New agreement in Minsk Parliamentary elections at the end of October were a major victory for the pro-European parties led by, among others, President Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The five dominant parties formed a coalition government. No elections were held in rebel-held areas and in Crimea. Donetsk and Luhansk hosted their own elections… Read More »
Russia conquered Crimea President Putin was authorized by the upper house of the Russian parliament to intervene militarily in Ukraine, “wherever Russian life was threatened”. Ukraine was preparing for general mobilization and the Western Alliance NATO accused Russia of threatening peace and security in Europe. The Russian government, for its part, blamed the United States… Read More »
40 years of silence When the Nazis were expelled in 1944, fighting continued between Ukrainian partisans and the Soviet Union. Only towards the end of the 1940’s did the Soviet Union have full control over Ukraine, but then hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians had been killed and probably even more sent to Siberia. No real… Read More »
In February 2014, a popular uprising against the Ukrainian government led to an armed conflict that created the most dangerous political situation in Europe since World War II. When Russia tried to halt Ukraine’s rapprochement with Western Europe, a new “cold war” began to take shape after 25 years of relative tension between the West… Read More »
According to zipcodesexplorer, Serbia is a country located in Southern Europe In relation to Serbia’s neighbors, the then President Tadić had taken several initiatives for historical reconciliation from 2010, with regard to Croatia in cooperation with the then President Ivo Josipović, but also in Bosnia. On the other hand, there were regular, persistent tensions arising… Read More »
Serbia’s foreign policy orientation is an expression of the tension between the ongoing democratic transformation and the ideological legacy of nationalism from the 1990’s. The vast majority of the political elite and population see their country as part of Europe and the West and support the Euro-Atlantic integration of Serbia. A majority supports the central… Read More »
EU integration On January 21, 2014, Serbia started accession negotiations with the European Union – a historic day for the Balkan country. This was preceded by a corresponding decision by the Council of the EU in December 2013. According to usaers, Serbia is a country located in Southern Europe. For several years at the latest,… Read More »
Civil society approaches already existed in Serbia in socialist Yugoslavia; they emerged in the environment of dissident circles and critical intellectuals and formed the nucleus of the later women’s and peace movement. Civil society emerged in Serbia in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as a reaction to and in opposition to the authoritarian Milosevic… Read More »
Socialist Yugoslavia had produced a relatively liberal media landscape with a large base of professional journalists. Under the Milošević regime in Serbia at the end of the 1980’s and the beginning of the 90’s, there was a dichotomous differentiation into state and a small number of independent, oppositional media. The state, public media became an… Read More »
The flood of the century in May 2014 Serbia’s difficult economic situation is also negatively affected by the water of the century from May 2014. A careful damage assessment the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) came to a preliminary sum of 1.5 to 2 billion euros. The damage to agriculture alone could amount… Read More »
Delay in structural reforms and election gifts At the end of 2015, Serbia recorded a budget deficit of 3.8% – a surprising decrease compared to previous years and a value that was 2% below that forecast by the IMF, among others. There were three main reasons for the decline: increased tax revenue as a result… Read More »
Serbia Economy & Development Estimated GDP: US $ 53.0 billion (2019) Per capita income (purchasing power parity): US $ 7,503 (2019) Human Development Rank (HDI): Rank 63 (from 189 – 2019) Proportion of poverty (less than $ 2 per day): 9.2% (2011) Distribution of income (Gini coefficient): 34.0 Economic Transformation Index (BTI): Rank 27 (of… Read More »
Historical legacy Serbia’s economy is on the path of transformation and modernization. It is still characterized by a double inheritance. On the one hand, from the socialist legacy, a socialist economic structure and economic policy, the transformation of which, due to the Balkan wars, in contrast to the Central and Eastern European countries, only started… Read More »
After the regime change in October 2000, the transformation and modernization of the Serbian economy and economic policy began with the support of the EU, IMF and other international institutions. Economic legislation was modernized, foreign trade and money and foreign exchange markets were liberalized. Administrative prices and wages have been abolished. Most of the banks… Read More »
The global corona crisis also changed the economic development dynamics in Serbia in March 2020 almost overnight. The shutdown of public life, the closure of restaurants, retail and traffic routes, the sending of workers home or, in some cases, to the home office all contributed to the drastic collapse in economic output. However, the forecasts… Read More »
Development goals, national development efforts The development goals of the national and international actors in Serbia are largely based on the UN Millennium Development Goals, and beyond that, within the framework of the EU integration process, on the level of development in the European Union. The national development efforts of the individual government ministries have… Read More »
Map of Serbia Impact of the Great Depression The effects of the Great Depression that reached Serbia at the end of 2008 were noticeable, but could be kept limited by economic policy measures and international support measures. In 2009 the gross domestic product lost 3%, exports collapsed by 12%, and inflation rose by 8.1%. At… Read More »
Healthcare The healthcare, like the rest of the social systems in Serbia, has come under severe economic pressure since the 1909s. Serbia had taken over a state health system from Yugoslavia, in which all workers and employees as well as the majority of the self-employed paid a fixed portion of their wages (12.3%) into the… Read More »
Education Serbia’s education system consists of an eight-year compulsory primary school; this is followed by the secondary level – the general secondary schools, grammar schools, lead to general higher education entrance qualification in four years; various vocational secondary schools last up to four years and end with different degrees or entitle the holder to study… Read More »
Location and size Serbia lies in the heart of the Balkans region, which is now also politically referred to as the Western Balkans. According to politicsezine, Serbia is a country located in Southern Europe. It is at the same time an important transit country between Asia Minor and Western Europe / the EU, important motorway… Read More »
Language The multi-ethnic character of Serbia also shapes the language landscape. The main official language in Serbia is Serbian, which is spoken virtually everywhere in the country. In the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, Hungarian, Croatian, Russian, Slovak and Romanian are recognized as official languages in addition to Serbian. Albanian is spoken in parts of… Read More »
Serbia society Proportion of literate adults: 97.8% most important religion: Serbian Orthodox 85% Urban population: 56% (2011) Life expectancy: 73.2 / 79.2 years (male / female, 2019) Gender Inequality Index: Rank 37 (out of 160) (2018) Number of births: 1.48 / woman (2017) Infant mortality: 5.6 / 1000 live births (2019) Population structure Serbia had… Read More »
Since 2014, the issue of flight and migration has become increasingly important in Serbian society, initially due to increasing migration from the Western Balkans to the EU, and finally Serbia became one of the key countries of the European refugee crisis in 2015, when hundreds of thousands were due to the collapse of the EU… Read More »
The music in Serbia can look back on a rich history. The oldest musical evidence goes back to ritual songs and dance melodies of the Slavs who came to the Balkans in the 7th century. Sacred music, which was largely influenced by Byzantine art, has prospered since the 10th century. In the High Middle Ages,… Read More »
The culture of Serbia is considered to be one of the most diverse of the Slavic peoples who came to the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th / 7th centuries. It initially developed under the influence of Byzantine culture. The first evidence of Serbian literature goes back to the second half of the 9th century and… Read More »
Travel and traffic Traveling through Serbia by public transport is possible by both train and bus. The rail network and trains are largely out of date. The construction of an express railway line is planned. The bus network is much better and more convenient. Local / regional buses go to practically every village in Serbia.… Read More »
Serbia Everyday life Currency: Serbian dinars Exchange rate: 117,210 RSD per € (December 2020) Time zone: CET Country code (phone): +381 Climate (for capital): continental Current corona restrictions With the declaration of a state of emergency and a far-reaching lockdown in mid-March, far-reaching restrictions in everyday life in Serbia are associated. Entry and exit to… Read More »
Working hours The normal working hours in Serbia are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Authorities usually work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. Greeting The greeting in Serbia is a triple cheek kiss, which is given alternately on the left and right – starting with the left side. Shopping Shopping is… Read More »
Minefield in Donbas According to internetsailors, Ukraine is a country located in Eastern Europe. Ukraine has been grappling with serious ecological problems for decades. The greatest ecological catastrophe is the explosion of the fourth reactor at the Čornobyl nuclear power plant, after which large parts of the Ukrainian territories were contaminated. Numerous bodies of water… Read More »
Regional train Ukraine’s population has been shrinking continuously since the 1990’s. The country ranks 220th (out of 234) in the global ranking of population growth. Demographic changes are particularly rapid in rural areas. 70% of the Ukrainian population live in cities. Rural settlements are dying out due to high levels of migration. However, village death… Read More »