"In Serbia, freedom of thought, expression and freedom of creation no longer exist."

L ike every summer, festivals are taking place across Europe, celebrating the vitality and abundance of global creativity. Meanwhile, in Serbia, on the doorstep of the European Union (EU), brutal and systematic repression is unleashing its people and the performing arts sector. Since November ^1, 2024, the start of the protest movement that is shaking the entirety of Serbian society – 140,000 people demonstrated in the streets of Belgrade on June 28 – performing arts workers have been loudly proclaiming their support for the students peacefully demonstrating against corruption and for the restoration of the rule of law.

And they are paying dearly for it. Let's take the case of Nikita Milivojevic, emblematic of the current authoritarian drift. Known throughout Serbia and also enjoying regional and international stature, this director has always advocated the spirit of resistance and the defense of freedom of expression, in a context he has described for several years as hostile to any dissenting voice.

Following a series of events already reported by the international press, and following his support for the movement, Milivojevic was not reappointed as artistic director of the prestigious Bitef (Belgrade International Theatre Festival), which had been entrusted to him in 2023. The decision is also linked, according to several sources, to the speech given by Swiss director Milo Rau at the opening of the 2024 edition, in which the latter had questioned the plans to exploit lithium mines in the heart of Serbia [stopped by the mobilization then relaunched by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic] by the company Rio Tinto, projects supported by the EU in search of new sources of supply to fuel its ecological transition. In addition, the subsidy for the Shakespeare festival, created twelve years ago by Milivojevic, was withdrawn, and the two shows he was due to direct in public theaters during the next season were canceled.

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