During her stay, Joveva took part in an informal discussion with representatives of Serbia’s cultural and creative community, including prominent actors, directors, writers, music professors, and representatives of the EXIT and Mikser festivals. The meeting aimed to brief the MEP on the critical condition of the cultural sector and the challenges facing cultural institutions, independent authors, and the wider creative scene in Serbia.
At the meeting, Joveva noted that she knows the cultural field well, having worked in the media and in the cultural-creative sector, which, as she put it, “has always been undervalued,” before entering politics. She stressed that “words are one thing, actions another,“ adding: “I am here to listen, to gather information, and to pass it on in the European Parliament so that we can start working on it.“
Ivan Lalić, director of the Mikser Festival, said the purpose of the informal gathering was for cultural professionals to brief MEP Joveva on the state of culture in Serbia. Dušan Kovačević, founder of the EXIT Festival, then shared that during his recent visit to the European Parliament, he warned interlocutors that the entire free-thinking cultural and creative scene in Serbia is on the verge of extinction, and that “Europe has a moral duty to intervene and save culture in this country.”
Addressing the grave situation in theatre and the dismissal of cultural workers, actor Tihomir Stanić underlined that the independent scene has virtually no support due to the irregular conduct of public calls and the allocation of funds based on political loyalty, adding the tragic fact that “there are blacklists, lists of people who alone are permitted to film and to work”. Actor Nenad Hadži Maričić stated that “we are sliding from an authoritarian into a totalitarian system,” which, he said, is evident in the recent closure of the National Theatre. Film and TV director Janko Baljak also spoke about the challenges of implementing state-run public funding calls for the cultural sector. Ljubiša Jovanović, founder of the BUNT festival, flautist, and professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU), observed that “young people today bring a new way of communicating with art,” but warned of the degradation of cultural institutions through the appointment of incompetent leaders to top positions in music and cultural organizations.
Dejan Atanacković, winner of the NIN literary award, said he has repeatedly spoken to foreign media about the dangers the current regime poses to the citizens of Serbia and the entire region, stressing the need to “strengthen the force that will speak through people, institutions, and organizations, and underline the necessity of Europe.” Testimonies were also shared by Milica Pekić of the Association Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia, music producer Zdravko Vulin, actor Darko Tomović, and Mikser representative Maja Lalić. A common thread in all remarks was the collapse of the cultural system, dismissals, increasingly difficult working conditions for artists in Serbia, and the absence of institutional support.
Concluding the informal meeting, Dušan Kovačević called on Irena Joveva to use her mandate in the European Parliament to help mobilize a broader group of MEPs who would advocate for the preservation of fundamental democratic principles and the continuity of cultural creation in Serbia.
