Interesting interview from last year about Serbian author and journalist criticaster Marko Vidojkovic being threatened since the populist president Vucic took power. I’ve worked a bit in Serbia and at times interacted with cabinet level people. I’d be interested to read Vidojkovic’ 2020 novel Ðubre (Trash) about Serbian politics and society. It hasn’t been translated in English or German though, afaict.
This is a bit of a surprising move by the Serbian government to me, given the EU candidate status of Serbia. Even if the two directions in which Serbia’s government and different generations look, the EU on one side, and Russia on the other, stand out clearly for all who visit.
When I was regularly working in Kyrgyzstan a few years ago Kyrgyzstan joined the EAEU, in my perception halfheartedly. Mostly because there seemed to be no consequence free way to not do so, as their neighbours Kazachstan and Russia basically are responsible for absorbing most of their exports, transports through Kyrgyzstan from China, as well as Russia being the biggest source of remittances of Kyrgyz working in Russia.
Serbia’s plan to join a Russian-led economic union is drawing ire from the European Union, which the Balkan nation says it wants to be part of.
This article is a good description of the Freedom of Information (#foia #opengov #opendata) situation in the Balkans. Due to my work in the region, I recognise lots of what is described here. My work in the region, such as in Serbia, has let me encounter various institutions willing to use evasive action to prevent the release of information.
In essence this is not all that different from what (decentral) government entities in other European countries do as well. Many of them still see increased transparency and access as a distraction absorbing work and time they’d rather spend elsewhere. Yet, there’s a qualitative difference in the level of obstruction. It’s the difference between acknowledging there is a duty to be transparant but being hesitant, and not believing that there’s such a duty in governance at all.
Secrecy, sometimes in combination with corruption, has a long and deep history. In Central Asia for instance I encountered an example that the number of agricultural machines wasn’t released, as a 1950’s Soviet law still on the books marked it as a state secret (because tractors could be mobilised in case of war). More disturbingly such state secrecy laws are abused to tackle political opponents in Central Asia as well. When a government official releases information based on a transparency regulation, or as part of policy implementation, political opponents might denounce them for giving away state secrets and take them to court risking jail time even.
There is a strong effort to increase transparency visible in the Balkan region as well. Both inside government, as well as in civil society. Excellent examples exist. But it’s an ongoing struggle between those seeing power as its own purpose and those seeking high quality governance. We’ll see steps forward, backwards, rear guard skirmishes and a mixed bag of results for a long time. Especially there where there are high levels of distrust amongst the wider population, not just towards government but towards each other.
One such excellent example is the work of the Serbian information commissioner Sabic. Clearly seeing his role as an ombudsman for the general population, he and his office led by example during the open data work I contributed to in the past years. By publishing statistics on information requests, complaints and answer times, and by publishing a full list of all Serbian institutions that fall under the remit of the Commission for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection. This last thing is key, as some institutions will simply stall requests by stating transparency rules do not apply to them. Mr. Sabic’s term ended at the end of last year. A replacement for his position hasn’t been announced yet, which is both a testament to Mr Sabic’s independent role as information commissioner, and to the risk of less transparency inclined forces trying to get a much less independent successor.
Governments in the Balkans are chipping away at transparency laws to make it harder for journalists and activists to hold power to account.
But I get the sentiment, as endlessly scrolling in your FB or other timelines is indeed taking you out of your life. That addictive and numbing timeline is a dark pattern worth breaking.
