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Iosif Vangelatos, Inos Balkan General Manager

Need For Raw Materials On The Rise

The Serbian secondary raw materials industry has undergone a series of transformations over the course of the past 20 years. As the country is...

OTP Banka

Proud Of Generator Zero Project

OTP banka awards two million dinars to Fragment Panels, the New Winning Solution of the 2023 Generator ZERO Competition. Some of the solutions that...

Sanja Pešić, Alma Quattro CEO

Leaders For A Full Three Decades

Next year will be marked by the 30th anniversary of the founding of company Alma Quattro, which enriches its network of advertising media and...

Maja Marić, Owner And Director, Finexpertiza d.o.o.

Always Several Steps Ahead

FinExpertiza, which forms part of one of the world’s leading auditing companies, recently celebrated eight years of successful operations. Alongside auditing, accounting support, legal...

Danilo Savić, CEO, Data Cloud Technology

Reliable Partner To Giants

The state data centre in Kragujevac isn’t the only such centre in the region, but it is among the most modern. It has much...

Zdravko Veljanov Ph.D. Candidate, Doctoral School Of Political Science, Public Policy And International Relations, Central European University

Serbia Needs A Challenger

A united opposition, with significant external support and an increased turnout, appears to be the recipe that needs to be tested in Serbia. The first step in that would be a suitable challenger able to unify these three elements.

It’s been five years since power shifted in North Macedonia. The concerted efforts of the opposition parties, with strong support of external actors like the EU and the U.S., helped to thwart the increasingly authoritarian regime of Gruevski. A few years later, several countries in the region have followed suit. In Montenegro, the longstanding rule of PM/President Đukanović came to an end following more organised efforts (compared to 2016) among the opposition parties. The latest local elections in neighbouring Hungary showed that a strong opposition that also enjoys the support of Western democratic actors can mount a serious challenge. But Serbia is a country that (so far) seems immune to opposition challenges.

However, the most recent elections, which were organised during the pandemic and without the participation of the opposition and with a clearly skewed playing field, have left a dent in the incumbent’s regime. It was a process without a winner, where all parties lost, including the ruling ones, despite recording a landslide victory.

A united opposition seems to be the necessary condition to stand a chance against a dominant incumbent, but it is not sufficient on its own. As the recipe in budapest shows, it is also necessary to strike a compromise on important policies among major opposition parties

A new parliamentary composition without tangible opposition representatives will lack legitimacy, both domestically and externally. In fact, the situation is very much reminiscent of the one that followed the landslide victory of the North Macedonian counterpart to SNS, VMRO-DPMNE, in 2014, where the opposition refused to accept its mandates. The lack of a credible opposition, coupled with united opposition and strong support from foreign actors, seemed to be the recipe for that country in 2016.

A united opposition seems to be the necessary condition to stand a chance against a dominant incumbent, but it is not sufficient on its own. It is also necessary to strike a compromise among the major opposition parties on important policies, as was achieved by the wide-ranging coalition in Budapest’s 2019 mayoral elections. Although the opposition in North Macedonia and Croatia was led by traditional social democratic parties, the cases of Budapest and Montenegro showed that newcomers can also attract significant domestic and external support. The opposition was able to gather sufficient external legitimacy to pose a threat to the incumbent regime. The last ingredient is an increased turnout. Elections in North Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as the local elections in Hungary, particularly in Budapest, saw increased turnouts.

The combination of these three, with a united opposition that has significant external support and an increased turnout, appears to be the recipe that needs to be tested in Serbia. And the first step in that would be a suitable challenger able to unify these three elements.

By Zoran Panović

Serbia Divided

Vučić’s calls for “unity” actually represent a call for his supporters to unify. Serbia is a deeply divided society – and two massacres (in...

H.E. Christopher Hill, U.S. Ambassador To Serbia

Mutual Understanding Is The Bedrock Of Community Resilience

Crises remind us to listen and be kind to one another, transcending divisions like politics and embracing our shared humanity Any crisis is a reminder...

H.E. Annika Ben David, Swedish Ambassador To Serbia

Freedom And Inclusion Strength Societies

Culture empowers the dynamic interplay of diversity, human rights and both social and economic cohesion, driven by the creative and cultural industries as drivers...

H.E. Raúl Bartolomé Molina, Spanish Ambassador To Serbia

Cultural Connections Foster Long-term Relationships

Cultural diplomacy operates on the basis of the belief that shared understanding can be nurtured through the promotion of cultural exchange and dialogue, thereby...

Serbia To Celebrate The EU Green Week

Serbia is celebrating the EU Green Week again this year, with a set of events that brings together hundreds...

Elon Musk Reclaims Title Of World’s Richest Person

Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person after leapfrogging French billionaire Bernard Arnault, after a slump in the...

Argentina’s Candidate Wins Vote To Lead UN Weather Agency

 Argentina's Celeste Saulo was appointed to head the U.N. weather agency on Thursday, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson...

Sweden Likely To Becoming First Smoke-free Country

Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in the European Union, and is likely to be declared a "smoke-free" country...

Serbia’s Foreign Trade In goods In The First 4 Months Was 21.94 Billion Euros

Serbia's total foreign trade in goods for the period January-April this year amounted to 23,632.9 million dollars (23.6 billion...

Serbia To Celebrate The EU Green Week

Serbia is celebrating the EU Green Week again this year, with a set of events that brings together hundreds...

Elon Musk Reclaims Title Of World’s Richest Person

Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person after leapfrogging French billionaire Bernard Arnault, after a slump in the...

Argentina’s Candidate Wins Vote To Lead UN Weather Agency

 Argentina's Celeste Saulo was appointed to head the U.N. weather agency on Thursday, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson...

Sweden Likely To Becoming First Smoke-free Country

Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in the European Union, and is likely to be declared a "smoke-free" country...

Serbia’s Foreign Trade In goods In The First 4 Months Was 21.94 Billion Euros

Serbia's total foreign trade in goods for the period January-April this year amounted to 23,632.9 million dollars (23.6 billion...

Serbia To Celebrate The EU Green Week

Serbia is celebrating the EU Green Week again this year, with a set of events that brings together hundreds...

Elon Musk Reclaims Title Of World’s Richest Person

Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person after leapfrogging French billionaire Bernard Arnault, after a slump in the...

Argentina’s Candidate Wins Vote To Lead UN Weather Agency

 Argentina's Celeste Saulo was appointed to head the U.N. weather agency on Thursday, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson...

Sweden Likely To Becoming First Smoke-free Country

Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in the European Union, and is likely to be declared a "smoke-free" country...

Serbia’s Foreign Trade In goods In The First 4 Months Was 21.94 Billion Euros

Serbia's total foreign trade in goods for the period January-April this year amounted to 23,632.9 million dollars (23.6 billion...
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