Serbia is still a pristine country for many tourists, yet it is the largest country in the Balkans, but as a travel destination overshadowed by Croatia and Slovenia. Capital: Belgrade Official language: Serbian Currency: Serbian dinar Passport and visa: When traveling to Serbia, Finnish citizens need a passport. Finns do not need a visa if their stay in the country lasts less than 90 days. The passport must be valid for at least six months after leaving the country. Time difference to Finland : -1
Agriculture
Agriculture is an important industry, although its share of the economy has declined in recent years. Most of the agriculture is in private hands and small family farms dominate.
CountryAAH: Comprehensive import regulations of Serbia. Covers import prohibitions and special documentation requirements for a list of prohibited items.
On the fertile plains of Vojvodina most of all cereals are grown, mainly wheat and rye and maize. In Serbia, a lot of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, soybeans, potatoes and sugar beets are also grown. It also breeds sheep, pigs and cattle for both meat and milk production.
Agricultural production is uneven; as the irrigation is limited, the harvest result is affected by the weather. The dry summer of 2012 meant something of a disaster for Serbian agriculture, whose production fell by a fifth. After a substantial recovery the following year, agriculture suffered both floods in 2014 and 2015 instead of severe flooding.
New investments in agriculture were long neglected, but in the early 2000s an extensive investment program was implemented. In agriculture, however, much remains to be done, both environmentally and in terms of efficiency / production. For Serbia defense and foreign policy, please check relationshipsplus.
Fishing has no economic significance in coastal Serbia, which also has no large lakes.
FACTS – AGRICULTURE
Agriculture’s share of GDP
6.2 percent (2018)
Percentage of land used for agriculture
39.3 percent (2016)
Abbreviationfinder.org: Offers how the 3-letter acronym of SRB stands for the state of Serbia in geography.
2017
December
Negotiations with the EU are widening
December 11
In Serbia, negotiations on membership with the EU will open two new chapters in Brussels: Chapter 6, which deals with corporate law and Chapter 30, which deals with economic relations with other countries. According to the country’s Minister for EU Integration, Jadranka Joksimović, this will create new jobs for the Serbs, stimulate the Serbian economy, increase security in business and accelerate new investments. Another three chapters would have been opened – Chapter 9 on financial services, Chapter 13 on fishing and Chapter 33 on financial and budget regulations but these may have to wait a bit. Sweden is among five EU members who believe that Serbia must first step up the pace of reform in the area of justice and address corruption.
October
Pensioner Protests
October 26th
Hundreds of pensioners embark on a protest march in Belgrade demanding increased pensions. In order to obtain a loan from the IMF, the government had reduced pensions by 5-15 percent in 2014, which meant that many pensioners came to live below the poverty line. The government has promised a 5 percent increase in 2018, but according to the pensioners it is not enough. The average pension in Serbia is currently around 190 euros a month. However, around 13 percent of Serbia’s GDP is already going to pensions.
Turkish State Visit
October 10
During a major security incident, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan embarks on a two-day state visit to Serbia and to his Serbian colleague Aleksandar Vučić. Above all, economic cooperation and increased trade exchanges between countries are negotiated.
New diplomatic quarrel with Croatia
October 4th
A summit scheduled to be held in Zagreb in October-November between the Presidents of Croatia and Serbia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Aleksandar Vučić, has been postponed indefinitely. The reason is the statue of the Major of the then Yugoslav People’s Army, Milan Tepić, unveiled on September 29 in Belgrade. Rather than surrender to Croatian troops during the 1991 war, Tepić let a Yugoslav weapons depot in the city of Bjelovar, Croatia, blow up in the air, killing himself and 12 other soldiers and threatening many civilian lives. The Croatian Foreign Ministry reacted with an upset note, accusing Serbia that the country “is still not ready to settle its role in the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia”; Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić responded by calling this “anti-Serbian hysteria”.
Catalan referendum raises questions
October 2
Following Catalonia’s referendum on independence, which the EU opposes, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić asks at a press conference why the EU did not oppose Kosovo’s independence in the same way. After an EU representative declared that Catalonia and Kosovo cannot be equated (an important difference would be that Spain is an EU member, not yet Serbia), Vučić calls the government to a special meeting to discuss the issue, which will also be addressed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabić when she visits Brussels on October 10.
September
Quiet pride parade
September 17th
In Belgrade, this year’s Pride Parade is being held without incidents. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who is openly lesbian, participates with several other ministers but otherwise comes fewer than expected. Some say that the parade is not primarily turned to LGBT -folket but most was to show the world how open and tolerant Serbia has become. See also September 2014.
August
Legal agreement between Serbia and Kosovo
August 31st
When the Presidents of Serbia and Kosovo respectively, Aleksandar Vučić and Hashim Thaҫi, resumed the EU-led negotiations on normalization between the countries of Brussels, a legal agreement was reached between them to be fully implemented on October 17, 2017. This means that all judges, Prosecutors and other legal personnel in Kosovo, including those in the Serbian-dominated northern Kosovo, will be integrated into Kosovo’s legal system.
The drought affects the harvests
August 14th
A Serbian agricultural expert says in an interview with the Beta news agency that the severe drought means that the 2017 harvest will be 20 percent less than an average year, which means a loss of more than a billion US dollars for the Serbian farmers. Compared to the good harvests of 2016, the reduction is as much as 30 percent.
Ikea opens in Belgrade
10th August
In Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vučić inaugurates the first Ikea department store in Serbia. Two more are planned, another in Belgrade and one in Niš. More than EUR 70 million has been invested in the new department store, which provides jobs for 400 people. Fears that the opening will allow Serbian furniture manufacturers to sell less, the president is responding that Serbian companies may instead become major suppliers to Ikea, also internationally.
July
Dačić on the future of Kosovo
31 July
Following President Vučić’s statement about Kosovo, Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, also in a debate article in the newspaper Blic, claims that there can never be talk of recognizing today’s Kosovo as an independent state. However, he can conceive of an “exchange of territory”. He does not elaborate on the areas he intends, but earlier proposals have been made to allow Serbia to maintain northern Kosovo around the city of Mitrovica (where many Serbs live) and instead to allow Kosovo to take care of the Preševo Valley in southern Serbia, sometimes called “eastern Kosovo. ”(With large Muslim population).
Vučić on Kosovo’s future
July 24
In a debate article in the Blic magazine, President Aleksandar Vučić proposes a broad, popular discussion in Serbia on relations with Kosovo with the aim of reaching a solution acceptable to both parties once and for all. He points out that he has no ready-made proposal but just wants to start a broad debate, but also says that both Serbs and Albanians must be prepared to lose something in order to reach a sustainable and peaceful settlement. Kosovo’s President, Hashim Thaҫi, welcomes Vučić’s play, which some people perceive as wanting to pave the way for Serbian recognition of Kosovo, which Vučić denies, however.
Half support EU membership
July 24
In a poll, 49 percent of Serbs say they would vote for EU membership today, while 27 percent would oppose it. The rest are uncertain or would not vote at all.
June
New government approved
June 29
With 157 votes in favor and 55 against, the Serbian Parliament approves Prime Minister Ana Brnabić’s new government. Most controversial is the appointment of Russia-friendly and Natofientlike former Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin as new Minister of Defense.
Ana Brnabić is proposed to become new prime minister
June 15
The newly elected President, Aleksandar Vučić, proposes Ana Brnabić as new Prime Minister. The party politically unborn Brnabić, who would become the first female and also openly lesbian prime minister in Serbia, holds a degree in marketing from British Hull University and has extensive experience working with and with international organizations. Since 2016, she has been Minister responsible for state and local government.
May
Vučić is sworn in as president
May 31st
Aleksandar Vučić swears oath as new Serbian president after Tomislav Nikolić ahead of the Serbian National Assembly. The day before, he has resigned as Prime Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić is taking over that post for the time being. In the capital, Belgrade, after the ceremony, demonstrates both supporters and opponents of the new president.
April
Vučić wins the presidential election
2 April
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić wins the presidential election as early as April 2. He gets 55 percent of the vote, almost 40 percent more than the second of the elections, the former Ombudsman Saša Janković. The election results lead to extensive demonstrations and demands for a second round of elections, as many believe that Vučić won, among other things, because he had the media with him.
February
Almost half of the Serbs for EU membership
February 7
A survey by the Serbian government’s Office for European Integration shows that 47 percent are for Serbian EU membership while 29 percent are against such. On the other hand, as many as 64 percent want Serbia to continue the reforms needed to become an EU member, as they favor the Serbs and Serbia.
war crimes trial
February 7
In Belgrade, a trial is launched against eight Bosnian Serb men, accused of murdering more than 1,300 Bosnians in Srebrenica in 1995 by incarcerating them in a barn outside the city and then shooting them to death; they should also have thrown hand grenades into the barn. The trial is the first of its kind in Serbia and is part of the EU’s demands on Serbia to bring suspected war criminals to justice.
January
Praise, but mostly rice, from the EU
January 10
In a report on the progress of reforms on the road to EU membership, the European Parliament calls on Serbia to establish better relations with neighboring countries, in particular Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to follow EU policy towards Russia. Is also concerned about the lack of sufficient resources to fight corruption and organized crime, or to ensure independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press; However, Serbia was praised for its economic progress and the way it handled the refugee crisis.
