PUBLICATIONS

The concept of collective memory is a grappling one. The Western Balkans went through political turmoil and wars in the 1990s, and the effects can be felt even today, after more than 20 years. It is understandable for war veterans and civilians who have lived through atrocities of wars to be haunted by remnants of the past, but how do we explain younger generations being emotionally attached to those times as if they were present or old enough to remember them?

The attitude of the right towards women’s rights has evidently undergone an evolution. In has remained misogynistic in essence, but with one important difference: right-wing politics has acquired the ability to mimic modern society. Today, it does not hold a banner containing the explicit message “No to women’s right to vote!”, but rather a shiny paper that guarantees every woman the right to her dignity, albeit defined in right-wing terms. Also, right-wing politics is making some effort to make room for women’s right to health care on its agenda, except that the disaffected will notice that, in its vocabulary, the term health is mostly reduced to reproductive health.

In the territory of former Yugoslavia, the past is still one of the most contentious topics despite the fact that more than 20 years have passed since the conflict ended. The question of how to deal with past crimes and human rights violations tends to open up a wide range of legal, political and psychological issues.

The chapter analyses the emergence and development of discriminatory narratives against the LGBTQ+ community in Serbia, and how cyberspace has provided them fertile ground, affecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people both online and offline. Using the example of EuroPride, which took place in Belgrade in 2022, it is demonstrated how digital spaces are being used as mobilizing tools by various anti-rights movements in Serbia.

The aim of this study is to analyse the political debate surrounding the Jadar Project. It will present the development of the debate, the key actors, and the dominant discourses that formulated it.

Turkey’s more assertive posture towards the Balkans is neglected compared to the commentariat that deals with Russia and China. To fill this policy gap, the research team of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) has conducted research based on the analysis of secondary source material and, even more importantly, on fieldwork interviews that involved 16 sources, academics and think tank researchers based in Istanbul and Ankara.

This analysis is based on the public opinion survey conducted in Serbia in 2022. The research objectives were to investigate citizens’ perceptions of public safety and trust in security and justice institutions in Serbia. Public safety perceptions were divided into questions on national safety and personal safety.

People’s ever-stronger reliance on digital technologies and devices has caused states and private actors to increasingly reach for various systems and tools for the digital surveillance of citizens. Consequently, high-resolution cameras, artificial intelligence, programmes for biometric recognition, tools for automatic data collection from the Internet, and intrusive software for monitoring mobile phones have become the everyday reality of people worldwide.

What can the states and governments do to protect civilians in conflict and prevent further civilian losses in war in Ukraine? Read about it in the new analysis written by a member of the BCSP International Advisory Committee, Marta Martinelli.