Serbia has imposed extremely restrictive measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike most other European countries, the Balkan state introduced a weekday curfew lasting from 5 PM to 5 AM, as well as total bans on outdoor movement from Friday afternoon to Monday morning.
Serbian authorities and the so-called medical experts push for even harsher measures. Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic threatened to impose a 24-hour curfew that could last for two weeks. He refused to explain how would such measures be implemented, and if people will be allowed to go out and buy food. Such draconian restrictions and limitations of movement, if carried out, would be part of an experiment that could aim to show how Serbs will react and for how long they can stand being locked down without food. Presently, citizens over 65 are allowed to leave the house only on Saturday from 4 AM to 7 AM, exclusively to go shopping in the stores that remain specially opened. It appears as if the virus is not active that early in the morning.
In spite of the fact that pensioners have been under a lockdown that reminds one of a house arrest, the vast majority of elderly citizens support such measures. According to recent polls, they genuinely believe the government that cut their pensions back in 2014 is now trying to save their lives by keeping them locked down and making them wake up around three o’clock in the morning in order to wait in supermarket queues. It is worth noting that the authorities decided to shut down all outdoor farmers markets but kept indoor markets open, even though there are higher chances of people catching the virus indoors.
Ever since the government introduced the state of emergency, the medical “experts” made a series of political statements. In an attempt to read the mind of President Vucic, they favored harsh measures and extensions of the curfew. Epidemiologist and Crisis Headquarters member Branislav Tiodorovic recently said that “this is no time to discuss democracy”. Over the past month, other epidemiologists made several completely contradictory statements. One day they ridiculed the coronavirus and strongly opposed the shutdown of schools, and the next day they demanded draconian measures. In addition to that, the government is following the orders it is getting from the Chinese experts who had come to Serbia in March after President Vucic appealed for help from his “friend and brother” Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Ever since, Chinese doctors have been demanding that Serbia implement the same measures Beijing took in January in Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the COVID-19.
Unlike China, Serbia’s healthcare system in is on the edge of collapse. The country lacks medical staff, as it has been encouraging them for years to leave Serbia, and authorities allowed German companies to openly lobby and recruit Serbian doctors and nurses. As a result, thousands of experienced and skilled Serbian healthcare workers have moved to Germany. Since the government and the healthcare system cannot deal with the coronavirus in a proper way, the country’s officials constantly blame its own citizens. They also blame hundreds of thousands of Serbian migrants who have returned to their ancestral homes since the coronavirus crisis erupted last month.
Even though the authorities announced the supposed mass testing back in March, it soon became evident that the country is not capable of carrying it out. With a population of seven million, Serbia has so far tested about ten thousand people. Healthcare officials have imposed very strict criteria when in it comes to testing, and it centralized the testing process. In addition, the leading country’s epidemiologist Predrag Kon recently admitted that Serbia does not have enough qualified medical staff who can do the testing. The Balkan state also lacks medical equipment and vast numbers of healthcare workers have reportedly been infected. It is also worth noting that, after the state of emergency was declared on March 15, the price of face masks in Serbia skyrocketed. The Serbian government, which imposed the curfew, shut down businesses and imposed restrictions on the movement of people, and apparently was not able to order pharmacies to reduce prices to the pre-corona level.
Even though many pundits all over the world agree that nothing will be the same after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, Serbia will be unlikely to face any major changes. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party is expected to win the parliamentary elections, and in spite of Vucic’s very public criticism of the European Union, the country will likely remain the eternal EU candidate-state. Serbia’s de facto colonial status can only be additionally cemented, and its dependence on the EU and IMF loans is expected to lead the nation to the economic collapse.
Image credit: Konstantin Kolosov