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Environmental Issues Spark Large-Scale Protests in Serbia

Over the past couple of months, crowds in Serbia have gathered in the streets and sometimes blocked major roads and bridges. The main reason for the protests is opposition to the proposed lithium extraction project in the Jadar River Valley in Western Serbia. Some of the slogans they have used include “Stop the Investors; Save […]

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The Image of Ratko Mladic in Downtown Belgrade: Conflicts over murals, or conflicts over morals?

Each year, November 9 marks the ‘World Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism.’ That date was taken to commemorate November 9, 1938, when Kristallnacht took place, in which several hundred synagogues and Jewish shops throughout Germany were destroyed, and about 20,000 Jews were interned in camps. This act is often considered the beginning of the Holocaust.  […]

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With Ruling Party Ties, Serbian Right-Wing ‘Security’ Groups Flourish

Note from LeftEast editors. We reprint Saša Dragojlo’s pathbreaking investigative piece, originally published on December 9, 2021 at Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN BIRN has identified a handful of self-proclaimed ‘expert’ security organisations in Serbia that promote the police, military and right-wing tropes while enjoying ties to the country’s ruling party. In October, a […]

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EU mining troubles: what unites striking coal miners and protesting anti-mining activists in the Balkans?

Note from LeftEast editors: Vladimir Unkovski-Korica joins up the dots as mass struggles from below kick off in the Balkans. It is the third text in a series of interventions LeftEast will publish on the eco uprising in Serbia.This article is published in collaboration with Counterfire. Several small amendments were made by the author. Just weeks after […]

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“We harbor no fear and we will defend ourselves!”, protesters state in unison

Note from LeftEast editors: We repost Iskra Krstić’s article published by Mašina on November 29, 2021 – a report from last weekend’s protests. This weekend the protests turned even more massive with blockades in about 50 towns. It is the second text in a series of interventions LeftEast will publish on the eco uprising in Serbia. […]

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Rio Linglong: Eco Uprising in Serbia

Note from LeftEast editors: We translate this article by Nenad Glišić, which appeared in Bilten on November 24, 2021. It is the first text in a series of interventions LeftEast will publish on developments Serbia since last week. The article was republished as part of a cooperation between Eastern European leftist media platforms in ELMO (Eastern European Left […]

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Forced labour in supply chains: missing links between industrial and sexual labour

Note from LeftEast editors. As the issue of forced labour is gaining increasing attention in Eastern Europe, we repost Rutvica Andrijasevic’s text, originally published by Migration Mobilities Bristol on September 14 2021, to draw attention on the importance of the transnational supply chain perspective.  I was in the midst of fieldwork researching the working conditions […]

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Foreign workers in Zrenjanin forced to live in extremely poor accomodation

We repost Marko Miletić’s article published by Mašina. In Serbia, near Zrenjanin, local journalists recently found out that about 500 workers from Vietnam were hired to build the Linglong tire factory in that town. These migrant workers were housed in barracks, under inhuman circumstances, lacking heating, warm clothes, and potable water. Suspecting that these construction workers […]

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Serbia – in the shadow of exploitation; recognizing the need for redefinition

In Serbia, May 1 was overshadowed by Orthodox Easter and by a moment of realization that many had to work on this day too, as the number of working poor increased, low, insufficient wages under subsistence level had become the new norm and reality in the country. Unlike in pre-Covid times, when Serbian trade unions […]

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Lithium Exploitation in Serbia: What Can We Learn from Superman?

This article was originally published by Mašina. It was translated by Iskra Krstić as part of a cooperation between Eastern European leftist media platforms in ELMO (East Left Media Outlet). Is lithium indispensable for green transition or could it simply stay in the ground? Lithium is considered to be a chemical element of the future, crucial […]