Batons, barricades, and a right turn in Serbia
Students barricade streets in Serbia and wildfires rage across the region. Plus: AI-fueled fights on X and prisoners' influencer side gigs.
Good morning,
welcome back! We hope you’re managing to stay cool during this brutal heatwave sweeping across Europe. This is Balkan Brew, your go-to newsletter for a perfectly Balkan-flavored cup every Friday morning (this week, make it a cold brew, with extra ice).
I’m Tommaso, and I’m flying solo today. Rodolfo, and we can finally say it, is busy putting the final touches on a podcast he’s been working on for the Italian media outlet Il Post.
“Sikter” tells the story of the punk band Sikter, a group of Sarajevo teenagers who, just after the end of the city’s brutal siege, ended up playing with some of the biggest names in music: Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Brian Eno, and even Vasco Rossi in Italy.
The podcast drops on July 7. Mark your calendars!
Back to us: this week, we take a look at the violent repression of Serbian protests - and the right-wing turn of the movement. But also: wildfires are back in the Balkans, Greek prisoners are turning to TikTok for income, and Edi Rama and Nigel Farage are throwing jabs on X.
Let’s dive in.
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Batons, barricades, and a right turn in Serbia
Following last Sunday’s protests in Belgrade, Serbian police have stepped up their repression, with more student arrests and an increasingly heavy-handed response. At the same time, several signs suggest the protest movement itself is taking a turn to the right.
BARRICADES. Right after the protest ended, students began blocking roads across Belgrade. They’re not backing down, despite repeated clashes with police.
Fights broke out at Slavija Square on Sunday, before and after the official end of the protest. According to Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, 38 police officers were injured and 77 protesters were arrested that day. A further 79 were detained between July 2 and 3.
WAX ON, WAX OFF. Protesters set up barricades. Police tear them down. Repeat. That’s been the cycle all week, with demonstrators calling it an act of civil disobedience against the mass arrests.
STILL GOT STAMINA. “The energy of the protesting citizens has not diminished,” said Dejan Bursać of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, speaking to RFE.
SHIFTING TIDES. The energy may still be the same, but a few other things have changed in the protest movement. The call for a general election, certainly. But most noticeably, what feels like a right-wing turn.
NATIONALISM. “It began with calls for accountability for the deaths of 16 people in Novi Sad. It continued with calls for early elections, the fight against corruption, and the release of arrested activists. It culminated with calls for the territorial integrity of Serbia,” reads this analysis by RSE.
The EU Delegation in Serbia is closely monitoring the situation, and so is Marta Kos, the Commissioner for Enlargement. They expect an investigation into the excessive use of violence, which probably won’t come without at least a bit of political pressure.
PARDON ME? Four members of the ruling SNS party who were caught on video attacking students with baseball bats in January were acquitted thanks to a presidential pardon signed by Aleksandar Vučić.
Wildfire season is here
With July, wildfires have made an early comeback across the Balkans. Climate change might not be trending like it used to, but that doesn’t make the fight against it any less urgent. If you need a reminder, Wikipedia now has a whole page tracking the disasters caused by Europe’s 2025 heatwaves.
RUINED AGAIN. People in Turkey’s Hatay province had barely begun to recover from the devastating earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and Syria in February 2023. Now they’re facing yet another disaster.
DISPLACED. Over 50,000 people were displaced by wildfires in Hatay, as well as in Manisa and İzmir in the west of the country, according to CNN. One person has died.
WATER AND FIRE. Just across the sea, 1,500 people had to flee their homes or hotels in Crete, Greece, where a massive fire in the island’s south is still burning and hasn’t yet been contained.
MIGRATING NORTH. Albania is battling flames too. 9 outbreaks were reported in just 24 hours across five municipalities last Saturday, and another 29 on Thursday.
A COSTLY PROBLEM. So far, fires have destroyed 2,800 hectares of forest and pasture in Albania, causing an estimated €16.75 million in damages, according to Euronews.
AND MORE. Bosnia and Herzegovina has also reported wildfires, including in the capital and near a solar park in the Grude area.
IN OTHER NEWS.
The end of Erdogan? A great read on the economic woes of Turkey by the Financial Times explores what they could mean for Erdoğan’s future.
A Bulgarian MP told young healthcare professionals protesting for higher pay that they could easily be replaced by foreign medics “happy to work for $500 a month.” The protesters didn’t like it.
The National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entity Republika Srpska passed a law approving the creation of an “auxiliary police force” amid fears it could become the private security force of the ruling SNSD party.
A sociology professor from Colombia - who researches imprisonment as a way of criminalising social protest - was detained for 36 hours and accused of terrorism after landing in Belgrade, Serbia.
PLEASE DON’T ARGUE ON X.
This AI-generated image was posted on X by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to conclude a long online spat with UK far-right leader Nigel Farage.
Farage kicked it off by claiming that one in 50 Albanians in Britain is in jail, snarkily adding, “thank you for your cooperation.” Rama clapped back, corrected the figures, and even invited him to visit Albania.
TIGHT MONEY? TIKTOK.
Prisoners in Greece have found a new side hustle: TikTok Live Matches.
ProtoThema followed one of the inmates and documented the trend. It may look like harmless entertainment — except for the possession of mobile phones and internet, banned from Greek prisons.
That’s all for this week. Wow, I always forget how much work it is to write this newsletter solo, but hey, we made it. If you like Balkan Brew, don’t forget to recommend it to someone who might be interested - it’s the easiest (and cheapest) way to support our work. Spotted a mistake? Want to say hi? Just reply to this email. Or come find us on Bluesky or LinkedIn.
Until next week, stay cool and hydrated
BB