil, Portugal and Serbia, including through their dynastic connections, serve as a reminder of the complex web of historical relationships linking different parts of Europe and South America. The formal reception at Vila Jelena was not only an opportunity to celebrate Brazil’s national holiday, but also to reaffirm the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries and the importance of the diplomatic, cultural and social ties between Brazil and Serbia.

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DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

08 SEPTEMBER 2026

IWC Opens a New Chapter of Activities with a Gathering at the Residence of the Swiss Ambassador The International Women’s Club (IWC) Belgrade marked the beginning of its 2026/2027 programme with a traditional Coffee Morning, held on 8 September at the residence of H.E. Anne Lugon-Moulin, Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia

.E. Anne Lugon-Moulin hosted the gathering and welcomed IWC members and friends to her residence for a warm, informal morning of conversation

and fellowship. Over coffee, guests could reconnect after the summer break and hear about the many activities and events the IWC is preparing for the months ahead.

The beginning of the new programme year offers an opportunity to continue the IWC’s long-standing mission of bringing together women of different nationalities, cultures and professional backgrounds living in Serbia. Alongside social gatherings and cultural exchange, the Club places particular emphasis on charitable initiatives and projects that contribute to the local community. Held in a warm spirit of friendship, international cooperation and togetherness, the gathering at the Swiss Ambassador’s residence set the tone for another vibrant year of activities for the International Women’s Club in Belgrade.

DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

09 SEPTEMBER 2026

Rosh Hashanah Celebrated as Israel-Serbia Chamber of Commerce Begins Operations Ahead of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, the Embassy of the State of Israel marked the launch of the Israel-Serbia Chamber of Commerce, describing the occasion as a historically significant step toward further strengthening bilateral relations between Israel and Serbia

he establishment of the Chamber provides a new platform to deepen economic ties and create additional opportunities for closer cooperation between the business communities of the two countries. The political relations between Israel and Serbia, which provide a solid foundation for mutual cooperation, now have an opportunity to be further strengthened through trade, investment and business partnerships. At the ceremony, H.E. Avivit Bar-Ilan, Israel’s Ambassador to Serbia, emphasised that the launch of the Israel-Serbia Chamber of Commerce provides an essential institutional framework for elevating economic cooperation between the two countries to an even higher level. She noted that the project has seen significant effort and commitment over the

past year, gaining further momentum during Foreign Minister Marko Đurić’s visit to Israel and the launch of the strategic dialogue between Serbia and Israel. “Moreover, we look forward to negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement,” Bar-Ilan added. She stressed that economic cooperation between Israel and Serbia is already producing concrete and visible results, noting that bilateral trade reached USD 238 million in the first seven months of this year. She added that Serbian exports to Israel increased by 59 per cent, while imports from Israel rose by 24 per cent year-on-year. Speaking about Expo 2027 in Belgrade, Bar-Ilan said that, under the theme “Play for Humanity,” the Specialised Expo will remind people that innovation is

ultimately about people, connecting communities and creating solutions that improve lives. Gili Dekel, President of the Israel-Serbia Chamber of Commerce, said that relations between Israel and Serbia are growing increasingly strong. “The timing is right: relations between Israel and Serbia are growing stronger. Israeli companies are already active in Serbia, Serbian companies are increasingly looking toward Israel, and business interests between the two countries continue to grow. The opportunity is there; our job is to turn it into business,” said Gili Dekel. “I have been doing business in Serbia, particularly in the real estate sector, for more than 20 years. Over those years, I have seen first-hand the opportunities, the challenges and, above all, the enormous potential for stronger business ties between Israel and Serbia. Together with our founders, we decided to turn that experience into something bigger,” Dekel said.

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DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

09 SEPTEMBER 2026

Ukraine Marks 35 Years of Independence in Belgrade

krainian Ambassador to Serbia Oleksandr Litvinenko hosted a reception in the garden of the Ukrainian Embassy in Belgrade to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Addressing the guests, Litvinenko said Ukraine was marking the anniversary while still “under attack”, noting that Kyiv was going through some of its most difficult days since March 2022. Despite the continuing war, he said, Ukraine remained determined to defend itself and sought a lasting, just peace that would guarantee

security and create conditions for future development. The Ambassador thanked the United States, the United Kingdom and EU member states for the support they have provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s fullscale invasion. He also thanked Serbia for its humanitarian assistance, highlighting in particular the support provided by the City of Kragujevac in accommodating Ukrainian refugees. Litvinenko said Ukraine was ready to further deepen its cooperation with Serbia and

thanked the country for the assistance it had provided since the war began. During the reception, guests observed a minute of silence in memory of those killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Litvinenko concluded his address with a toast “to Serbia, Ukraine, friendship and the shared future of our peoples”. The reception was attended by Serbian National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Andreas von Beckerath, government ministers Nemanja Starović, Dejan Vuk Stanković and Jagoda Lazarević, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, including British Ambassador Edward Ferguson, Italian Ambassador Luca Gori and Palestinian Ambassador Mohamed al-Namoura.

DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

11 SEPTEMBER 2026

Reception Held in Belgrade to Mark Constitution Day of the Slovak Republic A reception marking Constitution Day of the Slovak Republic was held in Belgrade, bringing together members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of Serbia’s public and cultural life, and numerous friends of Slovakia

.E. Mihal Pavuk, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia, hosted the reception and welcomed the guests with his wife, Andrea Pavukova. The reception was also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić, who congratulated the Embassy, the Government, and the people of Slovakia, highlighting the traditionally close and friendly relations between the two countries. Đurić said relations between Serbia and Slovakia had been built over centuries through ties between the two peoples, states and armed forces, stressing that they provided a solid foundation for further strengthening bilateral cooperation. “Our relations have been built layer by layer through friendship and partnership

between our peoples, armed forces and states over the centuries. For our generation, it is therefore relatively easy to continue building on such a rich legacy,” Đurić said. Speaking about bilateral cooperation, the minister noted that annual trade between Serbia and Slovakia exceeds one billion euros, while companies from both countries invest in each other’s markets. He particularly thanked Slovakia for its support for Serbia’s European integration and for its understanding of Belgrade’s position regarding territorial integrity and sovereignty. Đurić also announced a joint exhibition that the Embassies of Serbia and Slovakia will soon organise in Washington, aimed at presenting the rich cultural heritage of Slovaks in Serbia to an international audience.

He expressed confidence that the coming period would further deepen relations between the two countries. “I am deeply grateful for your support and understanding of Serbia’s position,” Đurić said, adding that “the most fruitful years of our cooperation are yet to come.” The Serbian Foreign Minister also discussed the expected opening of a new Slovak House in Serbia, intended to serve as a centre for Slovak culture, business, and the wider life of the Slovak community in Serbia, while also providing additional space for further development of bilateral relations. The Slovak Republic’s Constitution Day is observed on 1 September, commemorating the adoption of the Constitution in 1992, which established the fundamental legal framework of the modern Slovak state. The Constitution is based on the principles of democracy, the rule of law, freedom and respect for human rights, alongside a commitment to peaceful cooperation with other democratic states.

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DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

15 SEPTEMBER 2026

Japanese Doll Exhibition Opens An exhibition produced by the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation was opened by H.E. Naohiro Tsutsumi, Ambassador of Japan to Serbia

his unique exhibition explores the fascinating world of Japanese dolls and the rich culture that has developed around them throughout this distant country’s long history and folklore. Visitors can discover the diversity, craftsmanship, and profound symbolism of Japanese dolls through four thematic sections.

The exhibition features prototypes such as Katashiro, Amagatsu and Hōko, as well as dolls displayed during traditional Sekku festivals, including Dairi-bina and Momotarō. The Doll as a Work of Art: This section presents sophisticated examples created at the imperial court and among the upper echelons of society, intended to be admired and appreciated.

The “Doll as Folk Art” section highlights the regional diversity and simple beauty of folk dolls made from everyday materials, such as paper and clay, featuring motifs drawn from legends and nature. These include Obata Ningyō, Imado Ningyō, and Miyoshi Ningyō. A special section of the exhibition, “The Spread of Doll Culture,” explores the contemporary forms and diversity of this culture, which continues to evolve today. It ranges from traditional toys and dolls used in the performing arts, such as Ichimatsu Ningyō, Jōruri Ningyō, Hagoita and Licca, to contemporary art forms and collectable figures of anime characters.

DIPLOMATIC EVENTS

17 SEPTEMBER 2026

British Charm and Tradition, Belgrade Elegance and Fashion in the Unique Setting of the British Ambassador’s Residence

ast night, the beautiful garden of the British Ambassador’s Residence in Belgrade hosted an exclusive fashion show by the renowned Scottish brand Lyle & Scott, celebrating 150 years of tradition. The British Embassy and Fabrika agency organised the event in cooperation with Fashion Company. Lyle & Scott is a prestigious Scottish brand recognised worldwide for its iconic Golden Eagle logo. For 150 years, the brand has cultivated exceptional quality, timeless design and a distinctive blend of sophisticated sportswear and contemporary casual style. The audience enthusiastically welcomed the Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, which elegantly showcased the brand’s signature aesthetic and its ability to connect tradition with contemporary life. Yet this fashion show was much more than a presentation of a new collection. The evening was marked by a special

atmosphere, bringing together the beautiful garden of the British Ambassador’s Residence, a carefully selected group of distinguished guests, and the sophisticated, urban and elegant side of Belgrade that is rarely seen at city events. His Excellency British Ambassador Edward Ferguson and his wife, Caroline Ferguson, brought particular warmth to the evening, and their openness and hospitality made many guests feel at home. As Vesna Mandić, founder and director of Fabrika agency, noted in her address, the Ambassador and his wife had not only opened the doors of their residence, but through their relationship with Serbia and its people had also “opened their hearts”. Before the fashion show began, Ambassador Edward Ferguson, Vesna Mandić, founder and director of Fabrika agency, and Ašok Murti, Chief Stylist at Fashion Company, addressed guests.

Alongside members of the diplomatic corps, the event drew numerous distinguished guests from Belgrade’s public and cultural life, carefully selected to represent different generations and fields. Among them were Igor Todorović, Lena Kovačević, Robert Čoban, Prof. Neda Todorović, actresses Anja Josifovska and Ivana Zarić, as well as successful young actors Andrej Jemcov, Đorđe Mišina and Nataša Miovčić, together with Jadranka Jovanović, Ljiljana Erić Simjanović, and many others. The evening at the British Ambassador’s Residence showed that fashion can be more than a runway show: it can bring people, cultures, and ideas together. In the beautiful garden, among people representing different generations and facets of contemporary Belgrade, British tradition, Scottish design and Belgrade’s urban spirit came together with perhaps the most valuable element of all: genuine hospitality. Thanks above all to the exceptional warmth of Ambassador Edward Ferguson and Caroline Ferguson, the event took on that rare, intimate quality that makes an evening memorable not only for what was presented on the runway, but above all for the people, encounters, and atmosphere that made it truly special.

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NEWS

Serbian Royal Couple Attend the Funeral of King Harald V of Norway TRH Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine attended today the state funeral of HM King Harald V of Norway, who passed away on 28 August after 35 years on the Norwegian throne

Photo: NRK TV / Screenshot

heir Royal Highnesses travelled to Oslo to pay their final respects to the late King, a dear friend and relative of the Royal family of Serbia. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess arrived in Oslo on Tuesday 8 September and were received by representatives of the Norwegian authorities before attending a private dinner at the Royal Palace. The funeral ceremony took place at Oslo Cathedral, following a solemn procession from the Royal Palace through the centre of the Norwegian capital. The coffin of His Majesty King Harald V was carried on a gun carriage and accompanied by members of the Norwegian Royal Family, visiting Royal Families, Heads of State and representatives of the officials of the Kingdom of Norway. Speaking on the occasion, HRH Crown Prince Alexander said: “My wife and I came to Oslo today with great sadness, but also with deep gratitude and respect, to say our final farewell to our dear friend and cousin, His Majesty King Harald V. It was a great privilege to know him and to witness throughout the years his devotion to Norway and to the Norwegian people. King Harald was a remarkable monarch, a man of great dignity. He dedicated his life to serving his country and was deeply respected and loved by his people. His example of

duty, commitment and service will remain an important part of Norway’s history and will be remembered with great affection. May his memory be eternal, and may the legacy of his long and devoted service to Norway continue to inspire future generations.” The funeral service began at 13:00 with a nationwide minute of silence. The President of the Church of Norway, His Eminence Olav Fykse Tveit, led the service, along with the Bishop of Oslo, Sunniva Gylver. The President of the Storting (Norway’s national parliament) and the Prime Minister of Norway delivered memorial addresses. At the same time, representatives of different faiths and beliefs took part in a candle-lighting ceremony.

Following the funeral service, the coffin was carried in procession from Oslo Cathedral to Akershus Fortress. There, in Akershus Castle Church, the Norwegian Royal Family, visiting Royal Families, and selected representatives of the Norwegian government held a private memorial service. The coffin was then lowered into the crypt of the Palace Chapel, where the sarcophagi of King Haakon VII, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha are located. At the conclusion of the private ceremony, the Norwegian flags at Akershus Fortress were raised to full mast, and a double Royal Salute was fired, while church bells rang throughout the country for one hour. After the ceremony, the Royal Couple of Serbia joined the other Royal guests at the Royal Palace for a reception hosted by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Norway. Members of the Norwegian Royal Family, led by HM King Haakon VIII, HM Queen Mette-Marit, HM Queen Sonja, and HRH Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, were joined by many distinguished guests as they said goodbye to the late King and laid him to rest. Together with the Royal Couple of Serbia, the Royal families of Europe and the world were present including: HM King Carl XVI Gustaf, HM Queen Silvia, and HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, HM King Philippe and HM Queen Mathilde of Belgium, HM King Frederik X, HM Queen Mary, and HRH Crown Prince Christian of Denmark, HM King Felipe VI, HM Queen Letizia, and HM Queen Sofia of Spain, HM King Willem-Alexander, HM Queen Máxima, HRH Princess of Orange Catharina-Amalia, and HRH Princes Beatrix of the Netherlands, HSH Prince Albert II and HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco, HRH Grand Duke Guillaume, HRH Grand Duchess Stéphanie, and HRH Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, HRH The Prince of Wales William, and HRH The Princess Royal Anne on behalf of the Royal family of the United Kingdom, HRH Hereditary Prince Alois, and HRH Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein, HM King Abdullah II and HM Queen Rania of Jordan, HIH Crown Prince Fumihito Akishino, and HIH Crown Princess Kiko Akishino of Japan, HRH Crown Prince Pavlos and HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, and many other Royals.

INTERESTING FACTS

The World According to the Map

or centuries, we have been looking at the world through a rectangle. It is a rather strange arrangement when you think about it. The Earth is a sphere, but we have somehow agreed to flatten it, cut it open and hang it on classroom walls, in offices and on television screens. And, naturally, something has to go wrong in the process. The latest argument began with the United Nations and a map called Equal Earth. On 4 September 2026, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a resolution encouraging the use of Equal Earth and other equal-area projections when the relative size of countries and continents matters. It was 164 votes to one, with the USA the only country voting against. This was not, strictly speaking, a ban on the old map. Mercator is still perfectly useful for what it was designed to do. And that is the first amusing thing about the controversy: Mercator was never really meant to tell us how big countries are. Gerardus Mercator created his famous projection in 1569 for sailors. Its great advantage was that it preserved angles and directions, making it extraordinarily useful for navigation. The price was that the farther you travel from the Equator, the more the map stretches the world. This is why Greenland becomes the size of Africa. Except that it isn’t. Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland. On Mercator, however, Greenland can look almost as big as the entire African continent. Canada, Russia and Scandinavia also acquire impressive proportions, while countries near the Equator

seem to have been put on a geographical diet. Equal Earth tries to fix this. It is an equal-area projection, meaning that regions retain their relative size. Developed in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny, it combines this accuracy with an outline reminiscent of the popular Robinson projection. Of course, this creates another problem. There is no such thing as a perfect flat map. If you preserve area, you sacrifice some shapes. If you preserve shape, you distort area. If you want distances to remain accurate, something else has to suffer. Gall-Peters gets the areas right but makes countries look strangely elongated. Robinson seeks a compromise and became popular partly because it simply looks good. Winkel Tripel, used by National Geographic for many years, also balances area, shape and distance. Equal Earth has its own victims: look towards the edges and Australia gets a little odd, Japan stretches and bends, while the far north and south become increasingly unnatural. The map tells the truth about area, but not necessarily about shape. And then comes the slightly uncomfortable question: what exactly do we put in the middle? Why Greenwich? There is nothing physically sacred about the line running through Greenwich. Longitude has no natural zero in the way latitude has the Equator. Different countries once used different prime meridians, often passing through their own observatories. Greenwich eventually won because British charts were already used by much of the world’s shipping, and in 1884 an international

conference in Washington recommended it as the world’s prime meridian. So even the supposedly neutral world map contains a little history of power. Move the central meridian and the world suddenly looks different. Put the Pacific in the middle and Asia and the Americas are divided between two halves. Put the Americas in the centre, as many American maps do, and Europe and Asia move towards the edges. China has long produced maps centred on China, which is hardly surprising for a country whose traditional name evokes the Middle Kingdom. The world itself has not moved. Only the map has. And perhaps that is why maps are more political than they appear: they don’t change geography; they change what geography feels like. Which brings us back to Greenland. One wonders whether Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire Greenland, would feel quite the same enthusiasm after seeing the new map. Perhaps the world’s most famous oversized island will suddenly look considerably less like a rival to Africa and more like what it actually is: a very large island next to a continent that absolutely dwarfs it. Trump may discover that Greenland was never quite as enormous as the map suggested. The world still has wars, famine, corruption, terrorism, child labour and forms of forced labour that sometimes look uncomfortably close to modern slavery. So what can the UN do about all that? Well... the meme says: The best we can do is make Africa bigger on the map. Progress!

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September 2026

SWISS NATIONAL DAY SPECIAL 2026 FEATURED VOICES: H.E. Anne Lugon-Moulin Swiss Ambassador to Serbia

Jelena Sadler

Executive Director, Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

Marjana Davidović

Country Manager, Nestlé Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia

AMBASSADOR’S PERSPECTIVE

A Partnership Built for the Future As Switzerland and Serbia mark 110 years of diplomatic relations, Ambassador Anne Lugon-Moulin reflects on a partnership that has grown from an act of solidarity during the First World War into broad cooperation spanning business, innovation, science and culture H.E. ANNE LUGON-MOULIN Swiss Ambassador to Serbia

hen Switzerland and Serbia established diplomatic relations 110 years ago, Europe was at war, and the Serbian government was in exile. Today, their relationship extends across a remarkably broad spectrum, from economic cooperation and innovation to science, education, governance and culture. For H.E. Anne Lugon-Moulin, Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia, the anniversary is therefore not only an opportunity to look back at more than a century of relations, but also to consider what the partnership can become in the years ahead. “Our partnership dates to 1916; at that time, the Swiss government gave a strong sign of solidarity and trust to the Serbian government, which was in exile in Corfu during World War I, by accepting the nomination of a Serbian Envoy in Switzerland. Today, our cooperation continues to grow through science, education, innovation, business, governance and culture. Switzerland, through its international cooperation projects, works hand in hand with Serbian institutions, municipalities, businesses, the innovation ecosystem, and civil society,” Ambassador Lugon-Moulin says. That cooperation today has a particularly strong economic dimension. Swiss companies have become long-term investors in Serbia, creating more than 20,000 jobs and bringing capital, technology, expertise and high standards of quality. Around 600 companies contribute to Serbia’s integration into global value chains, while benefiting from the country’s skills, creativity and entrepreneurial potential. The relationship is equally sustained by personal connections. A sizeable diaspora and intensive travel between the two countries have created links that go well beyond institutional cooperation,

LASTING SECURITY IS BUILT THROUGH COOPERATION AND MUTUAL RESPECT with around 50 weekly flights connecting Belgrade and Niš with Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Yet the anniversary comes as international relations are reshaped by geopolitical tensions, technological transformation and

questions about the future of the multilateral system. Switzerland sees dialogue and international cooperation as essential elements of the response. “In a world marked by geopolitical turmoil, Switzerland reaffirms its commitment to international law, multilateralism, dialogue and democratic resilience. We believe that lasting security is built through cooperation and mutual respect,” Lugon-Moulin says. This commitment is closely connected with Geneva’s role as one of the world’s major centres

of international diplomacy. Switzerland is also seeking to strengthen the city’s position as a place where the international community can address emerging global challenges, including artificial intelligence. “Having the second most important multilateral city, Switzerland is deploying substantial means to position Geneva as a top venue for future-oriented issues. Hence, we are proud to host the next AI Summit in 2027,” the Ambassador points out. But Switzerland’s presence in Serbia is not defined by diplomacy and business alone. Community initiatives and humanitarian engagement provide another, less formal dimension to its presence in the country. That was visible recently when Lugon-Moulin hosted members of the International Women’s Club of Belgrade at her residence. In recognition of her continuous support, friendship and commitment to the organisation, she was named an honorary member of the Club. The Ambassador also confirmed that Switzerland would again take part in the IWC’s traditional charity bazaar in December. “Last December, the charity bazaar was truly impressive, with an enormous turnout, organised at a highly professional level and with a great deal of visible effort. We will be part of the bazaar again this December, together with other embassies,” she said, adding that she was pleased that the IWC also provides members of the Swiss Embassy team with a welcoming and friendly community. From the diplomatic ties established in the turmoil of 1916 to cooperation on investment, innovation and the technologies of tomorrow, the Swiss-Serbian relationship has changed profoundly over 110 years. What connects its different chapters is an emphasis on dialogue, cooperation and direct ties between people, the same principles highlighted during this year’s Swiss National Day celebration in Belgrade.

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EVENTS

Swiss National Day in Belgrade Celebrates 110 Years of Bilateral Relations with Serbia The Embassy of Switzerland in Belgrade marked Swiss National Day with a reception hosted at the residence of H.E. Ambassador Anne Lugon-Moulin, bringing together more than 600 guests

his year’s celebration held particular significance, taking place in the context of 110 years of bilateral relations between Switzerland and Serbia. The reception brought together prominent representatives of Serbia’s political and public life, including First Lady Tamara Vučić, members of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of public institutions, the Embassy’s partners, and members of the Swiss community in Serbia. Welcoming the guests, H.E. Ambassador LugonMoulin highlighted solidarity and dialogue as important ties

THE 110TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON THE LONGSTANDING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SWITZERLAND AND SERBIA connecting the two countries. The 110th anniversary of diplomatic relations offered an opportunity to reflect on the longstanding relationship between Switzerland and Serbia, while also looking ahead to further strengthening cooperation and partnership. The evening combined the formal character of a diplomatic

reception with a taste of Swiss culture and gastronomy. Guests enjoyed traditional Swiss specialities, including raclette and rösti, while DJ Đorđije Stajkić provided the evening’s musical programme. One highlight of the evening was the announcement of the winner of the art competition for

the Embassy of Switzerland’s new premises in Belgrade. The event also featured an exhibition of selected entries, allowing guests to discover the diverse and creative proposals submitted as part of the competition. This year’s reception was therefore more than a celebration of Switzerland’s national holiday. It also offered an occasion to mark 110 years of diplomatic relations and to celebrate the enduring partnership between Switzerland and Serbia – a relationship shaped by dialogue, cooperation, and strong connections between the two countries and their people.

by Mijat Kontić

Photo: Zoran Petrović

ECONOMICS

Over 600 Swiss Companies Operate in Serbia Leveraging 110 years of diplomatic ties to expand B2B networking and institutional collaboration JELENA SADLER fali itula

his edition of Diplomata features an in-depth conversation with Jelena Sadler, Executive Director of the Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce. Marking 110 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Serbia and following the high-level visit of Swiss President Guy Parmelin, Sadler details the Chamber’s mission to deepen economic integration, support small and

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and leverage platforms like Belgrade Expo 2027. The interview explores key investment sectors, including Agritech, AI, biotechnology, and green transition, while emphasising the human-centric foundations of sustainable business partnerships. Ms Sadler, you have a rich background in international media and journalism. How has that experience shaped your leadership approach at the Chamber?

BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL INVESTMENT, THERE ARE PEOPLE Spending more than a decade in international media and journalism taught me a vital lesson: the best results are achieved when people communicate, listen to one another, and build mutual trust. Throughout my career, I worked

with people from different continents, cultures, and background perspectives, which made me realise that clear communication and understanding are often just as critical as a good business idea. That is precisely the philosophy I bring to the SwissSerbian Chamber of Commerce. Organising events is secondary to creating genuine mutual understanding and establishing valuable human connections. Behind every successful investment or business project, there are people.

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ECONOMICS

This year marks a major milestone—110 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Serbia. What does this historic occasion mean for the Chamber, and how are you leveraging this momentum? Celebrating 110 years of international diplomatic relations is a profound milestone. This anniversary gained even greater weight after Swiss President Guy Parmelin’s official visit in April—the first head-of-state visit

from Switzerland since 2008. This visit sent a powerful signal that Switzerland views Serbia as a key regional partner. The Chamber was privileged to participate in the visit and engage directly with the prominent Swiss business delegation accompanying President Parmelin. These high-level encounters provide significant momentum for commercial relations, open doors to new capital investments, and reinforce long-term confidence.

sustainability, and human resource development. We insist that the Chamber must be a practical venue where companies actively solve challenges, rather than simply a source of passive information. You mentioned targeted support for small and medium-sized enterprises. How specifically does the Chamber connect SMEs with Swiss partners and market opportunities?

A THRIVING ECONOMY IS BUILT ON PEOPLE, KNOWLEDGE, AND TRUST What are the Chamber’s key priorities for the remainder of the year, and which main projects are currently driving your agenda? We are focusing on three structural priorities: First, strengthening targeted business networking among member companies and the broader economy through direct B2B meetings. Second, empowering small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) to access the Swiss market and international partner networks more effectively and third, enhancing institutional collaboration in strategic areas such as innovation,

The main hurdle for SMEs is that, despite strong products and high operational capability, they often lack sufficient visibility in the Swiss market. We bridge that gap by connecting them directly with the right commercial partners in Switzerland, boosting their market presence and creating pathways to integrate into global value chains. Switzerland is globally recognised for its investments in technology and innovation. Where do you see the strongest potential for Swiss investment in Serbia?

Naša slika, bez potpisa

How would you define the primary mission of the SwissSerbian Chamber of Commerce, and what is its significance for economic cooperation between the two countries? Put simply, our business is connecting people and companies. Switzerland is one of Serbia’s most significant economic partners. Currently, more than 600 Swiss companies operate in Serbia, employing a substantial workforce and contributing to economic development. Annual bilateral trade in goods stands at approximately €1.3 billion, while Swiss investments in Serbia have exceeded €2 billion in recent years. Our role is not only to support existing businesses, but also to help new investors navigate Serbia, find reliable local partners, and scale their operations seamlessly.

Serbia presents notable opportunities across information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, energy, and green technologies. Personally, I see exceptional potential in Agritech. Serbia possesses a rich agricultural heritage, while Switzerland offers world-class technological achievements. Combining Serbian sector expertise and talent with Swiss technological innovation creates a highly competitive formula. How will the Chamber utilise Belgrade Expo 2027 to highlight Swiss innovations and expand corporate presence? Switzerland was the first country to formally confirm its participation in Expo 2027, an event that offers a unique platform for both Serbia and the wider region. The Chamber aims to help Swiss companies identify concrete commercial opportunities linked to this event. We are organising dedicated trade delegations and B2B meetings to showcase Swiss innovations in emerging technology, healthcare, mobility, and smart cities. We view Expo 2027 not merely as a multi-month event, but as a catalyst for new longterm investments. Looking ahead over the next five years, what is your vision for the Chamber’s future role? In five years, I want the SwissSerbian Chamber of Commerce to be the definitive entry point for companies seeking international partners, launching joint ventures, or directing investments between Serbia and Switzerland. We will continue connecting companies and attracting new capital, while placing heavy emphasis on innovation, education, and talent development—the foundation of long-term national competitiveness. Bilateral relations are at an alltime high, supported by 110 years of history, President Parmelin’s visit, and strong Swiss commercial interest in Expo 2027. Ultimately, a thriving economy relies on capital, but it is built on people, knowledge, and trust. If we keep cultivating these values, the best is yet to come.

by Sanja Pešić

CORPORATE

More Than Precision Swiss values, local experience and trust built over more than three decades SANJA PEŠIĆ CEO of Alma Quattro

hen a company exists for more than three decades, its history cannot be told solely through its ownership structure, business results, or market changes. People, decisions, relationships, and values have shaped it and stood the test of time. Alma Quattro has been in business since 1994, and I have been part of that journey from the very first day until today. Over the years, the ownership structure, the market, technologies, and the way we communicate have been changing. A new chapter began in the early 2000s, when Alma Quattro became part of a major international group, with Swiss capital and business culture gradually becoming an important part of the company’s identity. Today, when I think about what this Swiss identity means to me, capital is not the first thing that comes to my mind. I think of values. Switzerland is often associated with precision, quality and reliability. After more than three decades of business experience, I would say that behind all these qualities lies something even more important: trust. Mutual trust is perhaps the most valuable form of capital any company can get, and certainly the one that takes the longest to build. Trust cannot be bought, nor can it be imported along with capital. It is built over time: through consistency between words and deeds, through the way we treat our employees, clients and partners, and through the decisions we make when they are easy, but even more so when they are not. This is where I see a strong connection between Swiss business culture and what Alma Quattro has become over the years. Long-term thinking, stability, responsibility and high professional standards only have meaning if they are visible in everyday business practice. Interestingly, given the nature of our business, we deal precisely with visibility.

TRUST IS THE MOST VALUABLE CAPITAL Outdoor advertising is part of the public space. Hundreds of thousands of people view what we do every day, often without even thinking about it. That is why, for me, visibility always comes with responsibility: to the clients whose messages we communicate, to the cities whose spaces we share, and to the people who live in those spaces. Perhaps this is the most fascinating paradox of our business. Alma Quattro is in the business of visibility, yet the most important principles underpinning its success are unseen. Trust has no billboard. Integrity has no campaign. A long-term perspective is difficult to capture in a single image. And yet, these invisible values are precisely what enables a company to endure. We have never regarded Alma Quattro’s Swiss ownership merely as a fact reflected in its ownership structure. We perceive it as

a part of the business culture we have built over the years in the market where we live and work. Successful international business models are not simply transposed from one country to another. The best model is to combine the standards and experience of the owners with the knowledge, energy, and unique characteristics of the local market. This year, that story takes on a special dimension. Serbia and Switzerland are marking 110 years of diplomatic relations, more than a century during which states, circumstances and generations have changed, while the ties between the two countries have continued to evolve. Today, Serbia is Switzerland’s most important economic partner in the Western Balkans, giving this historic relationship a tangible, measurable dimension. In this sense, Alma Quattro represents one small part of a much larger story. As a company with 100% Swiss capital and a member of the Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, we are part of a business community that transforms

bilateral relations into something tangible every day. After all, relations between countries do not exist only through agreements and official meetings. They come to life through investments, companies, jobs, partnerships, the exchange of knowledge and, above all, through people. Another symbolic aspect of this moment is particularly meaningful to me. Today, Switzerland is represented in Serbia by Ambassador Anne Lugon-Moulin, while Alma Quattro is led by a woman who built her professional career in an industry where leadership positions were, for many years, largely reserved for men. I do not believe that gender itself is a qualification for leadership, just as I have never believed it should be an obstacle. But it says a great deal about how far we have come when women no longer need to justify why they have a seat at the table where decisions are made. Perhaps this is the best way to measure progress: not by the number of women who have become exceptions, but by reaching a point where a woman serving as an ambassador, director, or leader is no longer newsworthy, but simply the natural result of her knowledge, experience and abilities. Looking at 110 years of relations between Serbia and Switzerland from the perspective of my 32 years at Alma Quattro, the timescales may differ, but the lesson is the same: lasting value is rarely built quickly. They are developed, shaped and adapted over time, and they endure because people on both sides continue to recognize their value. Perhaps that is why, for me, the most meaningful message of this year’s Swiss National Day is that tradition and progress are not opposites—quite the contrary. The most valuable traditions are those built on foundations strong enough to embrace changes. And for a company whose business is to make things visible, I am particularly pleased that today we can make that progress visible.

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by Adecco

CORPORATE

People Are at the Heart of Every Success As a global human resources leader with Swiss roots, Adecco has connected people with opportunities and companies with the talent that drives their growth for decades

Photo: Adecco / Ivan Vučićević and Filip Milisavljević

o matter how much the labour market evolves, one thing remains unchanged: behind every business result, every idea and every successful company are people. In Serbia, Adecco supports local and international companies across a wide range of industries in finding, engaging and developing people who match their business needs. Through recruitment and selection, temporary staffing, outsourcing, payroll, and other HR solutions, we connect employers’ needs with candidates’ knowledge, experience, and potential every day. The strong economic ties between Serbia and Switzerland create further opportunities for new investment, knowledge exchange and long-term business partnerships. Swiss companies bring high business standards, quality and a long-term perspective to the Serbian market, while Serbia offers skilled professionals, experience and significant potential for further development. Adecco sees its key role where companies’ needs meet people’s potential.

Photo: Adecco

REAL WORK. REAL PEOPLE. Our job is not simply to find a candidate for an open position. Our goal is to understand the person behind the CV, their abilities and ambitions, as well as the people. It needs behind every business because the right match can transform not only someone’s career, but the future of an entire organisation. Looking ahead, Adecco Serbia will continue to build relationships based on trust, understanding and the genuine needs of people and companies, while supporting the development of the labour market and strengthening Serbia’s business ties with international partners. Because regardless of the industry, market or size of a company, business is ultimately always a story about people.

BUSINESS INTERVIEW

Beyond Investment, Towards Innovation Serbia and Switzerland are entering a new phase of economic cooperation driven by knowledge, technology and higher value-added projects MARJANA DAVIDOVIĆ Country Manager Nestlé Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia

How would you assess the current economic relations between Serbia and Switzerland, and where do you see the greatest untapped potential for further development, particularly in terms of trade and new investment? Trade in goods worth around €1 billion shows that Serbia and Switzerland have a substantial economic relationship, but trade value alone does not tell us much about its quality. Looking at its structure, Serbia still imports significantly more goods from Switzerland than it exports. The picture is more favourable for services, particularly in the IT sector, where Switzerland is one of the most important export markets for Serbian companies. This is precisely where I see strong potential for the next phase of cooperation, one based not on labour costs, but on innovation and the delivery of higher-quality, more complex projects. Serbia has demonstrated that it can compete through knowledge, technology, and professional services. This creates an opportunity to extend this model to other industries through more sophisticated manufacturing, product development, and deeper integration of Serbian companies into international supply chains.

Photo: Luka Šarac

arjana Davidović, Board Member of the SwissSerbian Chamber of Commerce and Country Manager Nestlé Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, discusses the next phase of Serbian-Swiss economic cooperation, focusing on investment, innovation, sustainability, and higher value-added growth.

SERBIA HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT IT CAN COMPETE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY An important signal also came in April this year, during the visit of the Swiss President to Serbia. The visit had a strong business dimension, including a business delegation, meetings with

companies, and a new bilateral innovation programme. This shows a solid foundation for cooperation in the coming years, with a growing focus on technology, innovation, and higher value-added activities. Serbia is Switzerland’s most important trading partner in the Western Balkans, with bilateral trade in goods reaching around CHF 1 billion annually. What is needed for bilateral economic relations to make the next major leap and move from solid results to a significantly higher level of cooperation?

In day-to-day business operations, there is a very clear distinction between a company’s decision to enter a market for the first time and its decision to continue investing in that market. For an initial investment, factors such as costs, location, incentives, and market access are important. When a company is considering its next project, however, the criteria become more demanding. By then, it already knows how productive its existing facilities are, the quality of its workforce, how reliable its suppliers are, and how quickly it can introduce new technologies into

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW

production. In both cases, Serbia’s image is extremely important, which is why it needs to be continuously strengthened, from the business community and relevant institutions to the awareness and habits of end consumers. This is why I see the next major step in Serbian-Swiss cooperation in investments that bring greater knowledge and development. The new bilateral innovation programme, worth CHF 10 million, is moving precisely in this direction by connecting companies, universities, start-ups, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Its true success will not be measured by the number of events held, but by whether a Serbian company has developed a new solution, become a supplier within an international system, or successfully entered a new market. Results like these transform the quality of economic cooperation far more profoundly than overall trade growth alone. Swiss companies are traditionally associated with quality, innovation, long-term planning, and high business standards. How widely are these values recognised in Serbia today, and to what extent do Swiss companies contribute to the development of local business culture and standards? Standards acquire their true value only when they become part of everyday business practice. If you want to become a supplier to an international company, you must comply with clearly defined procedures, from quality and delivery deadlines to responsible management of energy and water consumption, as well as waste. Over time, these requirements also change how local partners operate. A supplier that improves traceability, quality, resource management, or production safety does not simply become more reliable for a single customer. It strengthens its own competitiveness and becomes better positioned to work with other international companies. A good example is the regenerative agriculture programme that Nestlé has been implementing in Serbia since 2021. Changing production practices required farmer education, new equipment, continuous monitoring of results, and financial support. This also illustrates something I consider particularly important. Setting a high standard is not enough if you expect a partner to meet it immediately.

Lasting change happens when requirements are paired with the knowledge, support, and time needed for new practices to become sustainable. The Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce was established in 2014 to serve as a bridge between the business communities of the two countries. How has its role evolved over the past decade, and what do member companies expect most from the Chamber today?

actually change in business operations. Artificial intelligence creates value when it enables more accurate demand forecasting, better inventory management, more efficient logistics, or faster development of new solutions. A good example comes from the food industry. Globally, Nestlé R&D, together with IBM Research, has developed a generative AI tool that helps identify new packaging materials while considering their functionality, recyclability, and cost. Through applications like these, technology moves beyond

INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY CAN NO LONGER BE VIEWED SEPARATELY Managing business operations across the markets of Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia clearly demonstrates how significantly regulatory differences can affect a company’s day-to-day operations. Sometimes the issue concerns the labelling of the same product, sometimes documentation, border procedures, or differing interpretations of a particular regulation. Individually, each may seem like a minor administrative requirement. However, when a company has a large product portfolio and operates across several markets, its cumulative impact becomes a significant drain on time and resources. This is precisely where I see one of the Chamber’s most important roles today. If several members encounter the same problem, the Chamber can identify it as a shared issue, gather concrete experiences, and initiate dialogue with the relevant institutions. Simply connecting companies is therefore no longer enough. Greater value lies in translating members’ day-to-day business experiences into concrete proposals that can simplify procedures and improve the overall business environment. Among the topics the Chamber has particularly emphasised in recent years are innovation, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and sustainable business. To what extent can these areas become new pillars of economic cooperation between Serbia and Switzerland? They can, but only if we quickly move from talking about technology to focusing on what it can

itself and starts solving concrete business problems. Serbia has a strong foundation for this type of cooperation thanks to its technical and digital expertise, while Switzerland has a highly developed link between science, research, and industry. This is why the bilateral innovation programme comes at the right time, particularly if it leads to concrete solutions that can be applied in industry. The same applies to sustainability. Today, it directly influences decisions concerning raw materials, production, packaging, energy, and supplier selection. New European packaging regulations and increasingly stringent traceability requirements for certain agricultural raw materials are further accelerating this shift. When you manufacture in Serbia while operating across multiple markets, these requirements very quickly become part of everyday business decisions. This is why I would no longer view innovation and sustainability separately. Technology will increasingly become one way companies meet new standards, use resources more efficiently, and remain competitive. When you speak with Swiss companies considering entering the Serbian market, what do they see as its greatest advantages today, and what obstacles or aspects of the business environment does Serbia still need to address to attract more Swiss capital? An investment decision rarely depends on a single factor. Companies simultaneously assess the workforce, infrastructure, energy, logistics, suppliers and, above

all, whether they can plan their operations over the long term. Last year demonstrated just how quickly the investment climate can change. After record foreign investment inflows in 2024, 2025 saw a significant decline. Labour, energy, and transportation costs can be factored into a business plan, but uncertainty is much harder to account for. This is why stable rules and efficient procedures matter when companies consider investments intended to last for many years. Another key issue is the workforce. Serbia’s advantage based on lower labour costs is gradually diminishing, so for more sophisticated investments, it is becoming increasingly important whether companies can find the engineers, technicians, and digital specialists they need to support further growth. Serbia has strong technical expertise, industrial experience, and a favourable geographical position. I see the next step in ensuring even greater business predictability, simplifying procedures, advancing regulatory alignment, and developing the skills that companies will need in the years ahead. Based on Nestlé’s experience, what makes Serbia an attractive location for longterm investment, and what is needed to ensure that major international companies not only remain here, but continue to expand production and invest in new technologies and sustainability? When an international company enters a country for the first time, the decision is largely based on assessments and expectations. When, ten or twenty years later, it decides to make another significant investment in the same location, that decision is backed by concrete results. Within a large international organisation, investment decisions concerning a particular country are never automatic. Nestlé’s investments in Serbia were based on what its existing operations had demonstrated over the years, from workforce quality and supplier reliability to raw-material consistency and market-share management. This is why I would increasingly measure the success of investment policy not simply by the number of companies that have entered Serbia for the first time. A far more telling indicator is how many of them, after one or two decades, have chosen Serbia for their next major project.

MEDIA INTERVIEW

by Dragan Nikolić

No Compromise on Editorial Freedom

BRANISLAV ŠOVLJANSKI News Director, N1 Srbija

s N1 faces mounting political and economic pressure, ownership changes, and new challenges to media freedom, Branislav Šovljanski, News Director of N1 Serbia, speaks about the fight for editorial independence, the channel’s future, and why its journalists have no intention of giving up. When you took over as head of the N1 newsroom, you said you were doing so at “a particularly delicate moment for society and independent media.” Several months later, would you say that moment has become even more delicate? How much room

is there really for professional and independent journalism in Serbia today, and to what extent is that space being systematically narrowed? The situation is even more delicate now, given that N1, along with the other media outlets in the ANN network, is going through an ownership transition at a time when elections have been called in Serbia. This creates incom-

accustomed to pressure and have been resisting it for the past 12 years. We will continue to do so. The space for professional journalism has been shrinking for years, and this is happening systematically. Journalists have a responsibility to fight for their profession and their freedom, but citizens also need to understand that without free journalism, society as a whole cannot be free.

WITHOUT FREE JOURNALISM, SOCIETY AS A WHOLE CANNOT BE FREE parably more difficult working conditions, but at N1 we are accustomed to operating in challenging circumstances. We are also

Pressure on independent media is no longer limited to attacks by politicians, tabloids, or campaigns targeting individual

journalists. We increasingly see media freedom affected by ownership, market forces, and content distribution. Has economic pressure today become a more effective way to control the media than traditional political censorship? Any uncertainty that forces you to wonder whether you will receive your salary is a form of economic pressure. It is also pressure when advertisers tell you, “We are not allowed to advertise with you.” The ideal situation is one in which the owner gives journalists editorial freedom while generating a certain profit from their work and the media product they create. However, the line separating management from editorial decision-making

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Photo: Nebojša Babić

As Serbia enters an election campaign amid mounting political, economic and ownership pressures, N1 insists that its editorial independence remains non-negotiable.

MEDIA INTERVIEW

Whether they choose to accept that invitation is up to them.

has grown increasingly blurred over the years, and that poses a genuine threat to media independence. Pressure on independent media is no longer limited to attacks by politicians, tabloids, or campaigns targeting individual journalists. We increasingly see media freedom affected by ownership, market forces, and content distribution. Has economic pressure today become a more effective way to control the media than traditional political censorship? Any uncertainty that forces you to wonder whether you will receive your salary is a form of economic pressure. It is also pressure when advertisers tell you, “We are not allowed to advertise with you.” The ideal situation is one in which the owner gives journalists editorial freedom while generating a certain profit from their work and the media product they create. However, the line separating management from editorial decision-making has grown increasingly blurred over the years, posing a genuine threat to media independence. The latest case in which Yettel removed N1 and Nova from some users’ packages, offering them a lower subscription fee instead, has raised an issue that goes beyond the ordinary business relationship between a TV operator and a broadcaster. Do you see this as testing a model through which independent media could have their access to audiences restricted, and what can a media outlet actually do when the struggle for free journalism shifts from content itself to citizens’ ability to access that content? It is, to say the least, a strange decision for an operator that has the exclusive right to carry N1 and Nova to remove those very channels from some of its customers as part of a “pilot” project. The timing is also telling, given that this is happening ahead of the elections. But if anyone intends to play that kind of game, they should look at Hungary. There, despite near-total control of the media landscape, the side with no access to the media emerged victorious. I hope those conducting such “tests” in Serbia are aware of that as well. At the end of the day, however, this is an issue for the media owners and the operator. They need to resolve the situation.

N1 IS NOT JUST A BRAND. N1 IS THE PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE Serbia has a new REM Council, but even after three attempts, it has failed to elect its president, while numerous cases and complaints remain unresolved. Do you still believe that REM can become a genuinely independent regulator, or is the problem so deeply institutional that even changing its composition will not be enough? It is clearly not in Serbia’s interest to have a functioning REM, particularly now, when the regulator should be responding to developments during the election campaign and monitoring the media. We are currently in a situation where REM cannot impose measures or sanction those who violate the law, and we witness such violations every day. Serbia’s media landscape has been abused to such an extent that, if and when REM finally becomes fully functional, as I hope it will, it will take time to put the media landscape back in order and clear it of what cannot truly be considered media. For years, N1 and Nova have positioned themselves as an alternative to Serbia’s dominant media narrative. In such a

deeply polarised society, however, is there a risk that independent media may come to be perceived simply as “the other side” of the political divide? How do you maintain a critical stance towards the government without becoming an opposition media outlet? Since its launch, N1 has had guests from across the entire political spectrum. For several years now, however, the parties in power have chosen not to appear on N1. And then they accuse you of being an opposition television channel. We now find ourselves in an even more paradoxical situation. The government accuses us of being pro-opposition, the left-wing opposition accuses us of favouring the student movement, the rightwing opposition says we don’t get enough airtime, and some sections of the student movement accuse us of being too pro-Western. To me, the fact that we seem to bother everyone suggests that we are doing something right. It means we are our own voice. And yes, during the election campaign, we will invite every participant in the elections.

You have been with N1 practically from day one, progressing from reporter and editor to the person who now leads the newsroom. If you imagine N1 and Nova two or three years from now, what do you see as the greatest threat: political pressure, changes in the ownership environment, loss of distribution and audience, or fatigue among journalists who have already been working under pressure for years? And despite all of this, where do you see grounds for optimism? Everything you have mentioned is a potential threat that I think about. But things have never been easy at N1, and we have learned how to fight. To fight for our profession. Sometimes we have been better at it, sometimes less so. But despite everyone and everything, we have built the most recognisable news brand in the region. People trust N1, and N1 ranks among the most-watched channels on the networks where it is available. But N1 is not just a brand. N1 is the people who work there, the people who have put a part of themselves into that name. And they are the one thing I have no doubts about—the people of N1. And no, we will not grow tired. The long-standing partnership between N1 and CNN ended on 31 August, after Adria News Network decided not to renew the agreement. CNN affiliation had been part of N1’s identity practically since its launch. Why was the decision made to end the partnership, what does N1 actually lose as a result, and should this move be viewed separately from the broader ownership and organisational changes that N1 is currently undergoing? Partnering with CNN was an excellent move at the very beginning, and CNN was a reliable and extremely valuable partner for more than a decade. However, the owners decided not to renew the partnership. I see this purely as a business decision because, as you know, a partnership of that kind does not come cheap. In terms of programming, it doesn’t mean much for our viewers. After all, the people at N1 built N1, not the people at CNN. And we’ll keep building it.

SPORTS INTERVIEW

More Than a Game Thirty years of bringing generations together through sport, friendship and fair play ZDRAVKO MARIĆ President of Plazma Youth Sports Games

dravko Marić, President of the Plazma Youth Sports Games, reflects on three decades of a project that has brought together millions of children across the region, using sport to build friendships, break down barriers and create memories that last a lifetime. The Plazma Youth Sports Games have grown from a single idea into Europe’s largest amateur sports event for children and young people. Looking back at the beginning, could you have imagined the scale the Games would one day reach? When we started in Split in 1996, I had an idea and a great deal of enthusiasm. Thirty years ago, it was difficult to imagine that a project we launched in Croatia would one day bring together children from five countries. In the beginning, what mattered most to us was giving children the opportunity to play sports, spend time together, compete and create memories they would cherish for the rest of their lives. We were not thinking about borders, countries or an international project at the time. We were thinking about children.

Over time, we realised that what we were doing had far greater potential. The Games naturally began to expand beyond Croatia, first to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia, and later to North Macedonia. Today, the Games are present in five countries. This year,

we organised competitions in more than 700 cities and towns, bringing together 432,678 participants, while more than 3,869,000 children have taken part in the project over the past thirty years. Those are figures we could not even have dreamed of thirty years ago.

Millions of children have taken part in the Plazma Youth Sports Games over the past decades. What do you consider the project’s greatest achievement: the number of participants, its regional dimension, or the fact that some of those who once

took part are now parents of a new generation of participants? The numbers are impressive and something we should be proud of, but for me, numbers have never been the most important thing. What matters most is the moment when I meet someone who

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Photos: Plazma Youth Sports Games

CHILDREN ARE NOT BORN WITH PREJUDICES; THEY LEARN THEM

SPORTS INTERVIEW

tells me, “I used to take part in the Games too.” And then they add that their child is now participating. That is when you realise that what you have created was not just one competition or one season. The Games have become part of people’s lives and have grown alongside generations of children. After 30 years, I am particularly happy to see children from different countries coming to the Games, competing, spending time together and forming friendships. We adults need to listen more closely to what children show us through their behaviour: that regardless of our differences and the countries we come from, we all share the same goal and live on the same planet. Children have shown us this better than we adults ever have. And for that, I am deeply grateful to them. The Games bring together children from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and North Macedonia, a region where politics often finds it much harder to establish common ground. To what extent can sport achieve what other social institutions sometimes cannot, by making borders less important? Sport has proven to be a universal language that children understand regardless of which country they come from, what language they speak or the environment in which they grow up. Children are not born with prejudices; they learn them. When you bring them together on the same playing field

THE MOMENTS I CHERISH MOST HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MEDALS and under the same roof, they very quickly realise how much they have in common, and borders become far less important. I am particularly proud that in thirty years we have not recorded a single incident. For me, that is the best proof that we have created an environment where friendship, respect, and fair play come first.

Children today are growing up with smartphones, social media and increasingly less physical activity. Has your approach to getting them interested in sport and motivating them to get out onto the playing field changed over the years? Thirty years ago, children would come home from school, go outside, meet up with their friends

and play. Today, they have the whole world in their phones. Technology has replaced physical activity, socialising and real-life interaction with other children. At the Plazma Youth Sports Games, we do not simply tell children to “get away from their screens”. We give them the chance to get out onto the playing field, make new friends, compete, play, and discover how rewarding it is to be part of a team. That is why we offer ten different sports. A child does not have to be a football player or already train in a particular sport to take part. They can come along, give it a try, play football, basketball, dodgeball or something else and discover what they enjoy. Perhaps it is at the Games that they will discover a sport they will pursue for the rest of their lives. Or perhaps they will not, and that is perfectly fine. What matters is that they came, played and spent time with others. Inclusion and equal opportunities for girls and boys are also very important to us, something we promote through dodgeball as well, where girls and boys compete in mixed teams. For the past six years, we have also worked with UEFA and the UEFA Foundation for Children, with a particular focus on women’s football, and the number of girls’ teams continues to grow every year. That cooperation began thanks to Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA President and one of our ambassadors.

SPORTS INTERVIEW

The Youth Sports Games insist that participation remain free of charge. How difficult is it to preserve that principle as the project grows, becomes international and increasingly demanding to organise? Throughout these thirty years, not a single child participating in the Plazma Youth Sports Games has paid a single cent. Every child must have an equal opportunity to take part, regardless of where they come from or their family’s financial circumstances. Today, we organise competitions in five countries, across ten sports, for hundreds of thousands of children. We plan every detail, from venues, referees, and delegates to transport, accommodation, meals, and security. Although this is amateur sport, the organisational standards at the Games match those of professional competitions. Such a model would not be possible without the support of the governments of all the countries in which the Games are held. In Serbia, I would particularly highlight the support of President Aleksandar Vučić, because a project of this scale simply cannot function without institutional support. Our partners are equally important. Around 80 per cent of our revenue comes from marketing sources, and this model enables us to provide children with free participation, including transport, accommodation, and meals at the finals. Bambi is our general sponsor, while Coca-Cola is our longest-standing partner, with whom we organise not only the Coca-Cola Cup but also a range of sports and educational projects Children with very different talents, ambitions and life circumstances have taken part in the Games over the years. Is there a particular story or encounter with a participant that has stayed with you and reminded you why you started all of this in the first place?

SPORT SHOULD BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, AND CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CHILDREN After thirty years, there are truly thousands of stories, and I could not single out just one. But the moments I cherish most have nothing to do with medals. When you see a child hug an opponent after losing. When one player helps another back to their feet. When a child from a small town visits a big city for the first time and meets someone who remains a friend for years, or sees the sea for the first time. When a child loses a match but walks off the field smiling because they have made a new friend. That, to me, is what the Games are all about. Through sport, children learn that losing a match is not the problem. Giving up or failing to respect the person on the other side is. There are also wonderful stories of participants who went on to become professional athletes. Mario Pašalić still keeps his medal, Luka Ivanušec met his future wife at the Games, and Donna Vekić keeps a framed photograph from her time with us. Šime Vrsaljko, Dario Šarić, Sandra Elkasević, Ivan Perišić and many others also competed at the Games as children. I mention this not because we want to claim any credit for their success, but

because we were part of their first steps in sport and their childhood memories. After everything the Plazma Youth Sports Games have already achieved, where do you see their next major step? Is there a limit to how far you want to expand, or is the ambition to take an idea born in this region and make it a global project? We are constantly being contacted by people from other countries asking whether we could organise the Games there as well. It is a wonderful feeling, but also a great responsibility, because we do not want to grow faster than our ability to maintain the Games’ quality. This year, we took an important step forward. We launched the Games in North Macedonia, where we signed an agreement with the Government to expand through a licensing model. This is the first time the Games have expanded into a new country in this way, and I believe this model can pave the way for further growth. For six consecutive years, we have been recognised as the largest amateur sporting event for children in Europe, and we would never have reached this point without the support of people

such as Aleksander Čeferin, who, regardless of his position, has extraordinary empathy and compassion for others. In my view, he is the best person in the world. From the very beginning, he understood that this was not merely a sports project, but a social platform that uses sport to bring young people together and build bridges between countries. Predrag Mijatović is also there for us, supporting the Games sincerely and wholeheartedly, and I never take that for granted. Luka Modrić, Željko Obradović, Nemanja Matić, Ana Ivanović, Goran Ivanišević, Goran Dragić and many others join us in sending a powerful message about how important sport can be while growing up, not only through results and victories, but through values that last a lifetime: friendship, respect, fair play and belief in yourself. A particular challenge is maintaining the same quality and values as the project grows. What makes me happiest is that we’ve never lost the fundamental idea we started with. If we can preserve it for another thirty years, that will be our greatest legacy: that children continue to come to the Games for the joy of playing, friendship and spending time together, not merely for the results. And that, after everything we have achieved, one simple message remains: sport should bring people together, and children should have the right to be children.

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Photos: Plazma Youth Sports Games

We have also learned that children need activities that combine play with something more. Zero Waste, which we launched with Coca-Cola in 2022, is the best example. Children run, dribble a ball, and, at the same time, learn how to sort waste properly. The best confirmation that it works is when children themselves call us and ask when we are bringing the course to their city.

by Žikica Milošević

Photo: Obatala-photography / Shutterstock

ANALYSIS

The Vanishing Centre Europe’s Political Middle Ground Is Crumbling

or most of the post-Cold War era, Western Europe believed it had solved politics. The ideological storms of the twentieth century appeared to have subsided into something calmer, managerial and rational. Conservatives accepted the welfare state. Social democrats accepted capitalism. Elections increasingly revolved around competence rather than grand visions. It was the age of consensus, moderation and what many proudly called “the centre ground.” Today, that centre is collapsing.

presidential contest increasingly resembles a duel between Jordan Bardella’s nationalist right and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical left, supported by the Gen Z, as pointed out by The Economist. The old moderate blocs that once alternated in power under the Fifth Republic appear exhausted. Macron himself was originally presented as the saviour of the centre, a technocratic reformer capable of transcending ideological tribalism. Yet his movement may ultimately be remembered less as the rebirth of centrism and more as its final chapter.

NO CENTRE

Across Europe, traditional centre-left and centre-right parties are steadily losing their historic role as the natural governing forces of democratic societies. In their place rises something far more fragmented and emotionally charged: populist nationalism on one side, radical progressivism on the other, and an increasingly bitter cultural divide between generations, genders and social classes. France perhaps offers the clearest glimpse into this new political landscape. Recent polling and analyses suggest that the political future of the country may no longer belong to Emmanuel Macron’s centrist heirs like Édouard Philippe. Instead, the likely

THE ERA OF EASY CONSENSUS IS OVER Germany is experiencing a similar transformation. The rise of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has deeply shaken a political culture long defined by caution, coalitionbuilding and post-war consensus. The CDU and SPD, once dominant pillars of German stability, increasingly struggle to inspire younger voters or the economically insecure, while Linke (Left) and Grüne (Greens) have 11% and 15% support respectively, with the

Greens being the 3rd strongest political party according to the latest polls. The political middle is emotionally simply losing ground. Britain offers another revealing case. The recent elections demonstrated growing support for Reform UK, the Greens and various regional or separatist movements (SNP in Scotland, Plaid Cymru in Wales and Sinn Féin and Unionists in Northern Ireland), while both Labour and the Tories continue to suffer from declining trust and weakened identities. Although Labour returned to power, the broader trend is unmistakable: voters are no longer emotionally attached to the large establishment parties that shaped British politics for generations.

THE ROOTS LIE IN THE 90’S

What is happening across Europe is not simply a routine political cycle. It is the delayed collapse of the ideological settlement created during the 90’s. That decade now appears almost utopian in retrospect. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of globalisation, leaders such as Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder and Bill Clinton promoted the famous “Third Way” - a synthesis between market capitalism and social protection. The old class conflicts of the industrial era were supposedly obsolete.

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ANALYSIS

Photo: D Busquets / Shutterstock

Politics would no longer be about left versus right, but about efficient administration, modernisation and economic growth within liberal democratic capitalism. At first, the model seemed remarkably successful. Inflation was low, trade expanded, technology boomed and the middle classes prospered. Yet beneath the optimism, something crucial was slowly disappearing: the sense that mainstream politics still represented ordinary workers and lowermiddle-class citizens. Traditional left-wing parties moved closer to financial markets, corporate globalisation and metropolitan professional elites. Meanwhile, traditional conservatives embraced neoliberal economics and often neglected social cohesion in favour of deregulation and fiscal orthodoxy. Both camps converged toward the same technocratic centre. For educated urban professionals, this often appeared pragmatic and enlightened. For many industrial workers, provincial communities and economically insecure young men, it increasingly felt like abandonment. The consequences took time to emerge - political systems possess inertia and trust erodes gradually before collapsing suddenly. Thirty years later, the effects are becoming impossible to ignore. Many voters now believe that nobody within the political establishment genuinely represents their anxieties about wages, housing, immigration, cultural identity or social atomisation. When mainstream parties cease offering emotionally compelling narratives, electorates begin searching elsewhere. Some move toward nationalist populism and promises of restored identity and sovereignty. Others turn toward radical left-wing movements promising economic redistribution, anti-capitalist reform and social justice. The result is not merely polarisation, but fragmentation of reality itself. Young Europeans increasingly inhabit separate informational and emotional universes. Social media accelerates this process

by rewarding outrage, identity performance and ideological certainty. Political moderation struggles in such an environment because moderation is emotionally unexciting. Algorithms favour conflict over compromise, because the bitter online fights bring engagement. An especially striking feature of this transformation is the widening political gap between young men and women. Across much of the Western world, younger women increasingly gravitate toward progressive or radical-left politics, while younger men show rising support for nationalist, conservative or anti-establishment right-wing movements. The divergence is becoming culturally visible in universities, online spaces and even dating patterns – people refuse to date the individuals with dramatically different views, and it makes forming families further difficult, which is a bad news in the light of falling birthrates

MANY VOTERS NOW BELIEVE THAT NOBODY WITHIN THE TRADITIONAL POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT GENUINELY REPRESENTS THEIR ANXIETIES and the increased need for immigration. Something’s gotta give, says the old song. In the United States especially, surveys increasingly suggest that political compatibility now plays a major role in romantic relationships among younger generations. Politics is no longer merely about taxation or foreign policy; it has become intertwined with personal identity, morality and lifestyle. Europe is beginning to experience similar tendencies. Interestingly, visual culture also plays an important role in this new political

environment. In several European countries, young and media-savvy female politicians have become prominent public faces of both progressive and nationalist movements. Politics increasingly resembles a hybrid of activism, influencer culture and entertainment branding. Charisma, aesthetics and social-media fluency matter as much as party structures or ideological consistency. Meanwhile, the USA demonstrates that this phenomenon is not uniquely European. On the left, Democratic Socialist figures like Mamdani continue gaining visibility among younger voters dissatisfied with economic inequality and housing costs, further strengthening the figures like AOC or Bernie. On the right, MAGA populism remains extraordinarily resilient and emotionally mobilising. America itself increasingly appears divided into incompatible political tribes rather than competing schools of democratic thought operating within a shared framework. The comparison with the political atmosphere of the 1920s inevitably emerges, though it should be approached carefully and without alarmism. The world today differs profoundly from interwar Europe in terms of institutions, prosperity and geopolitical structures. Nevertheless, one uncomfortable similarity exists: periods of rapid economic transformation, technological disruption and cultural anxiety often weaken moderate political forces while strengthening movements that offer emotional certainty and simplified explanations. Centrist politics flourishes during stability; extremes flourish during insecurity. And contemporary Western societies are experiencing multiple insecurities simultaneously: economic pressure, housing crises, migration debates, demographic decline, artificial intelligence, deindustrialisation and the erosion of traditional social structures. Under such conditions, the political centre increasingly appears less like a confident ideological project and more like an exhausted administrative mechanism struggling to maintain balance. The deeper risk lies in the gradual disappearance of a shared civic language through which opposing sides can still recognise each other as legitimate participants in the same national story. Opponents cease to be rivals and become perceived enemies. Compromise becomes betrayal while dialogue becomes weakness. Europe is not yet at that point. But the trajectory is visible enough to unsettle even optimistic observers. The political centre once promised that ideological conflict could be permanently softened through prosperity, globalisation and technocratic governance. Instead, many citizens now feel culturally displaced, economically insecure and politically unheard. The result is a continent drifting toward sharper ideological confrontation precisely at a moment when social cohesion is becoming most necessary. The age of moderation may not be entirely over. But its monopoly on Western politics certainly is.

REAL ESTATE

by Cordon Real Estate Consultancy

Belgrade Homebuyers Spend €742 Million on Apartments

elgrade’s residential market continued its recovery in the second quarter of 2026, with total transaction value up about 12%. Mortgage-backed buyers are once again playing an increasingly significant role, while high prices in central areas are creating room for large residential communities to develop on the city’s outskirts. The total value of apartment transactions in Belgrade reached €741.7 million in the second quarter of this year, up about 12.6% from the same period last year, when transactions were worth €658.6 million. Data from the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGZ) show that Belgrade’s residential market is moving further away from the slowdown recorded two years ago. In the second quarter of 2024, the value of apartments sold stood at €565.9 million, compared with €582.1 million a year earlier. The

current transaction volume is even higher than the €696.1 million recorded in the second quarter of 2022. At the same time, the buyer mix continues to shift. In the second quarter, buyers purchased 59.5% of

Serbian Banks cited in the analysis, the average outstanding housing loan balance is slightly above €40,000, meaning many purchases are still financed through a combination of buyers’ own funds and bank loans.

MORTGAGE-BACKED BUYERS ARE RETURNING TO THE MARKET apartments in cash, while 40.5% of purchases involved housing loans. In the same period last year, mortgage-backed buyers accounted for 39.3% of transactions, compared with just 27.9% in 2024 and 20.9% at the end of 2023. However, the growing number of mortgage-backed buyers does not mean that banks are financing 40.5% of the total value of apartments purchased. According to data from the Association of

EXISTING HOMES STILL ATTRACT MORE BUYERS

Across the ten Belgrade municipalities covered by the analysis, 2,730 apartments were sold in the second quarter, including 1,646 existing homes and 1,084 newly built apartments. In the new-build segment, New Belgrade recorded by far the highest number of transactions, with 398 apartments sold at an average price of €3,455 per square

metre. Voždovac followed with 196 transactions and an average price of €3,025 per square metre, and Zvezdara with 122 sales at an average of €2,907 per square metre. Savski Venac had the highest average price for new-build apartments, at €5,229 per square metre, while Stari Grad averaged €4,590. Prices are also rising in the existing-home market. Among the municipalities analysed, Stari Grad was the most expensive, with an average price of €3,958 per square metre, followed by Savski Venac at €3,888 and Vračar at €3,721. New Belgrade recorded the highest number of transactions, with 362 apartments sold at an average price of €3,387 per square metre. Price growth compared with the previous period is particularly notable. In the existing-home segment, the reported growth rates range from around 10.8% in Vračar

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Photo: Shutterstock

Cordon Real Estate Consultancy’s Q2 2026 report points to a recovering Belgrade residential market, stronger mortgage demand and continued price growth

REAL ESTATE

to as much as 19.2% in Zvezdara. In contrast, the strongest increases in the new-build segment were recorded in Voždovac, Stari Grad and Savski Venac.

PRICES REACH €9,300 PER SQUARE METRE

The wide range of prices on Belgrade’s residential market is illustrated by the fact that the highest price recorded in the second quarter reached €9,300 per square metre. The record was set in Savski Venac, which also saw the most expensive individual apartment sale during the period, at €1.6 million. The analysis also notes that most developers are still willing to offer some form of discount to buyers who pay the full purchase price upfront. High prices in and around the city centre could, however, begin to reshape the geography of Belgrade’s residential market. One emerging trend is the development of larger residential communities on the city’s outskirts, offering many apartments at lower prices. Such projects could reflect a market response to declining affordability in central and wider central areas for a growing segment of the population. Given the scale of these developments, they would almost certainly be built in phases, with demand ultimately setting the pace. The key question will be how willing buyers are to trade location for a more affordable price. If the price difference is significant enough, new residential communities on the outskirts could attract buyers who have effectively been priced out of more central parts of Belgrade. For now, however, there is not enough information about the quality and construction standards these projects will offer.

BUYERS ARE INCREASINGLY BEING FORCED TO TRADE LOCATION FOR AFFORDABILITY for example, lists projects with dozens of registered transactions and their average prices, ranging from Belgrade Waterfront to developments in New Belgrade, Voždovac, Čukarica, Rakovica and Palilula. However, if a buyer signed a preliminary contract several months earlier, or even much earlier, but the final agreement was signed only in the second quarter of 2026, the RGZ will record the transaction in

this quarter even though, from a market perspective, the sale effectively took place earlier. Conversely, apartments for which preliminary contracts were signed during the second quarter of this year will not appear in the statistics until the final sale and purchase agreements are concluded. As more developers use preliminary contracts, data on individual projects, the number of

apartments sold, and average prices need to be treated with additional caution. Official statistics remain valuable for tracking broader trends, overall transaction volumes, price movements, and buyer profiles, but they increasingly provide a delayed rather than real-time snapshot of the market. These broader trends currently provide the clearest picture: more money is flowing into Belgrade’s residential market, mortgagebacked buyers are returning, prices continue to rise, and the search for more affordable housing could push the next phase of residential development further from the city centre.

PRELIMINARY CONTRACTS BLUR THE MARKET PICTURE

Official data require another important note of caution when being interpreted. The Republic Geodetic Authority (RGZ) records final sale and purchase agreements, but not preliminary contracts, which in the new-build segment can create a time lag between when an apartment is effectively sold on the market and when the transaction appears in official statistics. This is particularly important when looking at individual residential developments. The report,

CORPORATE

Signature Development in Belgrade International Experience and Signature Design in Residential Development

he final stages of construction of the Signature Zvečanska project and continued work on the Signature Zemun complex mark a new phase in Signature Development’s operations in Serbia. The two projects, different in scale, share the same approach: thoughtful design, high-quality materials, and sensitivity to the local architectural context. Present in Belgrade since 2022, Signature Development draws on its team’s international experience, spanning more than three decades and over 80 completed residential and commercial projects. The company’s operations in Serbia are led by Denis Korepanov and Sergey Loginov, supported by a team of experts in real estate development, architecture, construction and design. According to the company, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank were among its

EVERY PROJECT SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR IDENTITY AND RESPECT LOCAL HERITAGE

shareholders during earlier stages of its development. This chapter of the company’s business history complements the international experience Signature Development draws on as it develops its portfolio in Serbia. At the heart of the company’s business concept is the integration of architecture, art and functionality. This approach means that a building’s appearance, interior layout and shared amenities are developed as a cohesive whole, with careful attention to the experience of its future residents. “We approach every project as a whole, from architecture and interiors to the spaces residents share every day. We want each project to have a clear identity, respect local heritage, and respond to contemporary living needs. The works of art we incorporate into our projects are part of that approach,” says Denis Korepanov, Chief Operating Officer.

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CORPORATE

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AND QUALITY OF EXECUTION

The company’s international experience also includes collaboration with Ricardo Bofill, the architect behind the La Muralla Roja complex in Calpe, Spain. Recognisable for its geometric composition and bold use of colour, the project represents a contemporary interpretation of the Mediterranean architectural tradition. In its Belgrade projects, collaboration with Italian designer Lucia Valzelli continues this commitment to distinctive, signature design. Alongside signature design, Signature Development places particular emphasis on modern technologies and coordinating all participants involved in project development. An important pillar of this process is the expert team that applies BIM methodology, or Building Information Modelling, to coordinate design solutions and manage project data. Dragana Sekulić, an expert with a decade of experience in this field, contributes significantly to the team; her knowledge, combined with her colleagues’ expertise, supports greater design precision and more efficient collaboration across disciplines. This approach combines attention to ergonomics, natural lighting and the functional organisation of space with the long-term requirements of building maintenance and management.

SIGNATURE ZVEČANSKA: CONTEMPORARY LIVING WITH RESPECT FOR LOCAL HERITAGE

The company’s first project in Belgrade, Signature Zvečanska, is located at 2 Zvečanska Street in the Savski Venac municipality, close to Dedinje. With 13 residential units and 12 serviced apartments, the project retains a boutique character. The units range from approximately 50 to 122 square metres, while separate entrances, lifts and staircases provide a functional division between the residential and commercial sections. Two penthouses on the recessed top floor feature spacious terraces and private saunas. The building’s architectural character is defined by a ventilated façade clad in natural Italian travertine. The stone is complemented by interior fittings, including sanitary ware by Villeroy & Boch. A three-level underground

CUSTOMER TRUST IS BUILT THROUGH CONSISTENCY garage, modern heating and ventilation systems, and access control further enhance the building’s functionality. Commercial space on the ground floor and gallery level will accommodate amenities designed to contribute to the building’s everyday use. Particular attention has been paid to applying BREEAM sustainable building criteria. According to the company, Signature Zvečanska is being developed as Belgrade’s first residential building designed in accordance with this framework. This commitment entails additional requirements in both

design and the selection of technical solutions, aiming to improve energy efficiency, ensure responsible resource use, and enhance the quality of living. Expected benefits include more efficient energy consumption and lower operating costs. Zvečanska represents an approach to premium living based on a limited number of units, clearly separated functional areas and a careful selection of materials. The project’s completion will serve as an important reference point for the further development of the company’s portfolio in Serbia.

LONG-TERM RESPONSIBILITY AND CUSTOMER TRUST

In Signature Development’s philosophy, the quality of living extends beyond the completion of construction. Functional layouts, practical common areas, and wellorganised maintenance matter for residents’ everyday lives and the building’s long-term use. The company therefore links design and the selection of technical solutions to how the property will be used and maintained. “Customer trust is built through consistency, from the first conversation to the handover of the keys and the subsequent use of the property. Our task is to ensure that what we present through architecture and design is matched by the quality of construction and by our relationship with the people who will live in these spaces. This is how we understand the longterm responsibility of a developer,” says Denis Korepanov.

REAL ESTATE

Belgrade in 15 minutes

- a business address as part of the city’s story Fortress and close to parks, the rivers and the 25 May sports and recreational area, it combines central accessibility with immediate access to nature. This kind of setting gives employees the opportunity to take a genuine break during the day, whether by going for a walk, continuing a business conversation outside the office or simply stepping away from the intensity of the city for a few moments. Although it is located in the very heart of Belgrade, the location offers a sense of privacy, calm and space rarely associated with the business districts of a major city.

BEING CLOSE CHANGES EVERYDAY LIFE

ver time, some locations in Belgrade have come to hold a special place in the life of the city. Their value lies in the stories built around them, the people who have passed through them and the role they have come to play in the everyday lives of Belgraders. This is why certain addresses become far more than points on a map. They become recognizable landmarks that preserve the rhythm and character of the city. Simply say “by Beograđanka”, “by Vuk” or “by Taš” and most Belgraders will immediately know exactly where you mean. These places are tied to the small rituals of everyday life: a morning coffee before the first commitments of the day, meeting colleagues, a short break between meetings or a walk at the end of the working day. In these places, the dynamics of business naturally intersect with the life of the city. The value of a good location lies not only in its proximity to important amenities, but also in the way it shapes how we spend our time in the city.

A WORKING DAY SHAPED AROUND EMPLOYEES

For people working in central city areas, the location of the office directly shapes the rhythm of the day. When business partners, institutions, restaurants, shops and places to take a break are all close by, daily responsibilities are easier to combine and less time is spent in traffic. Palata Beograd is situated in exactly this kind of environment, at a point where the capital’s business, cultural and everyday life come together. For employees, this means being able to fit a meeting, lunch with a client, a visit to the bank or a short break into the working day without having to plan lengthy journeys across the city. Once the working day is over, restaurants, shops, theatres and other amenities in central Belgrade are already within easy reach, allowing the rest of the day to continue without another commute across town. Kalemegdan Business Center offers a different way of working in the city centre. Located in a quieter part of Dorćol, below Belgrade

The way we live in a city largely depends on how easily we can connect the different parts of our day. How much time we spend travelling, and how much remains for work, rest, family and other activities, has become an important part of the quality of everyday life. This is the idea behind the “15 minute city”, a city where the most important amenities and activities are available close at hand. Yet proximity is not only a matter of physical distance. It also

WORK BECOMES PART OF BELGRADE’S RHYTHM

means creating the conditions in which work, daily commitments and free time can function as connected parts of the same day. This is why business spaces in central city areas have particular value, especially those located in places that have for decades been meeting points for people, ideas and different activities. Such addresses connect the character and heritage of Belgrade with the needs of modern business, creating environments in which the working day is not separated from the life of the city, but becomes a natural part of it.

THE CITY WITHIN REACH THROUGHOUT THE WORKING DAY

It is this idea that Marera is developing through its 15 minute city concept, focusing on business spaces in areas with a distinctive character and significance for the life and future development of Belgrade. The aim is not only to restore buildings and adapt them to the needs of contemporary business, but also to preserve the value of locations that are already woven into the identity of the city. This approach is reflected in the company’s portfolio, which includes some of Belgrade’s notable addresses, such as Palata Beograd, Makedonska 44, Kalemegdan Business Center, Bulevar 28 and Bulevar 79. Each of these business spaces offers a different context, enabling companies to operate in an environment with its own atmosphere, character and immediate connection to the city. When the workplace is part of the city, everyday life takes on a different rhythm. Sometimes, all it takes is opening the office door and stepping onto a familiar street, taking a short coffee break, running into someone you know or catching a view that reminds you where you are and why you love this city. Work then becomes part of Belgrade’s rhythm, rather than interrupting it. And we no longer have to rearrange the entire day around the things that matter to us. Leaving more time for Belgrade.

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TRAVELOGUE

by Robert Čoban

The Curse of Queen Teuta The oldest street in Montenegro, the legend of the treasure of Illyrian Queen Teuta, Roman mosaics, the tragic fate of revolutionary Nikola Đurković, and a Baroque Orthodox church are just some of Risan’s attractions, a town unfairly overshadowed by its famous neighbour, Perast

Photo: Robert Čoban

onika is a Ukrainian from Odesa who sought refuge in Montenegro immediately after the start of the Russian aggression against her country in March 2022. She settled in Risan, where she runs a women’s beauty salon that also cuts men’s hair, since there is no barber in this small town. She later brought several friends from Odesa to join her. One of them was cutting my hair while Monika, sadness in her voice, told me how difficult it was for her to watch the destruction of her hometown on television. When I wrote my travelogue “Cycling Through the Bay of Kotor” in 2021, I merely passed through Risan, stopping only to photograph the church in the park and the monument to those who fell in the National Liberation War. In mid-July, I spent several days in this small town on the Bay of Kotor, somewhat unfairly overlooked because of its famous neighbour, Perast. During my stay, I discovered that Risan conceals far more than you can see from the main road.

RISAN CONCEALS FAR MORE THAN YOU CAN SEE FROM THE MAIN ROAD To begin with, there is Gabela Street (from the Italian gabella, meaning “customs”), located in the old heart of the town, just a few minutes’ walk from the waterfront. It is considered the oldest street in Montenegro, taking its present form during the Ottoman Empire. A narrow path leads from the churchyard of the Orthodox church in the park in the centre of town to the street. Gabela was the main route for transporting goods between the port of Risan and the continental hinterland. This gave rise to the saying that Kotor was the “Montenegrin market”, while Risan was the “Herzegovinian market”. Gabela has a unique street surface made of large river pebbles, divided diagonally into numerous sections,

while narrow pavements on both sides are made of dressed slabs of white limestone. Gabela has 31 addresses, with the oldest houses dating to the Baroque period of the 17th and 18th centuries. I found it astonishing that a street this old and beautiful has almost nothing in it: not a single souvenir shop, gallery or café. Perhaps that will change after the Teuta Hotel reopens and more tourists arrive in town. Risan itself has had a turbulent history. It came under Venetian rule in 1684 and remained so until the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. The Russian nobleman Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, founder of the Tolstoy noble dynasty, passed through Risan in 1698. He recorded that the village was inhabited by Serbs of the “Greek faith”, that their houses were built of stone, that they had plenty of food, that they were hospitable towards Russians, and that in every respect they resembled the Don Cossacks. Lazar Tomanović praised the people of Risan as great Serbs. Still, he criticised their treatment of women as

TRAVELOGUE

servants, which he regarded as a remnant of Turkish influence, including the custom that women should not leave the house, not even to attend church. While I was staying in Risan, I was writing a feature about Feketić for my “Cycling Through Vojvodina” series, and I came across the name of national hero Nikola Đurković, after whom the village’s primary school is named. He was born in Risan in 1908. After completing primary school in his hometown and secondary school in Kotor, he pursued higher education in France, studying law in Montpellier and Paris. After defending his doctoral dissertation, he returned to Yugoslavia and worked as a trainee lawyer in Belgrade, Gnjilane, Kruševac and Strumica. He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1933, and three years later defeated the government-backed candidate in local elections in his native Risan, becoming president of the municipality. He actively organised and sent volunteers to fight in Spain. At the same time, a plaque on an old house at the beginning of Gabela Street records that it was there, “in the summer of 1936”, that Đurković “held a rally of the people of the Bay of Kotor against the pro-fascist government of Yugoslavia”. Because of these activities, they removed him from his position as president of the Risan municipality in the autumn of 1937. A lawyer and a free man, Nikola Đurković deeply believed in the ideals of the left and in

GABELA IS CONSIDERED THE OLDEST STREET IN MONTENEGRO

and the continental hinterland. This gave rise to the saying that Kotor was the “Montenegrin market”, while Risan was the “Herzegovinian market”. Gabela has a unique street surface made of large river pebbles, divided diagonally into numerous sections, while narrow pavements on both sides are made of dressed slabs of white limestone. Gabela has 31 addresses, with the oldest houses dating to the Baroque period of the 17th and 18th centuries. I found it astonishing that a street this old and beautiful has almost nothing in it: not a single souvenir shop, gallery or café. Perhaps that will change after the Teuta Hotel reopens and more tourists arrive in town. Risan itself has had a turbulent history. It came under Venetian rule in 1684 and remained so until the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. The Russian nobleman Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, founder of the Tolstoy noble dynasty, passed through Risan in 1698. He recorded that the village was inhabited by Serbs of the “Greek faith”, that their houses were built of stone, that they had plenty of food, that they were hospitable towards Russians, and that in every respect they resembled the Don Cossacks. Lazar Tomanović praised the people of Risan as great Serbs. Still, he criticised their treatment of women as servants, which he regarded as a remnant of Turkish influence, including the custom that women should not leave the house, not even to attend church. While I was staying in Risan, I wrote a feature about Feketić for my “Cycling Through Vojvodina” series. I came across the name of national hero Nikola Đurković, after whom the village’s primary school is named. He was born in Risan in 1908. After completing primary school in his hometown and secondary school in Kotor, he pursued higher education in France, studying law in Montpellier and Paris. After defending his doctoral dissertation, he returned to Yugoslavia and worked as a trainee lawyer in Belgrade, Gnjilane, Kruševac and Strumica.

revolutionary struggle for a better and more just world. Although the police constantly followed, searched, and harassed him in various ways, he worked tirelessly to strengthen the Party organisation and the workers’ movement. On the orders of the Cvetković–Maček government, they arrested him in January 1941 and took him to prison in Smederevska Palanka, where he remained until the coup of 27 March 1941. One of the organisers of the 13 July Uprising, Nikola Đurković became the first political commissar of the Krivošije Company, formed during the uprising in 1941, and later the first political commissar of the newly established Orjen Battalion. To begin with, there is Gabela Street (from the Italian gabella, meaning “customs”), located in the old heart of the town, just a few minutes’ walk from the waterfront. It is considered the oldest street in Montenegro, taking its present form during the Ottoman Empire. A narrow path from the churchyard of the Orthodox church in the park in the centre of town leads to the street. Gabela was the main route for transporting goods between the port of Risan

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TRAVELOGUE

Photo: Robert Čoban

He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1933, and three years later defeated the government-backed candidate in local elections in his native Risan, becoming president of the municipality. He actively organised and sent volunteers to fight in Spain. At the same time, a plaque on an old house at the beginning of Gabela Street records that it was there, “in the summer of 1936”, that Đurković “held a rally of the people of the Bay of Kotor against the pro-fascist government of Yugoslavia”. Because of these activities, they removed him from his position as president of the Risan municipality in the autumn of 1937. A lawyer and a free man, Nikola Đurković deeply believed in the ideals of the left and in revolutionary struggle for a better and more

NIKOLA ĐURKOVIĆ DEEPLY BELIEVED IN REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE FOR A BETTER AND MORE JUST WORLD just world. Although the police constantly followed, searched, and harassed him in various ways, he worked tirelessly to strengthen the Party organisation and the workers’ movement. On the orders of the Cvetković–Maček government, they arrested him in January 1941 and took him to prison in Smederevska

Palanka, where he remained until the coup of 27 March 1941. One of the organisers of the 13 July Uprising, Nikola Đurković became the first political commissar of the Krivošije Company, formed during the uprising in 1941, and later the first political commissar of the newly established Orjen Battalion. Not far from the church are the “Risan Mosaics”, a roofed archaeological site similar to Sirmium in Sremska Mitrovica. Admission costs six euros. The complex is best known for a villa featuring floor mosaics dating from the 2nd century AD. It is a villa urbana, meaning that it belongs to the category of urban villas. Distinguished by its beauty, particularly its floor mosaics, it is considered a representative example of Roman provincial architecture in this part of the Adriatic. Dušan Vuksan, then director of the State Museum in Cetinje, discovered the villa in 1930. He began excavations at Pješčina, at the beginning of the old Risan–Grahovo road, and achieved significant results. Still, in the circumstances leading up to the Second World War, the archaeological site was covered over. During Mussolini’s occupation, in 1942, the Italian archaeologist Valenti excavated the Risan mosaics but soon covered them again without first protecting them, causing damage. Archaeological work at the site resumed in 1956 and continued until 1960. The figure of the Illyrian Queen Teuta, after whom the hotel in Risan was named, is deeply embedded in the folk traditions of the South Slavs, particularly in the Bay of Kotor, Herzegovina and Dalmatia, as well as among Albanians. Teuta remains a very popular Albanian name today. The best-known legend from Risan says that Teuta, proud and broken after her defeat, refused to fall into Roman hands and instead threw herself from the highest cliff above Risan, on Gradina Hill. According to local tradition, Risan has no harbour today because of her curse. Locals also strongly believe that an enormous treasure Teuta brought there during the siege remains hidden deep inside Spila Cave above Risan.

CULTURAL INTERVIEW

by Lazar Jovanović

A Good Story Always Survives From the challenges facing Serbian cinema to the rise of streaming and new formats, the film industry is entering a period of profound transformation more than a decade, first for NIN magazine and now for the weekly Radar. I even received an award for criticism on the Sterija stage, which I am very proud of.

BOBAN JEVTIĆ Screenwriter

creenwriter and former director of the Film Centre of Serbia, Boban Jevtić has spent decades working between the creative and institutional sides of the film and television industry. The author of scripts for many acclaimed series, a longtime theatre critic and cultural manager, Jevtić has a perspective that extends far beyond the writing desk. Now taking on a new regional role at RTL Croatia and Adria Hub, he speaks about the state of Serbian cinema, the industry’s challenges, the changing relationship between film and streaming platforms, and why he remains an optimist despite everything.

You have worked as a screenwriter across various dramatic fields. How different is working in theatre from working in film? What is technically more demanding, and what has presented the greater personal challenge for you?

say. Occasionally, I had the opportunity to work professionally in theatre, but I realised it was not for me. Although theatre fascinates me, the uniqueness of each moment creates a special connection with the audience. Each performance is a unique experience,

THE FILM INDUSTRY IS A VERY COMPLEX SYSTEM, DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH, AND EASY TO COLLAPSE Although they may seem similar at first glance, these are quite different disciplines, requiring a different technology of work, a different approach, and a different mindset, as the Americans would

giving theatre a strength and power that lasts almost as long as civilisation itself. Personally, however, I also carefully nurture a professional relationship: I have been writing theatre criticism for

Which project you have worked on would you consider your favourite? What makes it particularly memorable or special to you? As a screenwriter, it certainly is the series “The Black Sun” (original title: Senke nad Balkanom), seasons two and three in particular. Simply put, Dragan Bjelogrlić is the most demanding and most inspiring collaborator I have worked with so far. As a screenwriter in this case, he’s always trying to explore new, different directions in the work, always going further, always looking for more from the screenwriter. It is often painstaking and laborious work, but always exciting and inspiring. I learned a lot there. As a creative director, I worked on the series “Family” (original title: Porodica), written and directed by Bojan

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Photo: Jakov Simović

What carries greater responsibility in the film industry — creating a new, original story, or adapting material from other media, such as books, comics, or video games? When you adapt someone else’s intellectual property, you have, of course, a huge responsibility not to disappoint the spirit of the original work, as well as to meet the expectations of the existing fans. It’s a special kind of approach: on the one hand, it’s easier; you have the coordinates drawn that need to be followed, but on the other hand, you have the difficulty of switching from one medium to another, and each medium has its own regularities, and they’re often not compatible. When you’re doing original content, that burden doesn’t exist, but you’re facing a million different problems. In essence, both approaches are exciting and inspiring, and I love working on adaptations. It is a process that can deepen and enrich the original material in unexpected ways.

CULTURAL INTERVIEW

Vuletić. In many ways, it pushed the boundaries of how the region perceived TV series. For the first time, we treated an event from contemporary history this way, and we made many bold and original decisions, both productively and creatively. It seems to me that it was both exciting and historically relevant, while also opening a wider social discussion. How would you assess the current state of the film industry in Serbia? In which areas has the industry made the most progress, and where is there still the greatest room for improvement? This question is very important to me as a former director of the Film Centre of Serbia, and I will answer, of course, in my own name. The current situation is not good. For a few years, the Film Centre of Serbia hasn’t received state funding. More specifically, no competitions are announced, politics has become too involved in the industry, and this has led to stagnation that has lasted too long and is now approaching a kind of catastrophe. But the industry has shown extraordinary resilience, so even now you have authors with significant international success despite everything. Look at the recent successes of Jelena Maksimović, Biljana Tutorov or Goran Stanković. Film, in the European context, is always partly subsidised by the state; there is a consensus that film is part of national identity, and when you take away financial support, or when you become politically arbitrary, you destroy that identity. The film industry is a very complex system, difficult to establish, and easy to collapse. We have talent, even exceptional talent, in all sectors, but without a system, they fail. The authors have been waiting for a decade or more for the second film; the big names don’t get a chance to film, and international cooperation is at a very low level. All of this can change, but it requires a clear national strategy that does not exist right now. Although Serbian cinema has received significant international recognition and awards, it could be said that, so far, it has had a relatively modest presence on the international commercial scene. What do you believe is the reason for this, and where do you see the key to achieving greater international success? Small cinemas like ours have very little space for commercial success, and it is mostly limited to the

AT THE END OF THE DAY, A GOOD STORY IS A GOOD STORY, NO MATTER HOW IT IS BEING TOLD regional level, which, again, is not a small area. Probably Serbian cinema, as a whole, had the greatest commercial success in the region. On the other hand, the success of artistically ambitious films at festivals, as well as winning prestigious awards, contributes to recognition of cultural specificity in a far wider context than regional success does. Consider, for example, how Romanian cinematography has succeeded in establishing itself in the arthouse film sector in recent decades, and how this has become significant to the country’s cultural prestige. Thus, you must combine the two paths, as different criteria must be applied, since the ambitions of the authors are different. Once again, this is primarily a matter of strategy. You will soon take on the role of Regional Head of Fiction at RTL Croatia and Adria Hub. What does this transition represent for you? What are you most looking forward to in your new position, and are there any challenges ahead that make you feel somewhat apprehensive? Well, it’s a whole new challenge anyway, to figure out a way that my experience of working on series,

which I can say is quite a bit, can now be used in a whole different context. There are many similar things, but also many different principles. Regional collaborations in the series exist, and they are, in fact, very broad and compatible. On the other hand, the sensitivities, however similar, still have clearly distinguished characteristics. All of this must be kept in mind, and each of these aspects must be taken into consideration, and you must respect what they carry with them. I’m still learning, but it’s very challenging. We shall see. How do you see the explosion of content on streaming platforms, and do you believe that this hyperproduction has had a negative impact on the film industry? Overproduction has slowed a bit in the last few years, and streamers are now much more cautious and careful in their content choices. The “death of cinema” did not happen, although it was loudly announced. And what is happening now is very interesting: streamers are becoming partners of the film industry, not its opponents. This is an ongoing process, and European regulations and rules have

certainly helped. The new system is slowly being established, and everyone should benefit, especially the public, who will have more choices than ever before. And that should be the point. How is the audience changing in response to the growing popularity of “short-form” video content on social media? Is it becoming more difficult to meet viewers’ expectations while also capturing their attention, which seems increasingly limited and fragmented? The digital revolution and its inherent, so-called “vertical formats” are increasingly breaking down the boundaries of how content is communicated, which may seem daunting to a “traditional” audience. Still, at the end of the day, a good story is a good story, no matter how it is told. The art of cinema in the broadest sense has always been very reactive to technological progress; it is simply the contemporary world we live in and to which we will all, to a greater or lesser extent, adapt sooner or later. It is not a new phenomenon. Full-length novels can equally enthral you as four-line haiku poetry, and you can also be a fan of multi-season series as well as 180-second vertical dramas. It will all depend on your sensitivity, and as many people as there are, there will always be an audience for you to speak to. So I am an optimist.

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A Word from the Curator - Dare to Find Out SPASOJE Ž. MILOVANOVIĆ President of the BITEF Board and Festival Selector

heatre is one of the places where such certainty can be called into question. At times, it forces us to look once again at a person who has already been judged, an event we believe we understand, or a conviction that until then seemed firm. Hence the title of this year’s Bitef: “Dare to Find Out.”

Not “dare to know” - because finding out requires a willingness to question even what we thought we were certain about. The selection took shape at a time when the very holding of the festival had become a subject of public and political debate. For this reason, the selection does not proceed from a predetermined theme, aesthetic or position. What connects these different performances above all is their willingness not to replace the complexity

THEATRE IS NOT A COURTROOM of the world with a simple answer or a ready-made explanation. Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, produced by KPGT (Serbia) and directed by Strahinja Padežanin, sets the action in Venice in 1938, at a moment when the Fascist regime in Italy was

stripping Jews of citizenship, the right to public employment and the right to enter into mixed marriages through its racial laws - all in the name of a homogeneity that the regime presented as a defence of the nation. But the production is not only about history. It is about how an enemy is made. Shylock is a stranger within the community to which he belongs. His difference is not merely a fact of his origin and faith. It becomes the reason why the majority can

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Photo: BITEF / Tanja Drobnjak

There are moments when it seems that we already have the answers. Everything has been explained, sides have been assigned, it is clear who is right, who is guilty, and what one is supposed to think about it all. All that remains is to fall in line.

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humiliate, set apart and define him. And then, when he strikes back, society is confronted with the consequences of its own violence. It is not difficult to condemn a man who demands a pound of flesh. It is much harder to look at the world in which such a demand became possible. Albion by Mike Bartlett, directed by Zafir Radjab and produced by the Youth Theatre from Sofia (Bulgaria), raises a different question. The protagonist attempts to restore the family garden as a memorial to her son, whom she lost in the war, and with it a world that once belonged to her. Radjab reads the play as a study of nostalgia - not as a feeling, but as a social mechanism. What does it mean to try to restore what has passed, and what happens when the desire to return, rooted in private memory, grows into a broader social need? An attempt to restore the past therefore means not only returning to one’s own memories, but also confronting those who do not remember that past in the same way.

Chisinau by Night by Mihai Fusu, produced by the Teatrul Fără Nume - Nameless Theatre in Chisinau (Moldova), is a documentary performance based on the real stories of the city’s inhabitants - taxi drivers, receptionists, doctors, nightclub workers, dancers, former addicts… Fusu creates a performance in which the boundary between documentary and theatre is constantly shifting. The city is not merely a backdrop, but a dramatic character - not the city of postcards, but the one that exists after the lights go out. One life leads into another, one experience opens onto the next, and Chisinau appears before us as a multitude of different cities, as a society that has no single version of itself. In Stalker by Avtandil Varsimashvili, produced by the Liberty Theatre (Georgia), the journey leads into an entirely different space. The production takes Andrei Tarkovsky’s film of the same name as its starting point, but is not its illustration; it is an independent theatrical exploration. The Writer, the Professor and the Stalker enter the Zone, a place where, according to legend, there is a room capable of fulfilling a person’s deepest desire. Varsimashvili uses Tarkovsky’s world as a starting point for reflecting on faith, doubt and the limits of human knowledge, at a time when the boundaries between truth and falsehood have become increasingly difficult to discern. The Zone thus becomes a space in which the question of desire turns into a question about the person who carries that desire. Black Gold by Dejan Dukovski, directed by Oliver Frljić and performed by the ensemble of the Belgrade Drama Theatre (Serbia), opens up the space of the family. But the family is not a place of safety here either. The son who was believed to be lost returns as a successful woman, and that return changes the relationships between the family members and their understanding of their own past. Frljić calls this mechanism “tragic ignorance.” The characters do not know what they are doing, and their decisions produce consequences they cannot foresee. The political does not take place here only in the streets and in parliament, but also at the kitchen table, in the words that are spoken and those that remain unspoken. Identity is not something fixed and determined once and for all. A person is what they remember

about themselves, but also what others remember about them. Those two memories do not necessarily coincide. When the truth finally emerges, it does not necessarily bring relief. Some truths merely reveal how long we have lived without them. Sophocles’ Antigone, produced by Karma Sahne of Samsun (Turkey) and directed by Hakan Alkan, returns us to one of the oldest conflicts in European theatre: the individual against the law, conscience against command, the family against the state. Antigone believes she is acting rightly. Creon believes he is defending order. Each sees only part of the truth, and neither is any longer willing to hear the other - hence the tragedy. Alkan places this ancient tragedy in a space where the question of law directly confronts the question of individual responsibility. If one side were entirely right and the other completely wrong, perhaps we would not

SOME TRUTHS MERELY REVEAL HOW LONG WE HAVE LIVED WITHOUT THEM have tragedy. We would have a verdict. And theatre is not a courtroom. Antigone therefore raises not only the question of the limits of law, but also the limits of our conviction that we are right. The Runaways by Wafa Taboubi, produced by the Tunisian National Theatre (Tunisia), is a performance about people who wait - wait to escape, wait for something to change, wait for life to move forward. But waiting here is not a void between two events. It becomes the event itself. In this way, waiting grows into a new kind of prison. Taboubi does not name the political circumstances, but shows them through bodies struggling to endure, through breathing that becomes increasingly difficult, through movements that are at once attempts to escape and signs that there is still no way out. Freedom here is not a destination one reaches, but a possibility that is constantly postponed. As part of the side program, Russian Blues by Sofia Gorlova and Anton Shmakov explores the encounter between different

individualities and the possibility of finding intimacy, freedom, and a sense of belonging within a shared space. Drawing on the experience of Russia and the Urals, the performance transforms these questions into a universal story about our relationship with the other and the search for a place we can call home. As in previous years, this edition will also feature Meeting the Authors, a traditional side program held after the performances, giving audiences the opportunity to learn more about the productions in both the main and side program directly from the artists themselves. None of these performances exists outside the world in which it is presented. Wars, migration, technological change and economic uncertainty are transforming the everyday experience of large numbers of people, while the boundaries between private and public, individual and political, are becoming increasingly unstable. What appears to be a shared problem often turns out to be a series of different personal experiences and interests. Trust in shared authorities is weakening, while public discourse is increasingly giving way to alignment with one side or another and to conclusions reached in advance. In Serbia, recent years have been marked by a sharp decline in trust in institutions - from the state to the media and cultural institutions. This erosion has many causes, but its consequence is clearly visible: different parts of the same society now describe the same reality as though they lived in different countries, spoke different languages and shared different memories - as though knowing who said something were enough to know whether it was true. Theatre is not separate from these processes, nor does it possess any special authority or solutions that other areas have failed to find. What it does retain, however, is the fact that a performance brings people together in the same place, at the same time, in an experience that cannot be stopped, accelerated or rewound. That alone does not create consensus, but it still makes a shared experience possible. Opinions on whether the festival should take place at such a moment differ. Bitef does not resolve that disagreement, nor should it. Its place is where different views can meet.

by Nikola Perišić

LITERATURE

Pelourinho, Salvador da Bahia

Literary Samba in The Balkans

his phenomenon stems from deep similarities in mentality, temperament, and cultural patterns that have, among other things, contributed to the popularity of Brazilian literature in this part of the world. Although Brazilian literature may not dominate the global literary canon as great European literary traditions do, it has an exceptionally long, distinctive, and rich readership tradition in Serbia. The foundations of this tradition were laid during the period of the former Yugoslavia, when the first translations of Jorge Amado’s best-known novels arrived here, including Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, Captains of the Sands and The Violent Land. At the time, his literature proved to be a perfect match for the prevailing political and cultural climate. As Amado was a communist by political conviction, themes such as poverty, class divisions and the struggle of the oppressed working class were ideally aligned with the ideological values of the Yugoslav system. Amado’s popularity, however, was not based solely on his political

THROUGH AMADO’S WORKS, YUGOSLAV READERS DISCOVERED AN ENTIRELY NEW AND DIFFERENT BRAZIL acceptability. It also rested on his authentic portrayal of everyday life in Brazil. People in this part of the world could easily identify with his characters. Amado’s protagonists are marked by inexhaustible perseverance, resourcefulness in difficult

times, defiance, fearlessness and a distinctive sense of humour that helps them withstand adversity. This connection was further strengthened by the fact that much of the action in almost all of his novels takes place in markets, town

Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado

squares and, above all, local taverns and cafés, which in our culture likewise represent the epicentre of social life and function almost as unofficial institutions. Through his works, the people of Yugoslavia discovered an entirely new and different Brazil. Instead of its major urban centres, Amado introduced them to the north-eastern state of Bahia and its mystical capital, Salvador. Perhaps the most important place in his literary world was reserved for women. Amado’s heroines were ahead of their time, distinguished by a powerful, passionate and independent vitality. Through their strength, they defied a rigid and hypocritical patriarchal society, becoming universal symbols of the struggle for freedom and dignity. Another factor in the popularisation of Brazilian literature was Rui Ribeiro Couto, Brazil’s long-serving ambassador to Yugoslavia, who lived in Belgrade for 16 years, beginning in 1947. During this period, he developed a friendship with the Split-born writer, translator and professor Ante Cetineo. While in

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Photo: Dragan Nikolić

Although Brazil and Serbia are geographically located on opposite sides of the world, the affinity between the two nations is surprisingly strong

LITERATURE

Yugoslavia, Couto published several works and arranged their translation, continuing to introduce his writing to the Yugoslav market even after leaving the country. Particularly noteworthy is his 1987 poetry collection The Long Day, inspired by the 40th anniversary of his arrival in Yugoslavia. The collection was translated into Serbo-Croatian. Brazilian soft power returned to this part of the world during the 1990s through television series. What often escaped the wider audience was that many of the mostwatched Brazilian series in Serbia were either direct screen adaptations of Jorge Amado’s works or drew heavily on his literary legacy. Through visually lavish series such as the cult classic Land of Hope and the mystical Tent of Miracles, local audiences were exposed daily to Amado’s distinctive themes and motifs. This powerful media presence prepared the ground for a new literary wave, paving the way for more accessible and commercially oriented literature, whose undisputed leading figure would become Paulo Coelho. Coelho’s literary success in Serbia extends far beyond conventional fiction. His prose can rightly be regarded as a literary precursor to contemporary popular psychology. During a prolonged period of social transition, Coelho offered readers precisely what they needed most: accessible spirituality, universal stories about the search for personal meaning, and powerful motivational messages about pursuing one’s dreams. Thanks to this universality and his simple yet striking style, Coelho has been, for decades, by far the most widely translated and read Brazilian author in this part of the world. His status as a literary star and the enduring appeal of his ideas are perhaps best illustrated by the efforts of the Laguna publishing house, which recognised his significance and has so far introduced Serbian readers to no fewer than 22 of his titles, further strengthening Brazilian literature’s presence in the Serbian market. One challenge in bringing Brazilian literature to this region has been language, as Portuguese specialists most often translate these works. Brazilian Portuguese, however, is not simply standard Portuguese, but a distinctive variety in which many words and expressions have entirely different meanings. Translators therefore face linguistic dilemmas over how to convey the original language

Serbian edition of Tenda de Milagros

COELHO HAS BEEN THE MOST WIDELY TRANSLATED AND READ BRAZILIAN AUTHOR IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD FOR DECADES faithfully and often seek assistance from Brazilian writers themselves. Nevertheless, the fact that Portuguese-speaking countries were guests of honour at the Belgrade International Book Fair in 2011 created broader opportunities for Brazilian literature to establish a presence in Serbia. Over the past decade and a half, thanks to the enthusiasm of accomplished translators and the vision of various Serbian publishing houses, numerous Brazilian authors have been systematically translated and introduced to local readers. This has created a strong cultural bridge, bringing us everything from essential classics and profound psychological dramas to monumental epics of the Brazilian hinterland and the latest voices in contemporary, socially engaged and documentary literature. In this context, we should mention the books published by Geopoetika, which has released two works by Milton Hatoum. His award-winning novel The Brothers presents a masterful family saga set in the multicultural Brazilian port city of Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon. Through

the archetypal conflict between twin brothers competing for their mother’s love, Hatoum depicts not only the tragic disintegration of a family but also creates a subtle metaphor for the dramatic transformation of Brazilian society as a whole. The same publishing house also released Hatoum’s Orphans of Eldorado. In this novel, the Amazon’s natural riches become a stage where myth and harsh reality, personal memories and the collective past, constantly intertwine to create a tragic portrait of unfulfilled dreams. One of the youngest publishing houses in Serbia, Magnus, has focused on works from the Spanishand Portuguese-speaking world through its carefully curated Rio Magnus series. In keeping with this vision, in recent years it has introduced Serbian readers to remarkable works rooted in investigative journalism and real events. Betina Anton’s novel Tropical Bavaria, based on extensive research into facts and documents, sheds light on the dark secret of how the notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, following the fall of the Third Reich, managed to continue

Pelourinho, Salvador da Bahia

living undisturbed in Brazil for years. Alongside this historical documentary thriller, Magnus also published The Name of Death, written by award-winning Brazilian journalist Klester Cavalcanti. The book reconstructs the true story told to him by Júlio Santana, a contract killer who committed 492 murders during his lifetime. Hymn of the World: A Book of Journeys, published by Čigoja štampa, offers one of the most comprehensive overviews of Brazilian literary theory. The book systematically presents the theoretical framework and key ideas concerning the development and characteristics of Brazilian literary production, giving readers a clearer understanding of how particular literary forms, themes and cultural contexts are understood and interpreted. Beyond its theoretical analysis, the book also serves as a kind of “mapping” of Brazilian literature, connecting its broader historical and social context with the ways literature emerges, changes, and acquires meaning over time. Precisely because of the breadth of its approach, it stands out as one of the most useful starting points for a deeper understanding of Brazilian literature and its theoretical foundations. Brazilian literature in Serbia has clearly gone through three distinct phases. The first is associated with the period of the former Yugoslavia. In this context, the dominant themes and reception centred on Amado’s work, particularly his influence and presence in literary life. The second phase can be linked to the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, with Coelho playing a significant role. His popularity helped establish Brazilian literature in Serbia as part of a broader, more contemporary cultural current, increasing both the visibility of and demand for titles that moved beyond previously dominant patterns of reception. The third phase began in 2011 and represents the contemporary stage, during which this trend has gradually stabilised and intensified. In this phase, Brazilian writers have become an increasingly common presence in bookstores across Serbia. This can be attributed to several factors: the growing availability of translations, greater recognition of the market potential of Brazilian literature, and increasing reader interest that is no longer limited to one or two of the best-known authors but is gradually expanding to encompass a wider range of writers and literary styles.

NELAD

NALED Celebrates 20 Years at the White Palace Two decades of reforms, partnerships and shared commitment to Serbia’s economic development

fter two decades dedicated to advancing reforms, improving the business environment and supporting Serbia’s economic development on its European path, NALED celebrated its 20th anniversary at its traditional September Gathering at the White Palace, in the company of more than 1,000 partners, members and friends from public institutions, the business community, local governments, the international community, the diplomatic corps, academia and civil society This year’s gathering was held under the theme of white, symbolising the unity that brings together all the colours of NALED’s anniversary, as well as the alliances built over the past two decades by the organisation’s members, partners and friends.

OUR AMBITION WAS NOT TO ANALYSE SOCIETY, BUT TO BE AN ACTIVE PART OF IT

As every year, the Royal Family opened the doors of its home to NALED’s September Gathering. NALED Executive Director Violeta Jovanović noted that, from the very beginning, NALED had sought to be different — not merely to point out problems, but to offer solutions. “We started in 2006 convinced that government, business and local government could sit at the same table and work together to drive change. Our ambition was not to analyse society, but to be an active part of it and a platform through which different interests could be translated into shared results. Two decades later, we are proud that an ambitious idea has grown into a community of more than 300 members, 100 employees and hundreds of partners who have woven a part of themselves

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NELAD

into NALED through their knowledge, energy and trust,” said Jovanović. NALED also celebrated its anniversary together with the Gathering’s principal sponsor, Merck, a leading global science and technology company, which is itself marking 20 years of operations in Serbia, as well as more than 350 years of courage and commitment to innovation that improves people’s lives around the world. Representing Merck, Dimitrios Georgiopulos, the company’s Senior Vice President and Head of the Wider Europe region, covering 27 countries, and Ina Bulat, Director for Southeast Europe, addressed the guests. “Our partnership with NALED is a true reflection of our commitment to this type of cooperation, with the aim of further improving patient outcomes, building strong partnerships and, ultimately, growing responsibly across the region,” said Georgiopulos. At the same time, Bulat emphasised that Merck and NALED share the same belief in the power of collaboration, dialogue and innovation. “For Merck, these 20 years represent an important part of our story, but also an inspiration to continue being a partner to society,” Bulat concluded. Aleksandar Pajić, Mayor of Šabac and President of NALED’s BFC Club of Cities and Municipalities with a Favourable Business Environment, addressed the guests on behalf of local governments among NALED’s membership. “I am delighted that Šabac is the host city this evening and that you will have an opportunity to experience a glimpse of the spirit of our city through our presentation here at the White Palace. I am also proud to say that the

WE HAVE BEEN GUIDED BY THE SAME VISION OF A SOCIETY FOUNDED ON KNOWLEDGE AND EUROPEAN VALUES Financial Times has ranked Šabac among the top ten European cities with the best strategy for

attracting foreign investment. I am confident that this gathering will give rise to new ideas — or

perhaps even a new investment,” Pajić said. A short toast was delivered by NALED Board Chairman Vladislav Cvetković. “Tonight, we celebrate 20 years of ideas, cooperation and results that would not have been possible without all the people who have been part of this journey. Throughout this time, we have been guided by the same vision of a society founded on knowledge and European values, where effective institutions, a competitive economy and engaged citizens work together to build a better future for all,” said Cvetković. The guests then enjoyed a performance by the Novi Sad Big Band, conducted by Fedor Vrtačnik. The band opened the evening’s programme with “Aquarius” from the musical Hair, during which lead vocalist Bojana Stamenov invited Hollywood actor John Savage onstage and welcomed him to the event. Savage played the title role in the musical.

TASTE AWARDS

by 1664 Blanc

“Veritas” - Serbia’s Best Red Wine for 2025

eritas wine from Aurus Winery has received the Taste Award in the Best Red Wine in Serbia for 2025 category. Members of the “Taste Awards” jury visited Aurus Winery’s production facilities before joining owner Željko Škrbić at the Škrbić Winery restaurant, owned by his brother, to enjoy a wine-and-food pairing. Aurus Winery, founded in 2020, has 200 hectares of vineyards in Donji Disan, in the Tikveš region of North Macedonia. The vines are between five and 25 years old.

Before bottling, the finished wines are aged in stainless steel tanks, then in French oak barriques (225 and 500 litres), and finally bottled in high-quality French bottles with UV protection and sealed with “15+” corks. Before delivery, each bottle is labelled, hand-waxed and individually inspected. Annual production of premium wines is limited to 150,000 bottles. In addition to the winery, the Aurus brand also operates a distillery that produces premium rakija, gin, and cognac.

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by 1664 Blanc

TASTE AWARDS

Applications Open for the 2026 Taste Awards by 1664 Blanc

hile the Taste Awards by 1664 Blanc jury continues to visit last year’s laureates, applications for this year’s awards opened on 12 September, marking the competition’s fourth consecutive year. Restaurant owners and managers, chefs, food producers, brewers and winemakers can apply via the Instagram profile @ tasteawards_serbia. Applicants simply need to specify the category they are applying for, provide details of the restaurant, chef, product or wine label they are entering, and leave a contact email address and phone number. Applications for the Taste Awards are free of charge thanks to the general sponsor, Carlsberg Serbia, and the 1664 Blanc brand. Restaurants located in the Republic of Serbia are eligible to apply, as are products and wines produced in Serbia.

CATEGORIES:

1. Best Restaurant (Fine Dining) 2. Best Restaurant (International Cuisine) 3. Best Restaurant (Serbian National Cuisine) 4. Best Restaurant (Italian Cuisine) 5. Best Restaurant (Street Food) 6. Best Restaurant (Asian Cuisine) 7. Best Chef 8. Best Chef Under 30 9. Best Pastry Chef 10. Best Product (Dairy Industry) 11. Best Product (Meat Industry) 12. Best Product (Confectionery Industry) 13. Best Product (Milling and Bakery Industry) 14. Best Product (Fats and Edible Oils) 15. Best Product (Fruit and Vegetable Processing) 16. Best Product (Non-Alcoholic Beverages) 17. Best Product (Natural Mineral Water) 18. Best Industrial Beer 19. Best Craft Beer 20. Best Serbian Wine (Red) 21. Best Serbian Wine (White) 22. Best Serbian Wine (Rosé) 23. Best Serbian Wine (Sparkling) 24. Best Serbian Wine (Dessert) 25. Best Serbian Wine (Orange)

CALENDAR: 2026

12 Sep – 15 Nov Applications for the 2026 awards 15 Oct – 1 Dec Visits to participating restaurants 3 Dec Wine Tasting – wine evaluation at Sorta Wine Shop 9 Dec Awards presented at the official Taste Awards by 1664 Blanc ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce

2027

15 Jan – 15 Oct Visits to the 2026 laureates Scan the QR code to see the report and photographs from last year’s awards ceremony.

CORPORATE INTERVIEW

for ensuring high-quality expert supervision, and which digital tools do you consider crucial for improving control over quality, deadlines and overall project delivery? Digitalisation matters across all areas of society, especially in the construction sector. New software solutions allow engineers to focus more closely on their core professional responsibilities, which is essential for effectively monitoring the construction process, while reducing lengthy, unnecessary administrative work involved in preparing reports. New applications also bring greater structure, consistency and transparency to the work process for all project stakeholders. We are currently developing another application designed for the daily monitoring and management of construction deadlines directly on site, in line with established work schedules and project plans. More broadly, it would be beneficial to develop digital applications across all segments of the construction industry, aiming to streamline both expert supervision and the execution of construction works.

Digital tools are transforming construction supervision, reducing administrative work and giving engineers more time to focus on what matters most: quality, efficiency and successful project delivery. ALEKSANDAR VLAJKOVIĆ CEO of Ase consulting expert doo

igitalisation is reshaping construction supervision, making project monitoring faster, more transparent and more efficient. Aleksandar Vlajković, CEO of ASE Consulting, discusses how new digital tools are changing engineers’ everyday work and helping the industry embrace a smarter approach to project delivery. ASE Consulting Expert d.o.o. has developed a new application called ASE Construction Reports, designed for creating and managing daily reports directly during construction site inspections. What specific challenges did you encounter in practice that led to the development of this solution, and how does the application change the day-to-day work of engineers during site inspections? Daily construction site inspections by supervising engineers are essential to ensure works are properly monitored and that issues related to ongoing activities are identified and recorded promptly. However, the administrative work that follows these inspections, particularly preparing Excel spreadsheets and entering photographic records and comments, used to take up an unnecessary amount of time.

With the development of the ASE Construction Reports application, once a site inspection is complete and the necessary information is entered, the application automatically generates a daily report. This eliminates the additional officebased administrative work previously required.

DIGITALISATION ALLOWS ENGINEERS TO FOCUS MORE CLOSELY ON THEIR CORE PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES Through its integrated tools, the application lets engineers stay focused on their core responsibilities while providing a ready-to-send report for investors, contractors, and designers immediately after the site inspection. Time previously spent preparing Excel reports can now be devoted to other professional tasks and challenges. The construction industry is often regarded as one of the more traditional sectors and relatively slow to adopt new technologies. How essential has digitalisation become today

High-quality reporting is a foundation of professional construction supervision, ranging from daily records and documented observations to weekly and monthly reports on project progress. How can digitalisation integrate all these levels of reporting into a single system, and what benefits does this bring to the investor, supervising engineers and contractors? Reporting plays a crucial role in delivering any project successfully. Reports should enable critical issues and potential risks to be identified promptly, while ensuring transparency in the decision-making process involving supervising engineers, investors and contractors. Digitalisation should integrate daily, weekly, and monthly reporting into a unified system, ensuring accurate, up-to-date information is generated quickly and made available to all project stakeholders. This enables informed decisions at the right time, supporting efficient and successful project delivery.

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Photo: Ase Consulting

Building Smarter

Modern software tools are also transforming the profession of civil engineering itself. Can digitalisation and new ways of working make the construction sector more attractive to young engineers, while at the same time reducing their administrative workload and allowing them to devote more time to professional and business challenges? I believe that younger generations have grown up surrounded by digital technologies in virtually every aspect of their lives. In this context, construction companies that want to attract and retain young engineers and build strong, highquality teams will increasingly need to embrace digitalisation. This means actively developing and implementing their own digital tools or investing in appropriate software solutions that enable them to monitor project progress and implementation daily.