Serbian police have banned a festival that promotes cultural exchange with Kosovo following a rally by far-right protesters outside the venue. 

In a statement, Belgrade police cited security concerns as the reasons for stopping the event from going ahead, saying they wanted to prevent ‘danger to the security of people and property and to public peace and order on a larger scale.’ 

The police statement also said that the anti-festival protest, which saw several dozen right-wing extremists gather outside the festival venue, waving Serbian flags and banners saying ‘No surrender’, had also been banned. 

Several Serbian government officials have sharply criticised the festival in recent days, describing it as anti-Serb.

While the festival has been held alternatively in Serbia and Kosovo for the past decade, this year’s ban in Serbia illustrates a general toughening of the government’s stance toward its critics.

The Mirëdita, dobar dan festival, whose name means ‘hello’ in Albanian and Serbian, is organised by youth groups from Serbia and Kosovo and was due to open on Thursday with a theatre show from Kosovo.

According to the festival’s website the event, which was due to run for two days, aims to ‘enrich regional perspectives and foster cooperation and peacebuilding’.

No progress

The festival ban came a day after the EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said no progress had been made during talks in Brussels towards implementing an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti had met to discuss an EU-backed plan to normalise ties. However, unresolved issues, including Pristina’s demands that Belgrade hands over the suspected organisers of the Banjska attack, blocked further progress.

Speaking after the meetings, Borrell said that the European Union will continue to exert all its efforts and capacity to normalise relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“Kosovo was not ready for this, Kosovo was not willing to do this trilateral meeting. Serbia was ready to do it, but you need two to dance tango and we need two to sit around the table in order to continue the dialogue,” Borrell added.

Borrell said on Wednesday ahead of the meeting that a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would “hopefully send a different message and end in a different note.”

Brussels has warned both Belgrade and Pristina that refusal to compromise jeopardises Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of joining the bloc.

Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade does not recognise.