BELGRADE -- The Serbian government banned a contemporary art and cultural festival that promotes Serbian-Kosovar relations just hours before it was due to open on June 27 in Belgrade, citing security concerns.
Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who is also the Serbian interior minister, announced the festival was canceled “due to the danger of jeopardizing the safety of people and property, as well as the danger of disrupting public order and peace on a larger scale.”
The three-day Miredita, Dobar Dan festival uses the name of a region of northern Albania and the greeting “good day” or "hello" in Albanian and Serbian. The annual festival began in 2014 and was supposed to take place this year from June 27-29.
Although opposition to the festival is common, several officials had called for it to be postponed given that it coincides with the religious and national holiday Vidovdan. Vidovdan, celebrated on June 28, commemorates the Battle of Kosovo in which Serbian and Turkish armies clashed in 1389.
Festival officials refused to postpone the festival since it was rescheduled twice for Serbian elections.
Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic had called for the festival to be canceled, saying it “undermines the constitutional and legal order,” referring to the Serbian Constitution, which considers Kosovo a part of Serbia. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia has refused to acknowledge.
The ban went into effect after Kosovars had already begun to arrive in Belgrade. Local media reported that protests at the site of the festival had blocked the entrance to the event. Nationalist protesters taunted the festivalgoers with banners saying “No Surrender” and shouted, “Welcome to your capital!”
Among those protesting the festival, which alternates between Pristina and Belgrade, were Serbian Action and People’s Patrol, two groups that are known for their ties to the Russian far right.
Serbian and Kosovar political parties joined organizers of the festival in condemning the ban.
"It is incomprehensible that 25 years after the conflict, Serbia is still unable to accept progressive ideas of tolerance for discussion," the Serbian opposition party Green-Left Front said in a statement. “This ban is an essential attempt to silence dissident voices, which throughout history mostly came from the fields of art and culture.”
The ban “constitutes a violation of freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of expression,” the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), a regional network of NGOs, said in a statement.
"It also extinguishes any illusions that this government prioritizes a peaceful resolution to the Kosovo issue or Serbia's European integration," it said, adding that it would appeal the ban.
The decision to cancel the festival shows that there is a ban on cooperation between the art scenes of Serbia and Kosovo, Marko Milosavljevic, program director of the YIHR, told RFE/RL.
"This ban also means that there will be no peaceful solution to the dispute with the Kosovo side. This should worry not only the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo but also the international community, which should understand this as a big step backwards," Milosavljevic said.