Cities In Serbia Research Articles

Protest against dictatorship and the construction of collective identity

Protest against Dictatorship that started on April 3, 2017 in towns and cities across Serbia was too short-lived to establish organized production and instruments of distribution of meaning. This however doesn?t imply that certain processes were not set in motion and that collective identity wasn?t ?under construction?. The main aim of this paper is to reconstruct the identification patterns at work in Protest against Dictatorship. The study is based on data collected between 13th April and 4th May 2017 among participants of the protest in three cities in Serbia - Belgrade, Nis and Subotica (n=175). Two presuppositions - that collective identity is the field of struggle, and that identity building processes in contemporary social movements are influenced by a constitution and principles of the capitalist mode of production of social life - provided a basis for our analysis. We opt for an approach that conceives the collective identity as a product (?content?) and process (?contestation?). To conceptualize and operationalize collective identity we rely on the existing studies that outline four elements of collective identity that can be measured: worldviews, shared goals, relational aspects, and behaviors and norms. The contenstation is captured considering the extent of agreement and disagreement among protesters around each of these four elements.

Place attachment and migration intentions of the population: An example of eight cities in Serbia

Following the need to combine macro structural and micro actors? perspective, this paper conceptually starts from endogenous city development paradigm within which place attachment and intentions to migrate are given specific importance since human resources are perceived of pivotal significance. Such paradigm is related to diversified factors that makes city more or less attractive for local population, thus enhancing their place attachment and involvement or migrational intentions. Focused connection between the place attachment and migration intentions are discussed as neglected in studies of migration, and conceptually supported by the notion of territorial identity and specific reinterpretation of Bourdieu?s ideas of sense of comfort in place, and by employing his concept of habitus to the city. Empirically, the connection of people?s place attachment and intentions to migrate is analyzed for eight cities in Serbia. The selected cities: Kragujevac, Sabac, Uzice, Novi Pazar, Sombor, Zrenjanin, Leskovac, and Zajecar are chosen as middle sized cities for which the issues to develop attractiveness and attach their population becomes particularly complex in times of (post-socialist) transformation and economic crisis. Empirical analysis is aimed to illustrate the researched cities potential to keep their population by investigating their place attachment (emotional and functional) and the way they perceive their city, in relation to their intention to migrate. Data are collected through questionnaire survey, in the 2013-2015 period. Such an explorative aim intended to demonstrate the importance to research local population perspective in order to understand the cities as lived spaces and their acting potential, as such important information are left out of scope by regular statistics. Research findings confirm the basic assumption that cities with higher migration inclinations are also the cities with lower place attachment. That supports the employed perspective which reveals that place attachment and provincial habitus? characteristics emerge irrespective to their development category. Thus, Zrenjanin and Zajecar appeared with weaker while Novi Pazar with stronger capacities than expected. Besides that, the correlation between migration inclinations and place attachment is more consistent and stronger than between migration inclinations and any other socio-demographic characteristic of respondents, in all cities. Such finding confirms the need that place attachment should be given more attention in researching city development potentials, for which migrations are sifnificant indication. More work should be dedicated to further conceptualization of connection between place attachment and migrational intentions both from demographic and sociological perspective. Also, the fact that respondents? education correlates more to place attachment than to migrational intentions, while correlations among the last two variables are more consistent, indicates to possible complex interferences and need to further explore the observed connections.

Life of the Jewish Community in the Serbian City of Šabac

Life of the Jewish Community in the Serbian City of Šabac Živana Vojinović, Journalist This article examines the brief history of a Jewish community in an important but provincial city in Serbia—Šabac. In order to accomplish that task, the author consulted a variety of archival materials, collected the last surviving oral traditions, and conducted fieldwork. It is the author’s hope that this article will provide insight into the lives of the Jewish citizens of Šabac as well as provide materials to compare these lives with the lives of individuals from Jewish communities in other provincial Serbian towns. The city of Šabac is located on the right bank of the Sava river, about 80 kilometers due west of Belgrade. Until the end of World War I, it rested on the border of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, and was thus conducive to commercial trade. Economic prosperity benefited individuals, families, and the town in which they lived. In the Šabac community people of various faiths—Orthodox Serbs, Muslims, Catholics, and Jews—coexisted. The members of the Jewish community followed either Sephardic or Ashkenazi rites. Because of its favorable geographic location, the city strongly attracted Jewish people. However, not all the Šabac Jews lived in one specific area of the city, in a sort of a ghetto. They did not have their own section, a mahala, like Belgrade’s Jalija and Fišeklija, but rather their households were concentrated around the center of the town. They lived and worked mainly along a few streets: Artiljerijska (Vlade Jovanovića), Pocerska (Masarikova), Pop’Lukina and Beogradska (Karađorđeva). They were totally immersed in the Šabac milieu. They wrote in the Cyrillic alphabet and spoke Serbian, and only the eldest used Judeo-Spanish. They maintained neighborly relationships and, over the fence, gave to one another warm and sweet-smelling cakes, pancakes, and dumplings with plums. On long winter nights, young men and women sang nostalgic songs about Spain and Palestine, and the beloved Sephardic love song Adio, kerida. Young Jewish children played in the gardens, sat on the house steps during [End Page 3] their school breaks, and washed their sticky fingers and mouths at the water-well pump in the yard or in front of the house. During the afternoon, they continued to play in the streets.1 During festivities and funerals, feelings of joy and sadness were shared by the entire community. The people gathered around the synagogue, preserving the ancient customs from their old country. They read to the children from the Hagada (Haggadah), a book with stories about traditions. It was believed that peace was preserved by the mezuza, containing a parchment scroll of the Torah, which was attached on the right side of the entrance door frame. On another door post, they put small metal plaques with a most holy prayer addressed to the God of Israel. Shabbat candlesticks were displayed inside the house of worship in readiness for the Sabbath. The birth of a boy was greeted with the exclamation “Basmian tov” (“to a good sign”) because, after the parents died, there would be somebody to say Kadish—the ancient prayer of lament—in Aramaic. To a person born on Lag Baomer and Purim they gave the name Šimon, Mordehaj, or Menahem. The arrival of daughters was greeted modestly, but the girls were given aristocratic names: Sultana, Rejna, Dona, Regina, Malka.2 The first-born boy would be given the name of the paternal grandfather with an addition of Buhor, Buki, or Bukich. On that occasion, it was also obligatory to buy something to avoid bad spells. The first-born daughter would also be known as Buhora, Bukica, or Bohoreta in addition to her other given name, that of the father’s mother. The second born child would carry the name of the mother’s parents, and all subsequent children would be given Biblical names. If a child survived a serious illness, the name Živko (from živeti, ‘to live’ in Serbian) would be added to their birth name. The Ashkenazi would name the first-born child after the maternal grandfather only if the grandfather was deceased, so that the baby would thus replace the deceased ancestor...

Sustainable development of local communities in Serbia and FDI

Foreign direct investment as the most common form of international capital movements are very important factors in the development of each economy. Given the fact its characteristics in terms of the impact on long-term economic development, foreign direct investment offer the possibility of achieving goals of sustainable development. In the terms that the effects of foreign capital does not manifest in the same way at all levels in the host country, the paper gives the importance of foreign direct investment for strength the capacity of local communities in achieving the goals of sustainable development. The point of the paper is to show movement of foreign direct investments in municipalities and cities in Serbia and to provide useful recommendations for improving the business climate to attract foreign direct investment in local communities. Starting from the fact that the needs of local communities in Serbia to attract foreign direct investment are big, at the end of the paper it is given that investment location are the most important determinants of the host country by foreign investors when making investment decisions.

Analysis of the results of survey conducted among visitors to the National museum Valjevo in August 2016

The initial aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the survey conducted among visitors to the central permanent exhibition of the National Museum Valjevo. The analysis relates to the visitors' origin, reasons for coming to Valjevo and the Museum, their prior knowledge of the Museum, their experience and satisfaction. The survey was conducted in the period from 27 July to 26 August 2016, during which the Museum was visited by 417 people, 96 of which were from Valjevo, 6 from its surroundings (Kolubara County), 204 from other cities in Serbia and 111 from abroad. The analyses were supported by a kind of historical review based on archival documents from the records of visits to older exhibitions, so that the paper also presented a comparative cross­section of the total year­round visits in 1961 and 2016, with emphasis on the visits in August. The comparative results show that the total number of visits in 2016 was significantly higher than in 1961 (23,495 to 13,020) but lower when looking at the percentage of visitors compared to the number of city residents (39.8% to 45.7%). The increase of overall visits in 2016 was created by school trips, since at present, during the four months of the school trips, 19,690 visitors to the Valjevo Museum were registered in 2016 comprising for 83.8% of total annual visits, while in 1961 there were 7,401 (56.8%). The data obtained in comparative analyses suggest that today local population visit their Museum in much smaller numbers and percentages than they did a little over half a century ago, so that an absolute majority of visits are made by visitors from other places, especially those who came organized in groups, to whom a visit to the Museum was one of the points of their pre­planned itinerary, as well as individual visitors who in most cases have already had some previous knowledge of the Museum and intended to visit it during their visit to Valjevo. In order to increase the interest of the local population in their Museum, it is of the utmost importance to have varied, short­lasting programmes, primarily thematic exhibitions but also other types of programme activities: workshops, lectures, presentations, chamber theatre, music and film festivals and the like, while, when it comes to permanent exhibitions, various occasional animation programmes are crucial, as they breathe new life into the unchanging content. While such activities include the Long Night of Museums, it is also necessary to consider the need to organise similar events not only in May, when the Museum witnesses the largest attendance as a result of the school season excursions, but also in the months when the interest in the Museum offer fades.

Memories of a Jewish Family in Šabac

Memories of a Jewish Family in Šabac Pavle Pavlović, Journalist Prior to World War I Šabac, like other Serbian cities, had a Jewish population. According to the 1910 census there were 132 Jewish families. However, after the end of the war, only 18 families remained in the city. Until 1941, when Nazi Germany occupied Serbia, Jewish families lived in every area of Šabac. While they engaged in a variety of professions, the majority were merchants who owned their own stores. Affordability and variety made their businesses successful. The Jewish community in Šabac had its own synagogue on Artillery Street (now Vlada Jovanović street), which still stands. In the fall of 1941, German occupiers, together with Croatian Ustaše, rounded up all the males in Šabac older than 14 years of age. All of them were sent on a so-called “bloody march” to the village of Jarak in Srem, which is 21 kilometers from Šabac. Concurrently, all the Jews who lived in Šabac were gathered together. Among them was Oto Fišer, an Austrian of Jewish descent. At the time of his arrest, he played football for the Šabac team Maćva. During the exodus to the village of Jarak, he was killed. From 1941 until the liberation of Šabac in 1944, the city’s synagague served as the “Janko Veselinović” primary school. By late 1944, the synagogue was no longer used for religious ceremonies. At the corner of Karadjordje and Zanatliska Streets (now, Ivo Lola Ribar) is the building in which one of Šabac’s Jewish citizens, Solomon Albahari, had his store. There was a sign on that store which read in Cyrillic “Solomon Alba-hari sells used things” (“Solomoni Albahri što prodaje stare stvari”). Usually, young people in Šabac who needed to buy something frequented his store. As soon as he opened the store, they would follow him into the shop and begin buying such items as shirts, sweaters, coats, and shoes. Abahari followed an established Jewish tradition so that, when the first customer of the day entered the store, the merchant had to sell him/her something. To make the sale, at [End Page 249] times the merchant had to lower the price 50% or 60% due to the superstition that if he failed to sell to the first customer of the day, the entire day’s profits would be low. Among the many Jewish families in Šabac, there was a childless couple. The husband, Avda Karabegović, was a merchant, and his wife, a homemaker. They lived in a beautiful, large home with a spacious and well-organized yard, full of various flowers and many fruit-bearing trees. When the wife became seriously ill, the husband searched for medical help. Finally, he brought his wife to Dr. Čeda Knežević for what was still a relatively new procedure, an x-ray. The doctor’s office was located in his large home on Karadjordje Street, the main street in Šabac. It boasted a large courtyard with a blooming flowerbeds. At that time, in the city’s streets, cafes and marketplaces, as well as various stores what one often heard was people saying: “I am going to be examined ‘on the glass’ at Dr. Knežević’s.” This was their colloquialism for “being x-rayed.” The x-ray revealed that the wife was suffering from a serious illness—tuberculosis. At that time, there was no available medicine. Dr. Knežević recommended that the husband buy a special kind of goat, a Sanska goat. For medicinal purposes, the wife was instructed to drink its milk—three glasses a day. She drank it in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening. This type of white goat was quite rare, and usually it could only be found in Srem. There was only one village near Šabac where one could find this type of goat, in Dragojevac, and only one household had that type of goat. Avda Karabegović, following the advice of the physician, made plans to go to Dragojevac and purchase a Sanska goat for his wife. That village was 15km from Šabac, a distance that called for special transportation to be arranged. Prior to the Second World War, the...

Years of sound living: Mikser festival in Savamala (2012-2016)

This article deals with the soundscape of Mikser, an independent festival of contemporary creativity, established in 2009 in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. I focus on the years 2012-2016, during which Mikser was taking place in Savamala, an urban quarter in central Belgrade - which itself has undergone various urbanistic and cultural transformations in recent years. The creative team behind Mikser aimed to turn Savamala into a permanent fixture on the map of Belgrade nightlife and a tourist hotspot; the fact that they did not succeed was on account both of financial issues and conflicting top-down business interests. My conclusion is that the long-term survival of the festival is not dependent on its program or audiences, but on securing official support and infrastructure.

Occurence of the phthalate esters in soil and street dust samples from the Novi Sad city area, Serbia, and the influence on the children’s and adults’ exposure

This is the first study reporting the presence of 6 phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in 60 composite soil and street dust samples collected in the urban zone of Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia. The results were further used to assess children’s and adults’ PAEs nondietary daily intakes (DIs) through incidental soil and dust ingestion and/or dermal absorption. The study could be regarded as the important baseline for future monitoring of PAEs in the urban environments, particularly as it contributes to the rare data on PAEs occurence in the street dust.All 6 PAEs were detected in every analyzed soil and street dust samples from 0.0002mgkg−1 to 4.82mgkg−1, with the highest level obtained for di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), which was the most dominant PAE (70–96%). The highest total PAEs (Σ6PAEs) contents in soil (2.12mgkg−1) and street dust (5.45mgkg−1) samples were obtained for the samples from city parks. In all soil samples, Σ6PAEs exceeded the soil sustainable quality limit sets by the relevant Serbian Regulation, but were much lower than the limit requiring remediation measures. Concerning the estimated DIs, children were more susceptible to PAEs intake than adults regardless of the exposure routes. All the estimated DIs values were far below the known reference values.

Decentralisation of City Administration and Competences of Decentralised City Units

A balanced city system, coordination, and cooperation between city units are necessary preconditions for effective governance, as well as for avoiding internal imbalances and underdevelopment. The first part the paper focuses on the legal position of inner city units in European cities (primarily those in Central Europe), with specific reference to the effectiveness of administration and democratic processes. The second part analyses city administration and competences of city units in Serbian cities, internally divided into city municipalities. Neither Serbian local government regulations nor legal theory have sufficiently defined the legal nature and position of city municipalities. The analysis focuses on the statutes regulating the internal organisation of six cities for the purpose of examining the administrative bodies and competences of city municipalities. These statutes do not regulate all the issues necessary for the successful operation of city municipalities; moreover, some municipalities exist only in statutes and not in reality.

SOCIAL IDENTITY COMPLEXITY AND INCLUSIVENESS AS PREDICTORS OF INTERGROUP EMOTIONS

As we belong to a host of groups, we have a multitude of social identities that are interdependent. Social identity complexity refers to the degree of overlap between cross-cutting group memberships while social identity inclusiveness to the range of people a person identifies with through shared group membership. In this paper, we explored the relationship between the complexity and inclusiveness of social identity, and feelings toward ethnic/religious in-groups, as well as feelings toward out-group members. The research was conducted in two cities in Serbia: Belgrade and Novi Pazar (N = 178; average age 23), allowing for comparisons between young Serbs and Bosniaks, who belonged to the groups with a recent history of conflict. We found that social identity complexity was unrelated, whilst social identity inclusiveness was systematically and positively related to more positive feelings toward religious and ethnic out-groups. This effect was significant across different ethnic groups (Serbs and Bosniaks) and local contexts (Belgrade and Novi Pazar). Both social identity complexity and inclusiveness were unrelated to emotions toward members of the own group. We related these results with the existing data on the social identity structure and intergroup relations, and discussed the importance of inclusive identities for building tolerant societies.

Measuring Patients' Knowledge About Adverse Effects of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors.

Knowledge about adverse effects of medications is an important part of proper medication use and prerequisite for good treatment adherence. The aim of our study was to construct, develop, and test a new questionnaire for the measurement of patients' knowledge about adverse drug reactions of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The 8-item questionnaire was constructed to measure adverse reactions to ACE inhibitors. The questions were closed, with 7 offered answers, in the form of a Likert scale. It was tested for psychometric properties on patients who visited their general practitioners at state-owned health facilities in 5 Serbian cities: Belgrade, Kragujevac, Banja Luka, Gracanica, and Despotovac. The questionnaire was tested on 259 patients from general practice, taking an ACE inhibitor for more than 3 months. Experience with at least 1 adverse effect of ACE inhibitor was reported in 64 patients (24.7%), only 94 patients (36.3%) previously received any form of information about at least 1 adverse effect of ACE inhibitors from health workers, and only 42% expressed knowledge of any adverse events. The patients who were informed knew about the following adverse events as phrased in the official patient information leaflets: severe dizziness or light-headedness (44%); cough (37%); swelling of the hands, face, lips, or tongue (32%); indigestion (22%); headache (51%); and difficulty in breathing (15%). The questionnaire showed satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach α of 0.767, and individual scores correlated with general education of the patients. Factorial analysis revealed 2 domains (subscales): the first one with 5 questions is directed to adverse effects the patients may physically experience directly, whereas the second with 3 questions measures knowledge about adverse effects that could be experienced only indirectly, through conditions caused by the adverse effects. The questionnaire about knowledge of ACE inhibitors' adverse effects is a reliable and probably valid instrument for measuring patients' knowledge about adverse effects of ACE inhibitors.

Comparative analysis of exponential smoothing models to tourists' arrivals in Serbia

Seasonality is one of the main aspects affecting tourism. Considering the rapid increase in international tourism demand over the last few decades, predictions of future trends of tourism demand are of particular importance for the Government and the economy. We analyze the seasonality of tourist presence in different cities in Serbia. In this paper, the exponential smoothing models have been applied on the data that was taken from Republic Statistical Offce (RSO). The research was conducted on monthly data relating to the number of overnight stays in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis during the period from January 2000 to December 2013. The precision of the obtained predictions is determined by comparing the RMSE and BIC precision measures. Based on the selected data, forecasting was made and it is concluded that the selected models correspond to the observed data very well.

Neo-endogenous development and ecological paradox: Case study of six cities in Serbia

Postindustrial develoment and postfordist model of capitalism led to the shift in city development model, from programs that were strategically developed on a national level (top-down perspective) to a new concept that insists on locally based or neo - endogenous city development. The main aim of this paper is to shed light on a different conceptual and contextual approaches to the notion of the neo - endogenous development in European context, and to give an answer to the question whether and how Serbian cities (Kragujevac, Zrenjanin, Uzice, Sabac, Sombor and Novi Pazar) are moving towards this new development model. Attitudes of local experts and city evelopment strategies are in the main anaytical focus. In the first part, concepts of localised and localy based or neoendogenous development are discussed and related to the concepts of territorial capital, teritorialization, ecological paradox. In the second part, these concepts are contextualised through discusson based on strategic commitments of the EU, and relevant characteristics of post-socialist transformation of European countries, including Serbian society. In the third part, the goals and method of conducted empirical research are stated, and the results presented. The final part briefly synthesises the similarities and differences in manifesting ecological paradox among the researched cities, which are related to the perceived development potentials and obstacles in acordance to neo - endogenous development model. The paper is informed by qualitative based on the survey research conducted by Institute for Sociological Research of University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy in 2013/14.

University study preferences and value targets of grammar school students in Serbia

When it comes to the factors that influence professional commitment of students, psychology literature mainly states the role of school, peers, parents, material and social factors, and less so personality features, aims, expectations, personal and social values. This paper deals with the preference of personal and social values viewed as targets in the context of choosing a university department and, with it, future profession. Two lists were used - 18 personal and 18 social values. The sample included 497 last-year-grammar-school students. The research was conducted in school conditions in Belgrade and several cities in Serbia. The results show that the majority of students (55%) would opt for social-humanistic and medical-biological and less for technical and natural sciences. It turned out that gender and the type of high school courses are significant variables linked with the selection of studies and faculties, while other socio-demographic variables were not significant. The results also show that there are significant differences in the levels of acceptance of some values while, viewed globally, greater importance is given to personal than social values, which justifies the initial idea of the author that personal and social values should be examined separately because they affect professional commitment of high school students differently.

The impact of legislation on retail food prices in Serbia

The aim of the article was to find a link between the impact of legislation and retail prices of food products in Serbia. We have analyzed the whole domestic retail market of five main food groups, keeping in focus the largest retail companies and their portfolio of retail formats, and we have scanned the prices in 210 stores in 108 cities in Serbia. The research was conducted before the introduction of the Regulation on limitation of margins on basic foodstuffs and also during its application, thus obtaining fully comparable data, having in mind that the same structures and product categories were observed. We got the expected results, meaning that the legislation has a direct impact not only on the amount of the sales price but also on its range within various retail formats, on compliance by format categories and regional compliance as well as overall price policy of trade companies and their way of negotiating with suppliers. The importance of this paper is reflected in the fact that a full study of the retail network of the largest trading companies has been conducted for the first time and their price formation policy of food products has been analyzed in conditions of their free formation as well as the conditions in which the methodology is prescribed by the state. Based on previous research, it has been proven that the prices of some food products were not formed on an economically justified level.

Fuel poverty and perception on housing and environmental quality in Belgrade’s informal settlement Kaludjerica

Informal development is a specific form of urban sprawl and one of the main challenges for the sustainable development of major cities in Serbia. In this paper we examine this phenomenon with regard to the influence of spatial and urban vulnerabilities of the informal settlements on the housing and environmental deprivation, especially in the context of inhabitants? vulnerability to fuel poverty. The empirical research was carried out on the example of Belgrade?s suburban settlement Kaludjerica. The statistical analysis of the results has shown that the observed energy characteristics of housing have no relevant influence on households? financial burden of energy expenditure, but that they considerably influence households? perception on thermal comfort. The relation between a limited access to public services and the lack of amenities in the settlement and noted high household expenditure on transport has proved to be a particularly important indicator. Based on the perception on overall life commodities, a poor quality of the environment has been recognized as a key factor of deprivation related to housing.

Assessment and self-assessment of the pharmacists' competencies using the global competency framework (GbCF) in Serbia.

Pharmacists' competence represents a dynamic framework of knowledge, skills and abilities to carry out tasks, and it reflects on improving the quality of life and on patients’ health. One of the documents for the Evaluation and Competency Development of Pharmacists is the Global Competency Framework (GbCF). The aim of this study was to implement the GBCF document into Serbian pharmacies, to perform assessment and self assessment of the competencies. The assessment and self-assessment of pharmacists’ competencies were performed during the period 2012−13 year in eight community pharmacy chains, in seven cities in Serbia. For assessment and self-assessment of pharmacists competencies the GbCF model was applied, which was adjusted to pharmaceutical practice and legislation in Serbia. External assessment was conducted by teams of pharmacists using the structured observation of the work of pharmacists during regular working hours. Evaluated pharmacists filled out the questionnaire about demographic indicators about the pharmacist and the pharmacy where they work. A total of 123 pharmacists were evaluated. Pharmacists’ Professional Competency Cluster (KK1) had the lowest score (average value 2.98), while the cluster Management and Organizational Competency (KK2) had the highest score (average value 3.15). The competence Recognition of the Diagnosis and Patient Counseling (K8), which belonged to the cluster KK1, had the lowest score (average value for assessment and self-assessment were 2.09, and 2.34, respectively) among the all evaluated competencies. GbCF might be considered as an instrument for the competencies' evaluation/selfevaluation and their improvement, accordingly.

Influence of cultural models on the shaping of built environment forms: Some examples from Serbia’s past and present

This paper considers the influence of different cultural models on the shaping of built environment forms in Serbian cities during certain periods in history which are characterized by specific political and social circumstances. In addition to the theoretical framing of current approaches to cultural models and multicultural reality in a broader sense, the research focuses on the: 1) review of historical, political and social background of the phenomenon of cultural models and multicultural realities in Serbia, 2) influence of different cultural models on the shaping of built environment forms in Serbia?s cities and settlements through chosen examples from the past and present.

Attitudes of ornamental trees and shrubs producers towards nursery production of ornamental beech cultivars in Serbia

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is, along with its significance as a forest species, renowned as an ornamental species, due to its numerous cultivars. Ornamental beech cultivars are planted in various green spaces, but a small number of such trees have ascertained in Serbia. For the time being, production of beech cultivars is represented in a very small number of nurseries, with a negligible share of those seedlings in their total assortment. The aim of this research is to study the attitudes of ornamental trees and shrubs producers towards the nursery production of ornamental beech cultivars, and possibilities of its improvements in Serbia. ?Door to door? survey and in-depth interviews were used as research techniques. Surveys with the representatives of 65 nurseries in Serbia (in the selected statistical region Sumadija and Western Serbia) were conducted in the first stage of data collection. In the second stage of data collection were interviewed the representatives of the 10 nurseries who, during the survey, pointed out that they produce ornamental beech cultivars. Nurserymen?s attitudes suggest that there is a possibility to improve the production of ornamental beech cultivars in Serbia, with the appropriate support measures and increased interest of customers on the market, i.e. with the provision of subsidies for the production of seedlings and greater use of cultivars by utility companies in the cities of Serbia.

The Judgment of the German Bundesverfassungsgericht concerning Reparations for the Victims of the Varvarin Bombing

In August 2013, the German Federal Constitutional Court affirmed its stance against claims by individuals for reparations for violations of international humanitarian law that it had developed in previous case law. It denied reparation and compensation to be paid by the Federal Republic of Germany to the relatives of killed civilians and to civilians wounded as a consequence of the destruction of a bridge in the Serbian city of Varvarin. The bridge had been destroyed on 30 May 1999 in the course of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (nato) aerial action “Allied Force” against the Federal Yugoslav Republic. The case concerned claims by survivors and family members of persons killed in the attacks. The Court rendered a joint decision on both constitutional claims and found no violation of constitutional rights.