Eurasia News

  P olitically , the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024 served as a catalyst for debate over the accountability of both local and national authorities. The opposition sought to exploit the incident as evidence of government inefficiency and the opacity of the public procurement system, even pushing for early elections. Meanwhile, the ruling establishment sought to downplay the political implications of the accident, stressing instead “ individual errors ”. This once again underscored the deep-rooted mistrust between citizens and institutions, deepened further by the absence of clear and timely responses. Socially , the accident underscored a sense of insecurity and vulnerability among citizens in their daily lives in Serbia and the wider region. Concerns over the safety of public spaces have come to symbolise the absence of systemic care for people’s well-being, reinforcing the prevailing perception that the state prioritises political and economic interests abo...

        "When politicians play with the pencil on the map, the drums of war begin to beat." — Otto von Bismarck I. Brief History S yria, under French mandate after World War I, gained independence in 1945, subsequently experiencing a highly turbulent political and social period marked by numerous military coups until 1970, when General Hafez Al-Assad seized power through a coup. A referendum in the spring of 1971 legitimized his leadership, establishing an autocratic rule based on the military and secret services, widely supported by his Alawite coreligionists (a minority), who held the most important positions in the power structures. The natural passing of Hafez Al-Assad in 2000, one of the longest-serving heads of state in the Middle East, was linked by many analysts to the beginning of Syria’s decline in regional influence. His successor, his son Bashar, assumed power instead of his elder brother Basel, who had been groomed for leadership but died in a t...