Ever heard of voluntary arrests?
Are Serbs resilient or desperate? But also, a series of high-level arrests throughout the region, discounts on Romanian passports and an Ottoman videogame.
Hey you,
Balkan Brew is here, right on time for your Friday morning news fix from the Balkans. Good to see you!
The first snow hit Sarajevo, and it feels like winter’s here (at least unofficially). The view is gorgeous, and it’s even better now that the snow has helped clear the air and lowered pollution to tolerable levels.
But enough of that: this week, police forces across the region were busy with some big arrests in Serbia, Croatia, and Turkey. We’ll start there, then we’ll look at how a tiny Romanian village mysteriously tripled in size. And to wrap it up — ever wondered what it would’ve been like to travel across the Ottoman Empire? We’ve got the answers for you. Let’s get to it!
CONNECT WITH US. At Balkan Brew, we mostly share stories from other journalists. But this week, Tommaso published an investigation on how violent smuggling gangs have taken control of the Balkan Route over the past year. If you want to keep up with more of what we’re doing, follow us on Bluesky — Tommaso and Rodolfo (yep, like many others, we are venturing out of Elon Musk's territories).
Ever heard of voluntary arrests?
The aftermath of the tragic incident in Novi Sad, Serbia, is still unfolding three weeks later. Over the weekend, the death toll from the collapse of the canopy at the city’s train station rose to 15. On Thursday morning, former Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesić, along with 10 others, was arrested for questioning about the case.
“VOLUNTARILY” ARRESTED. Vesić announced his arrest on Instagram. Well, sort of. He clarified that he wasn't arrested — rather, he "voluntarily responded" to the police’s call. An interesting choice of words.
IS THIS IT? There’s a general sense of skepticism that these arrests will lead to real justice. "We fundamentally do not believe that political leaders are willing to take responsibility for [...] scandals," said sociologist and feminist activist Jelena Riznić in an interview with Balkan Brew.
RESILIENCE OR DESPERATION? Serbian citizens are determined to keep demanding justice, even if the outcomes of their mobilizations are often disappointing. We asked Riznić, where does this resilience come from?
I’m not sure whether we’re witnessing resilience or desperation in a landscape of countless crises and the realization that failing to address them can only make things worse [...]. The truth is, I don’t know how much worse things would be if protests and anti-regime forces didn’t exist — or how much we would even know about these issues if they weren’t speaking out about them.
Sick of this
Last Friday, Vili Beroš, Croatia’s Health Minister, was arrested along with several high-ranking doctors from the country’s public health system on suspicion of accepting bribes. PM Andrej Plenković (from HDZ) immediately dismissed him. On Thursday, Plenković announced that Irena Hrstić, former director of the hospital in Pula, would be the new Health Minister.
S.O.S. It’s the Same Old Situation: after he first took office in 2016, Plenković dismissed more than thirty of his ministers. In several cases, after they were accused of corruption.
AND YET. Despite this, center-right HDZ is still the most popular party in Croatia, with 26,8 percent of preferences (center-left SDP follows with 22,8 percent).
SAY AAAAAH. So, what’s the deal with Croatian healthcare? According to the latest Health at a Glance report from the OECD, released on Monday, there are a few glaring issues — like “medical deserts” in peripheral areas. Croatia also ranks among the lowest in the EU when it comes to health spending per capita.
DO YOUR WORKOUT. The report also shows that over 50% of adults in Croatia (as well as Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro) are completely inactive outside working time. And that’s despite advice from well-known experts.
Citizenship for sale
In 2011, the population of Vârfu Câmpului, a village in Botoșani County, Romania, was 3,607. Fast forward to today, and it’s ballooned to 12,182 — more than triple. But here’s the kicker: most of these new “residents” aren’t even Romanian.
AN UNUSUAL PROTEST. This whole story came to light when two locals, Petre Alemnăriței and Aurel Ciubotariu, decided to speak up in May 2024. They staged a protest, calling on the authorities to investigate a business they’d helped get off the ground.
QUICK CASH… Together with some employees from the town hall, the two men facilitated the process of getting Romanian citizenship for a few Ukrainians by letting them use their houses as official residences, all in exchange for money.
...THAT GOT OUT OF HAND. Everything was fine until they realized their homes had been used as the official addresses for thousands of other people they knew nothing about.
A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS. According to prosecutors quoted by Europa Liberă România, Vârfu Câmpului now has around 10,000 new residents, originally from Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia. Each of them paid between 350 and 400 euros to get Romanian IDs and try to obtain Romanian citizenship.
IN OTHER NEWS.
On Tuesday, 459 people suspected of being supporters of the Gülen movement were arrested in Turkey. The suspects were detained for various reasons, including spreading propaganda on social media and communicating secretly via payphones. The news was barely picked up by international media.
In Thessaloniki, Greece, the design competition for the city’s metro logo was abruptly canceled, igniting a heated debate about patronage and clientelism in local government.
AND FINALLY. At Balkan Brew, we believe it's important for journalists to admit when they don't know something: some days ago, we learned that Republika Srpska, Bosnia Herzegovina's Serb entity, has a Senate (!). Although — how should we put this — it is not exactly the cornerstone of RS governance: its members don’t meet regularly, and their decisions aren’t binding. It doesn’t even have a website, and its last session was held more than FOUR years ago. Among his newly appointed members, you will find Emir Kusturica, the controversial Bosnian-Serb director.
A MODERN-OLD PILGRIMAGE. Who among us hasn’t daydreamed about traveling back in time and walking the roads of ancient empires?
Seyahat: A Journey to Mecca lets you do just that. In the shoes of a young Muslim woman, you’ll journey through the Ottoman Empire in 1671, from Mostar to Mecca. The game is currently in development and is free to test on Steam.
This is all for this week. Thanks for reading and subscribing to Balkan Brew. If you appreciate this newsletter, please forward it to anyone who might be interested — we’d really, really, really appreciate it. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions please reach out to us — all you have to do is reply to this email. See you next week,
have a safe trip.
BB