A Yugoslav. Working
@Institute
of Economic Sciences, Belgrade. PhD
@ZrcSazu
. Former visiting scholar
@HumboldtUni
. Publishing on economics & Marxist education.
I want to share what happened in more detail as some strange things have been happening in Serbia after Scholz's visit - that wreak of neocolonialism. Firstly, after his visit there have been massive national protests in every major city, and especially in the villages. (1/28)
US media have been spreading fake news about alleged Russian influence on the Serbian environmental movement because we oppose a large Rio Tinto lithium mine. The Wall Street journal has just published an opinion piece on this that is just outrageous so as one of the (1/30)
"Video sam da Ana Brnabić komentariše rad Dragane Đorđević, i mislim da nije dolično da jedan član vlade komentariše radove naučnika, pritom se sprdajući sa njima na društvenim mrežama. Pozivam Anu Brnabić, ako želi, da napiše naučni rad, (1/3)
Predstavnica Rio Tinta Marijanti Babić sad govori u Novom Sadu. Njeno ime nije bilo najavljeno niti je naziv panela sadržao litijum u početku. Soba je bila strogo kontrolisana i na početku nisu hteli da puste studente. Ceo panel je reklama za Rio Tinto i ovo je sramota ali zaista
Instead, all I experienced is, in this order: a) stealth infiltration by a company; b) meddling with national laws; c) putting down local opposition and protests; d) bringing in foreign powers without local knowledge; e) death threats and f) silence over all of the above. (28/28)
We are going unhinged with dictatorial methods over a mine that would allow a bunch of rich people to continue driving around. Instead of raising public investments into public transport infrastructure for the wider masses, (24/28)
I've received offers to live in a foreign embassy if this thing escalates and the regional media have gone wild. However, after taking a short pause I was really left with one simply question: is this how a green transition looks like? Is this the European Green Deal? (23/28)
I got several death threats in an escalating order, and this came on top of the protests already under way. This made me question the capitalist green transition even further and I want to share the methods that were used. First, (7/28)
What happened was that the Serbian government signed a range of deals for a whole electric vehicles (EV's) production chain, from lithium extraction to refining and battery production, mostly with German companies like Mercedes Benz, but also InoBat, (2/28)
along with German automakers. All of this is presented almost as non-negotiable by some EU officials despite the fact that this means that Serbia will become the only country in the world where one of the largest lithium mines will open up in a populated area called the (4/28)
we are focusing on private mining companies for private auto manufacturers for the dwindling European middle class with loads of problems from uncoordinated charging stations, slow auto modelling, and what not. (25/28)
Informer, Blic, Alo i ostali prodržavni mediji su napisali da sam ja "nekim čudom zaposlen na Institutu ekonomskih nauka" pa samo želim javno da odgovorim na to. Lepo je od njih što misle da je biti zaposlen u Srbiji pod SNS-om "čudo". (1/23)
"Jadar region". It is an agricultural land sitting on top of an undergound water reservoir, previously designated to supply the north of Serbia, after another one runs out. (5/28)
All I know is that this is a first time someone got a death threat due to a scientific text which basically argued that mining investments have been on the rise without contributing to a rise in the standard of living. (20/28)
a Rio Tinto subsidiary. Stellantis, which is already in Serbia, is also involved and actually showcased a finished EV prototype in Kragujevac, a town in Serbia, a few weeks ago. None of this was made public before and we all learned this only after came to sign the deals, (3/28)
The government have been changing laws on expropriation and acting as a PR for the company ever since 2021. When I published an open letter putting the economic benefits of the mine into question in a popular daily newspaper, (6/28)
I got a message saying "We will follow you until you disappear." on Telegram. Now, my profile is invisible and you can't find me unless I am in your contacts meaning someone knew my number which is not exactly public. This was on midnight on August 14, four days ago. (8/28)
I have stopped getting threats after going public but non of this is right. I think Vučić doesn't know what the hell to do with the protests after he basically gave German companies and Rio Tinto a carte blanche when it comes to Serbian lithium. (19/28)
I also published data on increasing extraction of domestic resources and falling domestic resource productivity in Serbia, arguing that this is not a viable model for a peripheral country. This is an ongoing story that is yet to reach the Western media, (21/28)
a Dutch journalist who wanted to publish the news abroad also got some weird messages trying to persuade her from publishing the news. Soon after, four apartments of some of my friends who participated in the protests were raided by the police and one of my friends, (16/28)
And I am really wondering to what extent any of this is contributing to mitigating climate change. After everything that went down in the last couple of days, (26/28)
if I want to continue to write and breathe." It ended by saying that I did not understand that I should be afraid for my safety, as well as that of my "little brother". They here referred to my ten years younger brother, (12/28)
After I reported the messages to the police, only hours afterwards I received a third message. This third message was, however, not written in Serbian, but in *German*. The message began by saying: "You don't understand anything. (10/28)
meaning that someone was monitoring my internet activity. All messages came from various profiles. When the news got out, the police denied that they received any report from me and only with the pressure of the media, (14/28)
who is in the fifth month of her pregnancy, had her home invaded by the Serbian Internal Security (BIA) on charges of "attempting to abolish the constitutional order", (17/28)
for being an admin of a Facebook group called "Activism" which simply shared solidarity posters with me and others. Some other friends have been getting strange calls soon after and this whole thing is just going insane right now. (18/28)
We know about your connections to the leaders of the revolt." It followed by describing my behavior in the movement (in which I was active from time to time, something the message noted) and that I should "step out of the public light for some time, (11/28)
The profile was only signed as "Andriy". I thought someone was kidding, But then tomorrow I got a message saying "How's the Rio Tinto struggle going?" from another profile, only this time, the distance was displayed - 500 meters from me. (9/28)
which is also a fact not publicly available anywhere on the internet. This third message happened on August 15, and on that night I received about ten more messages asking me if I am "sleeping tightly" etc. I would get them whenever I was online, not before or after, (13/28)
@REMARKSIST
For older generations in Serbo-Croatian for some reason the worst insult you can make at a conference or sth was to call somebody a "Mister". "So... Mister X says this." It basically means "some elitist dude who is not part or us"
and I have been helped by a lot of people. At the same time, this situation has basically ruined any semblance of normal life as there is talk of UN getting involved, (22/28)
This is "the green book" from Yugoslavia 1985. Completely forgotten today, it was the first book by a group of geographers to argue for self-management to be transformed into an eco-socialist system in order to take the limits to growth seriously.
(1/2) U Novom Sadu je trenutno konferencija nemačke autoindustrije sa preko 5000 ljudi, plaćena našim parama, gde se govori da će Vojvodina u okviru novog budžeta od januara raspisati konkurse za gradnju punjača za električne automobile sa litijumskim baterijama koje će država
So a couple of people have asked me to update everyone on what's going on in Serbia. I've been meaning to do that for some time now, but there have been lots of events, and I am a bit overwhelmed. So, I will just do a short rundown here. (1/28)
You know the situation is becoming wild when the Financial Times quotes some of your more assertive statements - and specifically the one on European neocolonialism during the green transition.
My favorite internet poster advocating punk in socialist Yugoslavia.
Text reads: "New global fashion trends at home! Be a punk rocker like the comrade from the photo. A young, rebellious, SELF-MANAGER!"
Above the line reads: "Punk like it was from London"
kad već komentariše ovaj na Tviteru. U nauci je normalno naći grešku. Ja kada pišem naučne radove, ja uzmem neke radove mojih kolega, čak ljudi koje znam, i kažem, eto, ovde su imali grešku, ja ću ovde predložiti drugo rešenje, kao što će neko iskritikovati mene i reći, (2/3)
Moje otvoreno pismo je sada i u online verziji na Danasovom sajtu pa ko hoće da čita o tome zašto je projekat "Jadar" ekonomski upitan kao i cela ta priča sa litijumom, neka čita
As some probably know, I have received death threats following an open letter questioning the economic benefits of Rio Tinto's mining project in Serbia and my friends have been arrested. The ongoing situation is still absent from Western media but TNI is working on bridging this:
Lithium extraction is slowly turning Serbia into a mining colony using increasingly brutal methods.
TNI Fellow
@salematkovic
received death threats after a Serbian newspaper published his open letter on the latest lithium mining project by Rio Tinto.
To say the Serbian government is unhinged is an understatement. A registry now exists where anyone can accuse another of eco-terrorism & they will publish our photos, personal data and label us even according to sexual orientation. Green transition? To what exactly? Dictatorship?
P.P.P.S. There is even an option for any citizen of Serbia to "report an eco-terrorist" via a button. They are literally drawing targets on people's heads and publishing personal data including photos of my friends and details on every one of them.
persons deeply involved in the movement I want to make a statement.
For context, when I say “US media”, I don’t mean only the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Post was previously contacted to report on the surging violence against activists and scientists in Serbia, (2/30)
This post literally got more half a million views in a day so am posting the English translation of the original letter so anyone can read it:
Today I also asked the German Embassy and Rio Tinto to publicly condemn the threats:
godine) i tamo sam istraživao političku ekonomiju nacizma, što je bila tema mog doktorata - nešto u okviru čega sam se bavio i teorijama diktature, što je iz današnjeg ugla zanimljiva koincidencija uzevši u obzir sve ovo što nam se dešava u Srbiji danas. (6/23)
To njih čudi jer ne znaju za nešto što se zove petnaest godina uloženog rada i truda kako ne bih završio u sličnoj poziciji kao zaposleni Informera koji za platu moraju da pišu izmišljotine I tekstove protiv naučnog podmlatka svoje zemlje i koji se isključivo bave (13/23)
Serbian media have picked up and published tons of my photos & details in the last 24h but can't find anything on me. So now they made a video with creepy music which is meant to threaten their audience with - my research on Marxist education in Yugoslavia and my Tito T-shirts.
moja majka je morala da proda svoju burmu i samo mi je rekla “idi i uradi to”. Nije mi prvo rekla da je to uradila i tek posle je priznala da nije imala za nas i da je morala to da uradi kako bih ja uopšte imao šansu da bilo šta ostvarim.Moji pritom nisu bili profesori, (9/23)
inače bivši saradnik Radovana Karadžića. I onda ti nakon svega dođe Informer i napiše da je čudo da si zaposlen. Da to jeste čudo u njihovoj Srbiji, u Srbiji koju oni vode kako je vode. (12/23)
On October 8 I will be speaking about what's going on with Serbia's lithium mine project along with colleagues from Chile and Argentina who will be speaking about lithium mining in their countries as well. Link below
including my case of more than 30 messages and death threats that I received just because I published a three-page text in a Serbian newspaper. The Washington post declined, with the explanation that "so, what, even proponents of the mine usually receive threats" without (3/30)
U toj priči i jeste čudo da smo zaposleni i zbog toga bi i njima trebalo da bude drago jer nećemo dozvoliti da od naše zemlje naprave još veći haos nego što jesu i mnogo je ljudi koji tako misle i drago mi je da će posle svega u javnosti ostati zabeleženo do koje mere su (22/23)
blaćenjem stanovništva te iste zemlje iz koje dolaze i od čijih para žive. I da to jeste čudo da se pored ovakvih konstantnih napada na sopstveno stanovništvo neko odluči da ostane u zemlji pa još i zaposli u nauci i ostane tu preko deset godina. To je za njih čudo, (14/23)
Ja sam zaposlen u državnoj ustanovi Republike Srbije, platu mi ne daje nekakva strana zemlja nego naša i žao mi je što su sada krenuli i protiv onih koji rade u državi i nauci samo da bi neka strana kompanija mogla mirno da spava. (21/23)
Možda je najgore ono što je ostalo nepomenuto, a to je gomila ljudi koji su bili pohapšeni ili dobijali pretnje smrću, kojima je policija upadala u kuće, uključujući i trudnice. A ovde se gospoda zabavlja sa predstavnicima Rio Tinta dok ćereta o šljivovici i srpskom mentalitetu.
kada sam se vratio iz Nemačke jer sam dobio stipendiju da budem gostujući istraživač na Humbolt Univerzitetu u Berlinu (što je bila velika čast jer je samo 6 istraživača iz cele Jugoistočne Evrope to dobilo te 2018. (5/23)
To sve govori o tome šta misle o svojoj zemlji. Procenat nezaposlenosti varira oko 10%, nezaposlenost mladih je i veća, ali nije ni u tome poenta nego uslovi u kojima radimo. A što se tiče mog "čuda" to i jeste čudo uzevši u obzir sve uslove. (2/23)
Moj lični put nije bio lak jer prvo su troškovi studija bili visoki, a ja sam bio na budžetu sve vreme i bio jedan od najboljih studenata koje je stipendiralo i Ministarstvo nauke. Nove knjige iz mojih oblasti nisu bile prevedene uopšte na srpski, (3/23)
I moj prvi posao je bio takav da se završio tužbom protiv zlostavljanja na radu zbog toga što je moj prvi direktor mislio da je ok pitati zaposlene da pišu lažna pisma jedni protiv drugih kako bi mogao da izbaci neke koleginice koje mu se nisu sviđale sa posla, (11/23)
Nakon povratka u Srbiju i izbijanja korone, paranoidni prodržavni mediji su upotrebili tu informaciju da bi me označili kao nemačkog špijuna zajedno sa još par ljudi i onda sam morao da to demantujem za medije. Prva plata koju sam ja dobijao - medijalna plata, (7/23)
o meni je Informer objavio posle i neki tekst gde su rekli da se “brćkam u Splitu” a onda postavili sliku mene na Petrovaradinskoj tvrđavi po čemu sam zaključio da oni ne znaju ni kako Novi Sad izgleda, a istovremenu su pisali da sam na protestima u Beogradu. (19/23)
Drugim rečima, jedan veliki bućkuriš i jedno veliko otkrivanje antinarodnog raspoloženj Informera i vladajuće stranke. Zaista sam prvo osećao bes, a sada osećam tugu jer je jasno da cepaju društvo u ime stranog interesa i na žalost, ne odustaju od toga. (20/23)
Na kraju su zaključili da je problem u srpskom mentalitetu i na pitanje kako da tako ugledna kompanija poput Rio Tinta povrati poverenje naroda jedan profesor Ilić savetovao da je rešenje u tome da uzme "dva tri Srba koji poznaju naš mentalitet pa da oni to urade umesto njih."
ja sam iz Novog Sada i sva vrata su mi bili zatvorena pa je trebalo sto godina dokazati nekome da te makar tretira kao ljudsko biće na elementarnom nivou a ne kao konkurenciju iz nekog tamo grada van Beograda. (10/23)
com” brani svoju zemlju tako što objavljuje fotografije i privatne detalje stanovništva te iste zemlje u korist strane rudarske kompanije. I žao mi je što je to sada postalo bolno očigledno da idu protiv svojih. (17/23)
(2/2) subvencionisati u iznosu od 80% cene, a predstavnik Volkswagena je rekao da srpsko tržište "nikada nije bilo ovoliko aktivno kao sada" i da je sve ovo "neminovnost" dok je Nenad Ivanošević, pokrajinski sekretar za turizam, rekao da će "ipak neka šuma morati da se seče."
their lithium. Not only that, but previously they published a piece in the Washington Post portraying the Serbian people as this backwards people in the back of beyond who are opposing anything "new" and modern. They could have just described all of us as (5/30)
ali ja znam da nije jer znam šta znači raditi i ništa od ovoga mi nije dato na tacni. Kao što to zna i većina Srbije koji zbog zatvaranja domaćih fabrika i svakodnevne prisile svoj hleb zarađuju s mukom i svoje dve ruke, (15/23)
specifying who, when and how received the threats - which employee of Rio Tinto was threatened, when and why? So they declined to comment on the truly gruelling escalation of violence in a country near the borders of the EU, from which German car manufacturers aim to get (4/30)
dakle plata koju dobija većina stanovništva - je bila 300 evra. Poređenja radi, koleginica koja je prodavala kokice na ulici je dobijala 320. Da bih upisao doktorat (200 evra je bio uslov da uopšte uđete na konkurs za upis), (8/23)
a ne jer im država daje pare da služe rudarskoj kompaniji.Ono što je meni žao je što sve to nama govore da rade u ime ove zemlje. Žao mi je što “Kopaćemo. (16/23)
After five months, I managed to submit a Marie Curie application.
In any case developing a post-doc project on environmental planning while receiving death threats in the name of a multinational mining corporation was definitely a unique experience I would not repeat.
#academia
Večeras sam gostovao u dnevniku o problematičnoj konferenciji o električnim vozilima u Novom Sadu i o tzv. "tajnom panelu" o litijumu na kom su govorili predstavnici kompanije Rio Tinto, a zaključak je bio da je problem srpski mentalitet:
my friends just told me I was put on the "Registry of eco-terrorists" in Serbia because of the short text which was meant as a contribution to discussion regarding the mine. My other photos and some personal data published on this website.Same with a couple of friends. Wild stuff
Danas je fantomsko udruženje Kopaćemo targetiralo kao teroristu i ekološkog aktivistu i naučnika Aleksandra Matkovića zbog govora na jučerašnjem protestu. Aleksandru su već pretili smrću zbog otvorenog pisma Rio Tintu a MUP i dalje ćuti. Podrška Aleksandru💪NEĆETE KOPATI!
the lithium movement has received any money from Russia or Russia-associated groups. I invite the Wall Street Journal, if they want, to do a full-scale investigation of this, if they want, I can show them my bank account, my communication or anything they may need for (9/30)
barbaric for all I know. It is only in this context that one might understand how natural was it for the Wall Street Journal, one month after WP published a smeer article, and chose to ignore the violence (and hence deny helping stop it), decided to publish a similar (6/30)
I've written a short text on how governments worldwide are increasingly attacking environmental activists and shrinking the space for civil society, with a focus on Serbia and the new witch hunt which includes a list of people labelled as "eco-terrorists"
this, and if they find anything I would shut up indefinitely. But they will not. And that is why they probably did not even contact me or the organizers of the protests before publishing this piece. None of us were consulted and all of us are appealed by what we read. As (10/30)
Sastavili smo tekst koji će se poslati kao odgovor Wall Street žurnalu nakon teksta u kojem se pokret protiv štetnog iskopavanja litijuma u Srbiji izjednačava sa ruskom propagandom.
Pokrenuta je i peticija koju možete potpisati ako želite da se objavi.
smeer article just as the government has started to crack down on activists. First of all, news like this rely on two sources and two very unconvincing statements of officials: a) “Global engagement center says highly likely” and “The US Assistant Secretary of State for (7/30)
war-like atmosphere currently taking shape in Serbia. All dissenting scientists are declared either incompetent by the government (on Twitter or as they call it now X of all places), labeled as ecological terrorists and now as Russian spies basically. None of the reasons (13/30)
So the Serbian government wants to transform Tito's resting place into a "museum of Serbian history", exhumate Tito, and move his body to Croatia.
This is appalling.
said, I invite them to do a serious journalistic report on this and not another smeer article chastising the entire opposition to the mine as if we are one single entity that has no reasons to oppose the mine apart from getting paid by Russia. A third time, I would be (11/30)
Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt pointed to striking similarities…”. I am less than convinced. So first to help put reality back in the game and state it openly: neither I nor anyone I know has had any connections with Russian propaganda. Neither I nor anyone I know from (8/30)
Here's my lecture on the lost history of Yugoslav Marxist centers and political schools at the
@jacobinmag_de
and Transform! Europe conference in Berlin last Saturday. A comrade suggested that the slides and audio be stitched in Windows Movie Maker:
students. A girl was punched by one of them, who was - and now get ready for this - the director of the European Business Agency in Serbia called Ognjen Dopuđa, who also has an office in the Serbian Mission to the EU in (17/30)
Faculty of Philosophy) and what seemed like a flash-grenade was thrown at them by two masked men. Two of my friends have subsequently been hospitalized and what's even more astonishing is that, after this happened, there were security forces who came in to beat up the (16/30)
give a short update as well, less than a week ago a bomb has been thrown at some of my friends. They belong to a student movement that was protesting over an unrelated issue (student elections in Novi Sad, in front of the Rectorate near the (15/30)
happy to invite any journalist to find any trace of Russian influence on me or anyone I know. And if they do it would be a step forward for us to distance ourselves from it openly. The largest victim here is public dialogue. WSJ has unfortunately contributed to the (12/30)
alive. P.S. There are many more US sources that write to the same effect but due to limited space I did not quote them, nor did I quote the Russian websites with zero visibility in Serbia to which such news refers to. In any case this is a very basic US conspiracy theory. (30/30)
Evo i dokaz da nije bila najavljena. Levo: normalan opis. Desno: najava tog panela. Čak su izostavili i reč "litijum" u naslovu, a onda se ispostavilo da je ceo panel isključivo o litijumu i da je zvezda panela pomenuta Marijanti Babić, glavna predstavnica Rio Tinta u Srbiji.