Serbia: Bomb alert, festival participants evacuate “

The announcement came shortly after the festival, which features Kosovo's cultural and social scene in Serbia, officially opened at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination in downtown Belgrade on Thursday (600m).

It has become known that the public and participants will be evacuated from the centre so police can control space.

“We believe this is another pressure on the festival,” Sofija Todorovic of the YIHR said.

A day before the official opening ceremony of the festival, on May 25th, exhibits of photographs “opened in Belgrade, all our tears” dedicated to the victims of wars in the former Yugoslavia, which is also part of the festival's programme.

By 7:00, it was scheduled to play “Stifler” directed by the Koljiqi Framework.

RSE journalists report that there are no right-wing groups gathered in front of the Centre for Cultural Decontamination.

The “Good afternoon festival, Dobar dan”, since its founding in 2014, has been accompanied by protests by organisations and right-wing parties in Serbia, they sought the festival's ban and tried to prevent its holding.

The ninth festival programme, according to organisers, is a combination of art, contemporary cultural scene and the raising of important issues in times that are a major challenge for Kosovo and Serbian society.

There is a huge gap between Serbian and Kosovo society. The festival is trying to reduce that gap until it disappears, while political elites are working to deepen it,” told Free Europe Radio (RFE) Fiona Jelic from the Human Rights Organisation (YIHR), one of the organisations that organises the festival.

The “Good afternoon festival, Dobar dan”, has been held in Belgrade since 2014, with the goal of creating a platform for co-operation and dialogue between the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo.

Before the opening of the “exhibition all our tears”, activists of the right Democratic Party of Serbia have held a protest Wednesday in front of the “Enjio hab” hall.

The chairman of this party, Milos Jovanovic, has said the festival promotes Kosovo's independence, which, according to him, violates Serbia's constitutional order.

The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) protested in front of “Engio Hub”, seeking the annulment of the festival “Good afternoon, Dobar dan”, May 25, 2022.

Serbia does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, which was declared in February 2008.

Otherwise, in recent weeks, there have been some false bomb threats to various addresses in Serbia, but also in Kosovo, Montenegro and other Western Balkan countries. /rel