Across the Western Balkans, labor conditions remain precarious, labor laws are weak or poorly enforced and workers struggle to rally. As the political left continues to appear weak — both in narrative and in actual political power — workers’ rights are left at the mercy of capitalist forces.
To explore these challenges, K2.0 sat down with Vladimir Simović — researcher, activist and one of the key figures behind the Decent Work Balkans initiative. This regional movement brings together civil society organizations, trade unions and advocacy groups from Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of improving labor conditions across the Western Balkans.
Simović is a sociologist and Labor Rights Programme coordinator at the Center for Politics of Emancipation (CPE), a Belgrade-based organization established in 2012. His work focuses on labor rights advocacy and support for workers’ struggles, especially those of industrial workers. He co-authored two major CPE reports on the working conditions in the automotive and textile industries in Serbia.
In parallel, Simović has researched remembrance culture, particularly Yugonostalgia as a form of political and social memory. As a longtime activist, he remains engaged in initiatives that address social inequality and push for a more democratic and just economy.
Drawing on years of work in labor rights, social policy and regional solidarity, he offers insight into how post-socialist economic transitions — shaped by war and neoliberal reforms — have hollowed out local economies, pushing workers into insecure, low-paid jobs. He critiques how foreign investors are treated as untouchable, while workers are left without meaningful legal or political protection. He also addresses the EU’s double standards — promising integration while turning a blind eye to violations of democratic norms and labor rights.
K2.0 spoke with Simović about the kind of future being offered to people in the Balkans, as the EU pledges fast-track accession while sidestepping core labor concerns — and who is truly shaping that future.
K2.0: To begin with, can you give us a broad view of the general situation of workers’ rights in what is known as the Western Balkans six countries (WB6)?
Vladimir Simović: The situation is for sure complex, but I would say that there are many similarities among countries which are positioned in the Central East and Southeast Europe, which are former socialist states. During the end of 80s and beginning of 90s, we abandoned our previous modes of production and social reproduction. Basically, all of our countries went through a transition to capitalism, which for almost all Central, East and Southeast European countries meant privatization and significant job losses in industry, especially in the region of former Yugoslavia, where wars also affected economies and production bases.
Simović addresses the EU’s double standards — promising integration while turning a blind eye to violations of democratic norms and labor rights. Photo: EDI convention.
In the 2000s, the Western Balkans region entered the international market without any real competitive advantage in terms of production. What could we have offered to globalized capitalist production? In order to provide the jobs, we directed our politics and economical policies toward attracting foreign direct investments (FDI’s) which made our economies dependent to foreign capital, with an uneven distribution of power between actors involved.
From this position, our governments did what they could in order to attract foreign investors, which then came here, creating low-quality jobs, without investing in technology or knowledge.
As part of this process, governments provided substantial subsidies to foreign investors, in the form of low taxes and infrastructure. This is also reflected in our countries’ low labor rights standards. For example, in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, labor laws were changed almost simultaneously to provide more flexibility to foreign employers. These reforms weakened the position of workers and job stability as they promoted cheap labor and flexible working conditions for employers.
Over the past two or three decades, we have failed to develop our own economies, build sustainable production and foster resilience. Instead, we have become a source of cheap labor for simple production like car parts, garment industry and construction.
The consequences are impoverished people forced to submit to their employers’ demands, with very narrow maneuver space for advocating better working conditions and wider scope of rights. It’s a mere survival. We need to rethink our economic policies moving away from the approach taken over the last two or three decades.
I’m keen to find out about the recent Engaged Democracy Initiative (EDI) convention held in Skopje this May. What are your reflections and feelings after the event?
We’ve been part of the EDI since the very beginning, and through this platform, the Decent Work Balkans initiative emerged.
In 2023, we held the first workshop in Prishtina, with just around 10 participants. After that, we connected with other organizations, including the Institute for Social Policy Musine Kokalari, and Institute for Critique and Social Emancipation from Tirana. Later that year, we brought in more civil society organizations and drafted a manifesto on decent work as the foundation for building a regional coalition. This document, signed by 20 CSOs during the conference we organised in Durrës in September 2023, serves as the cornerstone of our coalition.
In 2024, in Igalo, as a coalition we organized another event, the Labor Rights Academy, this time including trade unions from across the region. It was a significant event, with 45 organizations and trade unions participating. Some of these trade unions also signed the manifesto, reinforcing the coalition’s foundation.
What began as a small workshop under the EDI has since developed into a growing regional coalition. We hope this coalition becomes a framework for joint struggles focused on social and labor standards in the Western Balkans. As mentioned earlier, we need to connect and coordinate our efforts if we are to effect real change. Divided, we stand no chance.
For now, our focus has been on producing fact sheets on labor standards in each country, highlighting how similar the conditions are across the region. We have also been building solidarity actions, such as organizing the first Living Wage Action Day in September. This was part of a global movement initiated by the Clean Clothes Campaign, but with activities tailored to our regional context. These efforts are important for showing people across the region — from Belgrade to Podgorica, Sarajevo to Tirana — that they are engaged in similar struggles. This shared awareness can be a catalyst for coordinated action.
We also face the continuous threat of capital mobility. For example, companies in Serbia often threaten their workers to relocate to Albania in search of a cheaper labor force. That’s why fighting for more equitable wages across the region is crucial to prevent such exploitation and division.
Our goals include building solidarity, providing reliable information and advocating for the integration of social and labor standards into regional and EU integration processes, such as the Berlin Process or regional common market frameworks. We also aim to share knowledge and experiences. For example, when campaigns or strikes happen in one country, others across the region can learn from and support them.
In essence, we seek to create a platform where civil society and trade unions across the Balkans can act together, learn from one another and collectively push for decent work and dignity for all.
After Trump won the last US elections, the ideological values tied to workers’ rights lost terrain, as it also happened in other issues, for example, gender rights. Considering the US power and reach, this had a massive impact elsewhere. This has also eroded the space to campaign for workers’ rights.
Many working class people and families voted for right-wing parties and politicians, not only in the U.S., but worldwide, often drawn by conservative ideas. However, I would argue that they mostly vote in such a manner because the liberal elites failed them. For example, the Democrats, who were once perceived as more aligned with social democratic values, as opposite to the more overtly neoliberal conservatives.
Both in the U.S. and the U.K. during the 1990s, as well as across much of Europe, we witnessed a transformation of social democratic parties. These parties moved away from traditional working-class and social democratic values and adopted increasingly neoliberal positions. This opened up space for conservatives and the far right, movements that are often labeled as populist. Personally, I’m not fond of the term “populism” and use it reluctantly, as it tends to be associated with something unrealistic and irrational, as opposed to what is seen as rational and expert-driven. The use of this term effectively shuts down the possibility of discussing the nature of our societies, as anything that challenges dominant narratives or the prevailing modes of production and social reproduction is dismissed a priori as utopian.
I believe that the turn of poorer social groups toward the far right and conservatives – who traditionally defend the interests of the ruling classes – was not driven by some sudden fascist shift among the people or any abrupt ideological transformation. Rather, it was a protest shift, a way to punish social democracy for failing to protect vulnerable groups and for abandoning its proclaimed values in favor of privatization policies and the defense of capital interests.
To bring this closer to home, take Serbia, for example. The Democratic Party, which is a member of the Party of European Socialists, was punished at the 2012 elections precisely because it was seen as one of the main promoters of neoliberal policies, including the privatization process. Rather than defending workers’ rights or advocating for social protections, the party became associated with corruption, economic insecurity and the erosion of the public sector. As a result, many voters turned away.
In my view, people are not turning towards right-wing politics because they suddenly embraced fascism or similar beliefs. A major issue is that the right-wing parties and movements managed to present themselves as an alternative to the current system and by doing so they attracted protest votes. This represents one of the left’s greatest failures: the inability to present a compelling, systemic alternative to the status quo and instead being seen by the very population that should be closest to them – the working class – as guardians of the existing order and the interests of capital and profit.
The most recent Engaged Democracy Initiative (EDI) convention was held in Skopje this May. Photo: EDI convention.
In the Western Balkans, this looks even more difficult. How do you see the left in our region?
I think it is obvious that the left remains weak. I have been an activist since the beginning of the 2000s. At the time, when you identified yourself as a leftist, people associated you with Slobodan Milosević. Although we were fundamentally the opposite to Milosević, he represented the Socialist Party and they were perceived as the left. Despite the name, their actions were entirely contrary to socialist principles – they were warmongering nationalists who initiated the process of privatization.
In the beginning of 2000s, the anti-socialist and anti-communist sentiment was widespread. There was a dominant belief that the country’s problems stemmed from socialism. The consequences of neoliberal policies and the shock therapy implemented at the time, including the privatization and deindustrialization, were not to blame on actual neoliberal politicians implementing them, but rather on socialist legacy, which was paradoxical.
This atmosphere persisted more or less until around 2010, when global movements, such as Occupy Wall Street in the U.S. and Indignados in Spain, signaled that meaningful left-wing, progressive struggles were still alive, that history had not ended and that demand for systemic change is not merely a thing of the past. From that point on, I think promoting leftist, progressive or socialist ideas began to take on a different meaning and became somewhat more accepted in our society. I’m not quite sure how the situation unfolded in other countries in the region, but from what I’ve followed, I would say that the processes were quite similar.
I think that there is a serious lack of political forces in the region that are genuinely connected to working-class people. That is, in my view, the direction the left needs to take: to establish direct connections with people in need and help them organize and politically articulate their interests. That means going to villages and small towns, places where no politician set a foot in years and to literally build the movements from below. I believe that’s the only way. Relying solely on arguments is not enough. It’s nice to be insightful and knowledgeable, but it has little or no impact if it doesn’t contribute to organizing people – because organizing is a form of power needed to make changes.
Of course, there are certain limitations and it is always questionable if this kind of political work is achievable with limited resources available, but I think there are some positive examples. For example, in Albania activists have been organizing with miners and engaging with local communities. That is one of the models for how to do the political work properly. I don’t think there is another way around.
There’s been a new wave of optimism around EU expansion. In Albania, Edi Rama won another election last month, largely on a platform centered around European integration. Soon after, Tirana hosted the European Political Community Summit, where French President Emmanuel Macron said Albania is on track to join the EU. Yet on workers’ rights, like many areas in Albania, the conditions fall far short of EU standards. How do you interpret this contradiction, if we can call it that?
I genuinely doubt our region will join the EU anytime soon. Maybe Montenegro has a chance, but overall, judging by how the situation is developing, I don’t believe accession is on the near horizon.
I think the EU benefits from keeping this region exactly as it is – unregulated, with cheap labor, cheap resources and high levels of corruption. And it’s not just that our local elites are corrupt, Western actors play a significant role in these processes as well. People often claim that corruption is part of our local, Balkan mentality, but that’s far from the truth. At the very least, we need to acknowledge the complicity of Western elites and capital in maintaining the corrupt system, supporting local political classes in the region and reinforcing the existing status quo.
The EU benefits from this setup. It creates space for low-cost production, particularly in the automotive and garment industries. Having all this in mind, I don’t believe there is a genuine interest in seeing this region advance in terms of social justice, workers’ rights or environmental standards.
The EU is seen as something of a hope for workers in the countries seeking membership because of the standards that the EU sets for workers rights. As the EU offers fast-track membership to countries where workers’ rights fall far below those standards, does it risk undermining the very values it claims to promote?
When we talk about EU integration – whether at the regional Western Balkans level or in broader terms – it’s almost always framed around economic stability and development, never around social or labor standards. That’s simply the reality. These issues are rarely, if ever, part of the high-level diplomatic discussions or negotiations between governments and key stakeholders. The only actors consistently raising these issues are civil society organizations – but they are largely ignored.
Unfortunately, I don’t see this changing anytime soon. We’re heading toward new economic crises, and history shows that workers’ and social rights are the first to be sacrificed in such times to protect profits and capital flows. Even within the EU, we’re likely to see new rounds of austerity measures and further erosion of labor standards. For those of us outside the EU – especially given our lower position in the global supply and production chains – these issues will fall even further down the list of priorities.
This is exactly why we need to organize regionally – civil society organizations and trade unions across the Western Balkans need to build alliances and act together. Divided, we are weak. Together we can amplify our voices. The current position of both trade unions and civil society is not strong, but through coordinated advocacy, campaigning and collective struggle, we can push these issues onto the agenda.
Neither EU politicians nor our local leaders will prioritize labor and social rights unless we force them to do so. We have to insist that a different kind of economy and society is possible – one that upholds justice and dignity for working people. If we don’t, our concerns will remain completely marginalized — like we say in Serbia, “the last hole on the flute.”
For a long time, there was a sense — at least from the outside — that Serbia was the frontrunner among Western Balkan countries to join the EU. I’m not sure if that perception held within Serbia itself. What’s the feeling now?
Back in the 2000s, around 70%, or more, of people in Serbia supported joining the EU. Today, that number has dropped to around 40%, or possibly even less. Much has changed since then, but I believe a key reason for this shift is the role the EU plays in Serbia’s internal political landscape.
Despite the growing movement against Aleksandar Vučić’s regime, the EU continues to openly support him. For example, about two years ago, the Serbian government introduced changes to the media law — changes widely criticized by both domestic and international journalist associations as undemocratic and harmful to media freedom. Yet, Ursula von der Leyen visited Serbia, held a press conference with Vučić and praised him specifically for those very reforms.
The issue of lithium mining is another example. A clear majority of people in Serbia oppose it. Yet, in 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Serbia to sign a deal on critical raw materials. He was accompanied by EU officials and even a Mercedes-Benz executive. People see that and conclude: the EU is mainly interested in our natural resources — and is willing to ignore democratic backsliding to secure them.
It’s true that the European Parliament has voiced criticism of Vučić and his government. However, the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the conservative forces, who are actually leading the EU, have maintained close ties with him.
Foreign policy reveals further contradictions. Serbia remains the only European country that hasn’t imposed restrictive measures on Russia. Initially, the EU criticized Serbia for not aligning its foreign policy to the foreign policy of the EU. But lately, those criticisms have faded – likely because Serbia is exporting ammunition to Ukraine and Israel, silently serving the interests of the EU.
Finally, it is important to mention elections which took place in December 2023. They were marred by clear electoral fraud, well documented by civil society organizations. Although the European Parliament debated the issue and even passed a declaration condemning the process, by spring 2024 Vučić went to France and met with President Macron. During this visit he arranged a multi-billion euro worth deal, buying French Rafale fighter jets. By securing this deal with Macron, Vučić effectively gained political backing for his government. In the aftermath, European politicians largely fell silent.
What began as a small workshop under the EDI has since developed into a growing regional coalition. Photo: EDI convention.
What’s the situation with workers’ rights in Serbia currently?
The situation is quite bad. Not only is the labor law weak, but we’ve also seen its fragmentation. New legal frameworks for various types of employment contracts are being invented, which undermines the core labor law. But the bigger issue is that even the labor standards already enshrined in the law are not being enforced.
We have one labor inspector per 10,000 workers, an entirely inadequate number. These inspectors are underpaid, unequipped and generally inefficient. At the same time, we’re an economy heavily dependent on FDI’s. In this context, foreign investors are treated like endangered species protected and rarely held accountable. They operate with almost complete freedom, and this is evident, not only in Serbia, but across the region.
All countries in the region have social and economic councils – tripartite institutions where the state, trade unions and employers negotiate on labor and economic issues. But in none of these councils do we see representatives of foreign capital. Only domestic companies participate. This illustrates the privileged status of foreign investors – obviously they don’t need to negotiate, as they handle their demands and needs through “alternative” channels. They go directly to the government with their demands or simply threaten to withdraw if conditions don’t suit them.
Most of the FDI’s are projects without any long-term commitments. These are typically greenfield investments in simple, low-skilled production that relies on cheap labor. The work is easily relocated from one country to another, requiring minimal training and involving no real investment in people, technology or knowledge.
This imbalance of power makes it very difficult for workers and trade unions to organize effectively. They lack both leverage and political allies. Most dominant political parties in the region show little to no genuine interest in defending labor rights or improving labor standards.
Serbia has been perceived as sitting in two chairs for a long time.
Not just two – all chairs available I would say. Vučić knows how to play the game. The corruption in our region isn’t just a local issue, it’s structural, and many Western actors are deeply complicit. France, for example: it is supposed to be building a metro system in Belgrade, a project that’s been stalled for years with no visible progress. Yet, it is obvious that money is changing hands. We’ve handed over our airport to France, our gold and copper to China and we are about to hand lithium to Germany.
With Russia, it’s a bit different. They own the majority of shares in our national oil company, but I don’t think their economic presence, which is limited, is the decisive factor. Still, Vučić goes to Moscow, meets with Putin, sending a powerful symbolic message which is useful for the Russian regime – the EU can’t stop a European country from aligning with Russia. Vučić is skillful in balancing between global powers, he knows how to sit on all available geopolitical chairs. Unfortunately, these skills benefit only him and his closest associates, while Serbia’s public assets are squandered in transactions designed solely to secure his grip on power and maintain the favor of all geopolitical players.
This is part of the reason why the public perception of the EU is deteriorating. People no longer see the EU as a community of shared values, but rather as an institution driven by self-interest – profits, resource access and political leverage. Perhaps that’s not entirely a bad thing – maybe it’s time to strip away the proclaimed veil of values and start seeing things for what they truly are under capitalism: mere economic transactions.
I’ve had conversations with prominent German politicians, not conservatives but progressives, who were very open: “We need stability. Unfortunately, authoritarian leaders sometimes bring stability.” That’s the reality, in all its cynicism. They are far less concerned with the quality of life, labor rights or democratic standards in Serbia or the wider region. What really matters to them is stability and the uninterrupted flow of money and resources. That’s the bottom line.”
Feature Image: EDI convention.
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