4 July, a public holiday in socialist Yugoslavia, called Dan borca ('Combatant Day'). #OTD in 1941 Politburo of the Communist Party issued a call to arms against German & Italian occupation of Yugoslavia.

Actually, photos are taken each and every time - not only the first time - the non-EU citizen crosses the border. I have crossed the EU border ~20 times over the last 6 months (GRE, HUN, CRO), I was photo-ed every single time (fingerprinted maybe half the time) www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Man, playoff hockey is something different. After three games the Stanley Cup finals are insanely up-and-down, entertaining and awesome.

A List of Things Eaten by Scientists 🧵

Customary by now, Serbian Railways are stopping all rail traffic nationally on a day of large student/opposition protests. They usually invented a reason for this, a 'bomb threat', a 'software glitch'. This time they didn't bother, they just halted all traffic and that is that.

Applications now open for a fully-funded PhD studentship exploring Yugoslavia’s multifaceted role during the Cold War, co-supervised with @exeter.ac.uk . This is one of a number of studentships available as part of AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme. Find out more: link.bl.uk/q95

Humboldt U calls for solidarity with University in Belgrade and its endangered autonomy, as "police units stormed the Rector’s Office at the University of Belgrade without warning or prior consultation". www.hu-berlin.de/en/news/deta...

On Students' Day (Apr 4 '34 when right-wing thug killed student Žarko Marinović), Serbia' Minister of Information offers his opinion, in the light of renewed protests against the Gvmt, that "students are not aware that police have a right to beat them and to kill them". A quote for the ages.

Lazy use of AI by half-ass researchers is putting digital asbestos everywhere, which will be a huge pain in the ass to clean up. Just do your damn job as a scholar or let someone else with more integrity and competence have your position. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Highly irregular local by-elections in several Serbian municipalities - again. Still marred by gvmt pressure, armed thugs violence and police that effectivelly assists them. Reaching the point of elections being obsolete as reasonable means of change.

Today's inspirational message:

Walked by a small piece of #F1 memorials, an apartment building in Graz where Jochen Rindt spent childhood with his grandparents. He remains the only F1 champion that won the title posthumously, in 1970.

Well, that's just peachy, ain't it? "Iran war is the greatest threat to global energy ‘in history’, warns IEAc www.ft.com/content/0952...

It’s weird that there’s a branch of academics pretending that it’s acceptable to have LLMs write any portion of their manuscripts or other forms of public engagement. It’s not. You’re supposed to be the author. No matter what your new toy can do.

Serbian police forces have entered the premises of the Faculty of Philosophy at University of Novi Sad, to break up the ongoing student protest started because of the dismissal of one of the professors. n1info.rs/english/news...

This is the best speech, just from a pure rhetoric perspective - its sophistication and persuasiveness - that I've seen a politician deliver in a good long while. Really recommend watching or reading the whole thing.

Hungarian MOL is going to buyout Gazprom's share (~56%) in Sebian NIS oil company. Emirates' ADNOC is part of the deal but it is uclear how exactly. And now they are going to ask the USA to lift the sanctions on NIS as the Russian ownership is, maybe, on the way out. n1info.rs/english/news...

"If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than artificial intelligence." papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Everything going well.

I’ll see yall next year ✨

A required nod to overall New Year's pessimism

One wonders who delegated A. Kavcic to represent the student body of Serbia, as their usual channels of communication are silent about him. And while he is/was a professor in USA, he's not a professor in Serbia nor has any students there. Pretty odd. multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/video/awa...

My two colleagues and me have just published a paper, tackling a Jadar lithium mining project in Serbia against the backdrop of the EU integrations, inherent norm compliance, and strategic interests. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A Hillbilly EULogy, so to speak.

MAGA->MEGA against the EU will shape to be quite an existential challenge: "Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland are listed as countries the U.S. should “work more with…with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].”"

Today’s local elections in Serbia – in Mionica, Negotin and Sečanj – were a snapshot of that reality: fraud, intimidation, assaults on observers, and mobs operating with police complicity. We believe democracy cannot survive without accountability. Vučić’s regime threatens both.

Why is Vučić afraid of national elections? Because when he’s not sending thugs to beat up students, young people, citizens, MPs or journalists – as he did today in Mionica – he knows he can’t win. His party is increasingly isolated, holding on to power through violence, fear and voter manipulation.

Since I'm in Florence, been reading the outlet and got hooked on local darkwave bands from the 1980s. Starting with Diaframma, on to Litfiba, Neon, Pankow.... www.theflorentine.net/2025/11/19/d...

Activism without lasting forms of collective organisation On 19 November, 16.00 CET, join a lecture by Anton Jäger @ox.ac.uk on his concept of "hyperpolitics", describing today's increasing politicisation leading to few political consequences 👉 loom.ly/deT9Uyc Organised by @inthiseui.bsky.social

Join us next Monday for an @eui-adgcentre.bsky.social (hybrid) seminar with exciting presentations by @migrutinovic.bsky.social (Yugoslavia-EEC relations, 1980s) & Jonah Berger (early steps towards creation of a European foreign service, 1990s). Registration here: www.eui.eu/events?id=58...

💬 How were the EEC–Yugoslavia relations? And how did the EC build its own diplomatic corps? Join us on 17 November for our next research seminar with @migrutinovic.bsky.social (Institute of European Studies, Belgrade) and Jonah Berger (EUI) exploring Europe’s external relations. 🔗 loom.ly/15xC2tE

Vučić is hoping for a magical US-RU deal on the issue, and looks to ride Orban's coat tails on this. There's practically zero chance of that happening. He and the gvmt still refuse the idea of takeover of NIS ownership from Gazprom, thus increasing the chances of major internal oil crisis.

Serbian gvmt has decided to create a "Faculty of Serbian Studies" by cutting out depts of history, Serbian, and Russian(!?) language out of University of Niš. It has done so despite the tacit "no" from the uni and departmental councils. /1 www.danas.rs/vesti/drustv...

It seems that internal* Russian repackaging of ownership of US-sanctioned oil business (Lukoil but, implicitly also Gazprom, and for Serbian NIS) is a non-starter for lifting the sanctions.

My interview for "Glas Slavonije" (Croatia), with Darko Jerković, on Serbian integration into the EU. The point is fairly simple - any progress now is practically inconceivable under this government. Reasons are many, but they merge to a straightforward answer. www.glas-slavonije.hr/magazin/2025...

👋 Meet our new Fernand Braudel Fellow, @migrutinovic.bsky.social , joining us thanks to the #EUIWidening Programme! His project explores the political and economic relations between Yugoslavia and the ECC in the 1980s. Find out more about our Fellowships 👉 loom.ly/u_hjJE4

YES! THIS on GenAI! Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins: "An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."

From Oct 1 the US Gov will levy sanctions against the Serbian de facto oil monopoly NIS, as majority of its shares are owned by Gazprom and connected companies. For months the SR gov has refused to nationalise the company (as Vučić values the RU connection) and RU side has refused any buyout.

This actually isn't a building in New/Novi Belgrade, this is the "Eastern Gate" or "Rudo" complex. But stiil, brutalism par excellence. maps.app.goo.gl/HtvYfJoY9x3B...

Serbian students are our nominees for the #SakharovPrize! Since the tragic Novi Sad railway station accident, these courageous young people have led peaceful protests for a free & democratic 🇷🇸 Their fight reflects the EU’s core principles & inspires beyond Serbia’s borders

Serbia’s Vučić brands European Green Party officials ‘scum’ amid deepening unrest  

And late last night, president Vučić called the @europeangreens.eu MEPs the "worst European scum" while fuming against the student/civic protestors at the University of Novi Sad, attacked and tear-gassed by the riot police and armed SNS party thugs. New levels of vitriol. n1info.rs/vesti/vucic-...

In his letter to the @financialtimes.com Serbian president Vučić claims that "democracies cannot rewrite electoral timetables ... Doing so would be destabilising, costly, and harmful". That's rich given that he and his party have initiated 5 parliamentary elections in 9 years (2014-2023) without /1

The Russian ambo to Serbia with strongest comments against the ongoing anti-gvmt protests thus far, with intentionally vague and sweeping accusations that the protests are run by "the West", for "Belgrade to lose control of the situation" etc. www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/69...

Nekoliko mojih komentara o tezi o "građanskom ratu" u Srbiji trenutno: www.masina.rs/ne-ovo-nije-...

So, probably the first editorial of major international daily dealing with Vučić, and calling for pressure on him by the EU and UK, as "Vučić has to be pushed to be more accountable and hold genuinely fair elections". AV is likely not on the breaking point on that, but still...

A good recap on the current vawe of clashes between civic protestants and the police and SNS party supporters. #Serbia #protests www.masina.rs/eng/tear-gas...

Tell me you don't understand the purpose of humanities research without telling me you don't understand the purpose of humanities research @economist.com @eui-history.bsky.social www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

So, a Serbian Gvmt minister and a key SNS party operative, Darko Glišić (52) had a stroke on live TV this morning. He was rushed to a hospital and is in intensive care after a difficult surgery. No prognosis on the survival or recovery. www.blic.rs/vesti/politi...

The government and the police in Belgrade have completely lost the plot last night. Beatings, mass arrests, violating the university property (down in the link)... they are turning up the dial of repression but the protests and civic anger are growing by the day. youtube.com/shorts/ONVYK...