OnTheBall Travels (Serbia)
It’s an old place, covered in graffiti and it’s falling apart–but I like it
Serbia… always something going on. We travelled here for over a week by bus from Hungary. Serbia has become an interesting place to get a flavour of Europe without spending your entire savings account. Read about our Hungary article here: From the Hungarian bus station, our FlixBus Serb driver was more excited that he saw the passports of our foreign countries that I don’t even think he checked our tickets. We were welcome regardless. By the time we threw our luggage under the bus, he already was half way through dragging on a cigarette; nothing like a 5:50AM cigarette.
Itinerary
This bus trip was a pretty smooth trip for the most part– being about 4 hours with three stops; one to confirm you are leaving Hungary, another to confirm we are entering Serbia and one for a bite to eat while you’re inside of Serbia (no English at this stop but credit cards talk just fine). The Hungary side was pretty simple, I can almost guarantee you will see a massive line up of cars trying to enter the European Union (Hungary) whereas its far more smooth leaving the Union. It was here where we saw the Hungarian police catch a number of migrants and hold them by the arm to take them to the Serbian side. If you heard anything about Hungary being tough on illegal immigration–we can attest this to be true.
We initially thought we were clear to go after a quick check-in to the Serbian side but a very tall and intimidating soldier guard popped out to resist our departure. He randomly chose people to view their passports and walked aimlessly away with them. He was requesting passports from some, returning passports from others and quizzing random people on what they were doing entering Serbia, what they were carrying or what was their business in Serbia. After randomly quizzing people and taking/returning passports, he ended up taking 5 passports and bringing those individuals to front of the parked bus. He asked more questions before choosing one of these 5 to go through his bags in a side room while everyone else was free to go back on the bus. It was generally unsettling due to the unpredictability–but he never asked to see our passport once.
Once we made it through, we immediately noticed the massive groupings of refugees walking back into Serbia on the side of the road. On the side of the road I counted three groups of 8, 14 and 11 young men (who looked African/South Asian). In the field off of the highway we saw groups ranging from 3 young men to two dozen young men. We took note of 2 tents out in the dewy field but realized that was nothing 2 minutes later. We saw about 20 tents surrounding an abandoned house in Subotica. We estimated there was at least 50 migrants camping out there waiting for their shot to cross into the European Union. They were walking both ways too, so it really seemed like Hungary was doing a good job at deterring them. Last I read the new route was through Serbia to Croatia (also a EU country) which is less tight of a border. I can say with utmost certainty they were all men of military age and all (from what you can tell with a moving bus) looked like a middle-east origin. This was so noticeable that if you removed the border crossing building you could have distinguished the countries based on the number of migrants on either side.
A Serbian on the bus actually commented as he caught me looking inquisitively and when we made eye contact he said “Lots of refugees, huh?” and scorned.
Our bus stopped off in Novi Sad which really did not seem appealing whatsoever. It was dark, gloomy, full of depressing bloc housing and vandalism. After about an hour we reached a new bus station (where all the new construction of the city is taking place) and our kind Airbnb picked us up from there (contact me if you’re looking for a place to stay in Belgrade I can get you in touch with great hosts).
People
We found Serbs to be very down-to-earth and ‘aware’ of the situation. Which is to say they are particularly adept to spot “bullshit” and frauds. Being foreigners, we still weren’t mistreated or dismissed rudely throughout the country Serbia. I did have an incident with the delivery man about the wrong address where I accidentally kept him waiting. He wasn’t the nicest, blowing cigarette smoke in my direction, we exchanged unfriendly words but left it like “shit happens, i’m used to it, enjoy the rest of your day & don’t order with me again”. Another encounter I had was at a cafe. We kept ordering from a cute little cafe near our Airbnb & one day the guy working gave us a steel spoon since he had no plastic ones for a hot chocolate (hot chocolate is like a dessert there, its not like the hot beverage). Days later, when the place was closing, we barged on inside. The worker, who was downstairs had a friend waiting outside– a 6’3 big guy who abruptly said, “what are you trying to do? what’s wrong? they are closed, don’t you know?”
I said, “Yea we know, I’m just… returning a spoon” and pulled out a tiny spoon the size of my ring finger. To which they both laughed, thanked us and said “you two are good people, good karma for you”. Judging from other conversations as well, the takeaway was that Serbs didn’t hesitate to confront someone if they thought someone was doing something wrong.
We witnessed this directly between coworkers. A fist fight outside of one of the largest orthodox churches in the world! Funnily enough, these two MMA amateurs were selling promotional material to join the church. It was a heavyweight vs. a welterweight street fight with ground & pound and kicks as old folks lighting their candles gasped with disgust & horror. Ten minutes later, they dusted themselves off, a woman forced them to apologize (or what it seemed like with my knowledge of 4 Serbian words) and they went back to selling church brochures. I said to my partner that that event capitulates the country. It’s religious, angry, proud, tough as nails, but at the end of the day they find a way to solve their problems & the sun rises for work tomorrow.
I really got a lot of information from my driver who highlighted this point. He was very critical of his country; the corruption, the scams, the lies, the fake events, he could write a book I am sure. But one thing he did say, relative to other European countries (I think within the Balkans–which I’m sure will enrage someone reading) is the strength of the people in Serbia. He said its a main advantage of his country, that everyone is resilient, tough-minded and united. It felt like this. Good place to be if you were in a war–oh, about that…
Tensions
We unknowingly showed up at the uprising of the movement to ensure Kosovo fell back into Serbian hands. ‘Kosovo is Serbian’ was plastered everywhere and we saw a few protests regarding this matter. “Serbia without Kosovo is a man without a heart” and “Stop NATO. Kosovo belongs to Serbia” are the banners I remember. I’m unclear whether this is a will of the people, or a government excuse to loot, launder or stoke the flames of conflict to their own end. I was told this was a distraction from other events and a move to try to get more money laundering and “free” Bitcoin mining done (in Kosovo) for the politicians. I won’t pretend to know who owns what… but there was a considerable effort to rally the masses over this. Since, many conflicts have taken place in the South of Serbia, with the civilians going up against NATO enforcers (I believe French members) inside of Kosovo. There’s always conflict in and around Serbia.
There’s evidence of this if you walk down a road. The street nearby the Foreign Affairs office show the results of the bombing of 1999 [done by NATO]. Either nothing was done to repair or it was deliberately on display to highlight their recent past & who was guilty.
It was actually nice to see a different side of the story though. NATO is USA/Canada and most of the European continent on one side and them on another. It was nice to hear that not everybody is “pro” something. I should have wrote this in the People section but being North American did not cause us to be treated any differently.
I’m quite sure we’ve found ourselves on the nightly news in behind of a protest (I was told a weekend hardly passes without a sort of protest, signage or spray-painting behind a cause). Searching for a restaurant we took a street that lead to a dead end and found ourselves behind a woman screeching on a microphone with people holding signs and chanting staring at us (like: are they with her or?). I believe the protest was against President Vučić–who I heard described as a failed wanna-be Basketball player!
The last point I wanted to say is that Serbia is starkly pro-Russian. Soon after we left the country, a massive Pro-Russia march took place and it was common to see a lot of Serbia/Russia flags painted together. If you’re of the opinion that Russia will succeed in the future and Europe will fail, but don’t want to be in Russia, than Serbia is probably the best alternative. Personally, I know one Russian who loves Serbia and another who’s quite indifferent as he would like to see places not similar to Russia
Belgrade, the new Milan?
Chances are you’re well familiar with the problems that Europe currently faces. However upon a closer look the cultural, immigration, crime problems or I suppose collectively known as “wokeness” are less present or not at all in Eastern parts of Europe. Lately, you see a pick up of tourism in these regions while there’s a decline in tourism in mainstream cities. Belgrade, being one of these emerging cities.
However, despite their strange mastery of English(?) the country is not equipped to handle tourists too-too well. The signs, advertisements, restaurant names, most notices and some menus are in Serbian Cyrillic. I knew how to decipher Cyrillic, but for someone hardly knowing English, it would be a tough go here. I said to my partner “want to go there?” She asked, “what do they sell?” I said look (pointing to a sign that read) “гамбургеры” (hamburgers)
She said, “I’m looking for food, not coding lessons”.
Speaking of food, it is similar to food found within the region if you’ve been to Bosnia or Croatia before. Service will be slow when you compare it to USA or a very service-oriented country. There’s a sort of relaxation about life. Having said that, Serbia was the only country I was ever in where the waiter chased us down as we were leaving the restaurant to thank us for the tip. We thought we forgot a hat or something but he just wanted to say thank you.
Jokingly, my partner said “I’d hate to be ugly in this country”. I tend to agree. I can’t find any studies but my hypothesis is that the model per capita ratio is high there. If you allow me to be superficial for a moment, there’s no shortage of great looks and for the ladies there’s plenty of tall, broad blokes. It didn’t matter what we wore, the public there had us out-dressed. Serbian women are very feminine and Serbian men are very masculine. It’s 1950s USA there. To be a gentlemen and lady is part of their culture. Good country if you’re looking for a mate.
Overall, we were treated nicely, people seemed happy we were there but it certainly did not have a “welcome all countries” vibe. There won’t be any theme parks being built there lets say.
Fashion seems to be important at least in Belgrade. People put considerable effort (or at least it looks like it) into how they are presented. You won’t see jogging pants or sweatpants in public. We figured to try to fit in–we’ll shop Serbian. We went to a clothing store with two ladies with extremely limited English and everything we tried on was “Suuuper!” or “Soo beaUUtiful!” (which was hardly true I’m sure) but we ended up buying something. Serbian grandmothers are persistent!
The city centre of Belgrade has a real Europe feel, lots of cool restaurants, architecture, some statues–likely why tourism has picked up. I think it’s the smoking cigarettes with dessert that gives it that feel…We’ve second-hand smoked about a pack on the weekends. The relaxed feel is especially felt in the parks– all ages go there for play or their daily exercise or just to have a talk. We saw a pair of men doing laps who I think still remember the First Balkan War.
It’s a bit paradoxical. Protesting, fighting, and yet there’s tranquility in parks. They seem to be caught in a cycle of ‘no-change’ whereby folks may seek for change but simply don’t have the means (money or influence) to change anything. This leads any cause to revert back to the source, politics. Political promises are then made but unkept leading to no change again. Morale wanes, pessimism increases which worsens conditions, striking someone’s threshold to do something and the cycle repeats.
We’ve seen lots of very pretty areas throughout Belgrade that were stickered, spray-painted or littered. Spray-paint covers the city & really adds to a “run-down”, aging city feel. Perhaps due to this or not, prices of goods are ‘very’ attractive. In some instances, Serbia has Mexico beat for cost of living–hear that, nomads?
The Serbs have had it rough no doubt, and it really felt like they just need to catch a break. I fear that with NATO & EU seeking expansion of influence and power coupled with an incompetent leadership at home will threat to make matters worse.
As we left, Air Serbia was real pleasure as well, leaving us with the reminder of Serb friendliness and smiles. If I have the option, i’ll be choosing Air Serbia.
Economic Trends
Immediately, you get a feeling “yep, communism was done here” there’s lots of grafitti, a dark look to the place, cars are worn, people are not overflowing the streets & bloc housing can certainly be found outside of the main city areas. We stayed across from parliament, central to most things and frequently walked by the politicians there; but even our place had an old, old style elevator (close the doors, weight limit, bumpy, won’t go down with any weight in it–only up) leading to a staircase that’s entirely unlit with the 3rd floor window knocked out. This gets pretty damn cold in Winter. Although it didn’t feel like things were worsening at all. People carry out their lives as anyone would normally. I’m not sure what type of catalyst Serbia would need to really break away from their past to become more pro-business, though there have been signs.
Serbia has a corporate tax of 15%, VAT of around 10% (depending) and withholding taxes ranging from 5-25%. Personal taxes range from 10-20%. Creating a company or owning real estate (it has to be a real company and you’re expected to occupy the real estate) can earn you a temporary residency permit. After a few years this can be promoted to permanent residency. Some changes have taken place with respect to permits and business however, to become more friendly.
On a bigger scale, while things remain bureaucratic, there’s activity getting done–but it’s not entirely Serbian. Before I arrived, I watched a video where a new set of apartments going up were 60% Emirati and 40% Serbian. A massive new mall (great mall) was Emirati, we also saw construction that was done by Emirati companies. The airline Air Serbia, is Emirati-owned (I believe part of the airport in the capital as well). Investment was making itself into the country, but I don’t think the real profits from this will stay in Serbia too long. My tour-guide said, “Oh shit. Yes. The Emiratis..They own it all” –bit of an exaggeration but still it was something worth noting about Serbia’s situation + who is a big player with investment in this region.
In Closing,
Our travels were when the whole Covid scene was winding down but still very much alive in Western nations. I don’t recall seeing any mask in Serbia. Certainly there was no effort to “tell you to put one on”. Serbia has a lot of agricultural land as well and we did not witness any food shortages of any sort (when shelves were empty in the UK). I’m preparing a separate article on this explaining that of all the things wrong with the Balkans (they’re actually pretty solid for food supplies).
Serbia is a place where trust in any sort of system is inherently low & people link together to survive. In the next global scam to adopt a set of rules, Serbia could be an interesting place to hang your hat because of the people just not having it & proceeding without–like always.
There’s lots of problems, mismanagement, distrust, bureaucracy and historically they don’t go too long before another war or conflict. Having said this, It seems very smart to have a play here as a back up (online business, bank account, residency, apartment). Serbia is an excellent geopolitical diversifier as I mentioned– they are part of “the other team” if you’re from a NATO or 5-eyes country. If you’re able, a Serbian passport is a great document to hold. Without putting all your eggs in one basket, it’s a great place you can come to experience lots of meat eating, beautiful people, no PC/woke culture, some laughs and yes, I suppose all the cigarettes you want over coffee.
Hope to return and wish the people of Serbia the best.
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[Update: Serbia may be releasing an opportunity to gain citizenship after just one year of residency. Details are still out and many remain skeptical about it coming to fruition but if so, this could be a great (& smart) idea to hedge yourself politically in this bifurcating world!]
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