The ‘Miredita, Dobar Dan!’ festival in Belgrade, Serbia, has been banned on security grounds. On Thursday Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered the festival, a cultural exchange between Serbia and Kosovo, to close just hours before its planned opening.
The decision was taken ‘due to the danger of people’s safety and property being put at risk, as well as the danger of the disruption of public order and peace on a larger scale,’ Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement. No other gatherings will be allowed in the area around the festival.
Reports in Serbian media on Thursday afternoon showed a group of young men waving Serbian flags and preventing entry to Drogol Platz, a private space where the festival was due to be held. Serbian police are also reported to have stopped some of the Kosovar organisers of the festival and teams of journalists from reaching the festival by road.
As recently as January 2024, Serbia’s office for Kosovo announced that the Serbian Government would enable the free movement of all vehicles with Kosovo plates into Serbian territory.
Serbia still has not recognised Kosovo’s declaration as an independent state, made in 2008. Over 100 countries recognise Kosovo as independent.
Founded in 2014 by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, the Civic Initiative from Belgrade and the Pristina NGO Integra, the annual ‘Miredita, Dobar Dan!’ cultural festival gathers artists, rights activists and opinion makers from Kosovo and Serbia. Its name is a combination of the Albanian and Serbian words for ‘hello’.
The festival has attracted its fair share of attention from the Serbian right, although authorities in Belgrade have largely let it pass without comment. But this year’s festival was marked by strong criticism from Serbian officials.
Earlier in June, Interior Minister Dacic called for the festival’s cancellation, while Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic said it would not be allowed to use any public space. Sapic accused the festival of ‘falsifying and changing history through the promotion of so-called Kosovo cultural heritage, disregarding the fact that it is Serbian’.
The events follow ongoing tensions in the capital. Serbia’s far-right leaders have faced protests claiming electoral fraud in recent elections and are accused of persecuting opposition leaders who express dissent.
