Albanians and Serbs are waging war in the middle of Belgrade, tenants are not leaving buildings without knives and pepper spray

One of the tenants of the Block 72 called us and said that there is a real small-scale war in his building between Serbs and Albanians, and we had to check if something like that is possible in the middle of Belgrade. I went to check it out, and when I came to the place - there was a real Serbian Bronx in front of me.

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Foto: M. Beljan

The last building in the street Mileva Maric Einstein, right next to the bus 89 turnaround, is different from others in the suburb. There is a lot of garbage instead of flowers and green areas, rain gutters are smashed, facades are broken, and a lot of young were sitting in front of the building while I was passing by. Glass at the entrance 2 was smashed with stones, switches broken inside. Garbage in the elevator, hallway, and one of the neighbors shouted that I better not go into the basement.

Foto: M. Beljan

- No, not down there. There is a lot of things there. Trash, it stinks, all kinds of things happen there at night- he said.

In the middle of a hallway, there is a chauvinist message, illiterate enough so you can't see what it says: "S*ck it, Serbs" or "S*ck it, man!"

Foto: M. Beljan

Where did I come to, I kept wondering until the hosts who invited us opened the door.

They asked us not to take any pictures. As they said, the life in the building is a real hell for them. 

- There is always some smashing, yelling, junkies gather here, and prostitution is flourishing during the night in the basement. Pardon me, but junkies gather around here and they then make orgies. We hear a lot, they even attack us, curse, and then mumble something in Albanian, who knows what they are saying... They threatened me that they will stab me with an infected needle, they smeared feces on my door - one of the tenants said.

Foto: M. Beljan

What is going on in the Serbian Bronks? Those are actually buildings intended as social residences. Socially endangered families are settled there, which created a little ghetto from the last part of the Block 72.

The problem isn't small, and it can be seen in one of the letters the residents sent to the municipality New Belgrade.

Foto: M. Beljan

- We are locking up in our apartments, we are in a concentration camp. We carry knives, pepper spray, a brass knuckles, lamps, there is no light in the building, I just run into the elevator - another resident said.

They say that they are afraid of illegal installations in the building, and the electricity is stolen a lot.

Foto: M. Beljan

- They are putting wires in the hallways, across the terrace, some families are connected through installations of the hallway, they are giving the cables to each other. There have been fires, we are afraid, the entire building will burn down - the tenants are saying.

They claim that some families moved in illegally.

Foto: M. Beljan

- Some of the Roma people are saying "This is our building, the European Union has built this for us". Some of them picklocked the apartments and moved in them. We received an apartment at the concurs as a socially endangered family, but we are sick of it - one of the people there said.

Although the curse words and conflicts on a national basis are common, the neighbors say that they are not the only ones that don't respect the house rules. 

Foto: M. Beljan

- There are a lot of Roma people who live here equally, just like we do, and they are bothered by shouting, dirt, and chaos. We don't care from where did the people came, if they are Roma, Albanian or Serbs. It is important that those are residents who respect the house rules are in danger - a lady said.

VIDEO: Two older women fought on a market: 

(Telegraf.co.uk / M. Beljan - m.beljan@telegraf.co.uk)