It is common for Serbians to speak loudly and expressively during conversations. This often reflects passion rather than anger. Serbians tend to be spirited in conversations! They will freely express their opinions or disagreement with one another.

Humour is a key part of our style of conversation. The Serbian sense of humour is often satirical, witty, and even a little dark. If our sense of humour leaves you feeling uncertain, facial expressions can often be helpful in revealing how your Serbian counterpart feels!

When encountering someone for the first time, Serbians are often quite reserved in physical contact. However, with someone more familiar, they will often hug and tap each other on the shoulder, or exchange light touches while in conversation. Eye contact is expected in almost every situation. Avoiding eye contact, or failing to maintain it, may indicate that you are untrustworthy or deceitful.

Should you need to contact emergency services during your stay in Serbia, here are some important contact numbers. Please, if possible, please also try to inform the AAG 2023 organisers of the situation as soon as you are able to so that we can try to assist you.

POLICE – 192 

FIREFIGHTERS – 193

MEDICAL EMERGENCY – 194 

ASSISTANCE ON THE ROAD – 1987

Serbian cities are unfortunately not satisfactorily accessible for individuals using wheelchairs or any other movement support, not for those with other disabilities. Public transportation is often not fully accessible, nor are the majority of restaurants, coffee shops or artistic venues. However, the venues selected to host the AAG 2023 are equipped with wheelchair ramps throughout the buildings, and most also have elevators.

Detailed information on the accessibility status of all the venues has been published on the programme pages. The International Conference ‘The Rights Of Children & Young People To Culture: 10 Years Later’ will be live-streamed and translated into International Sign Language.  Some of the other performances on the programme will be translated into Serbian Sign Language for local children and young audiences from the d/Deaf community.

Serbians are generally friendly and welcoming to strangers. Crime in Serbia is very unlikely to affect a tourist or a foreigner. Statistically, Serbia has recently been ranked as the 65th safest country in terms of violent crime in the world, surpassing countries traditionally assumed to be safe, such as Finland, Canada, and Estonia.

On the whole, it does seem that LGBTQ+ rights are improving in Serbia. For example, Ana Brnabić was promoted to the position of Prime Minister of Serbia in 2017, becoming only the second LGBT head of government in the world. However, Serbia is still not completely safe for queer presenting colleagues. If you do decide to come to Serbia, we would suggest that you practise discretion. We can recommend some wonderful LGBTQ+ friendly places in Belgrade, such as: Cultural Centre “GRAD”, Guvernanta Drinks & Decadence, Cafe Meduza, Ljubimac, or Leposava Bar. In Novi Sad, more liberal and welcoming spaces include: Cafe Nublu, Black Ram, or Youth Centre CK13, and possibly My Place Bar, Cactus Bar, or Gerila Bar.

Unfortunately, we do still need to advise caution, even in these places, in order to prevent any unpleasant situations.

The teachings of the Orthodox Church and traditional values are important for many Serbians, including many young people, which can lead to homophobic and transphobic behaviours and incidents.

Most international guests will need to use network roaming during their stay in Serbia, as Serbian travellers do when they travel abroad.

Since wifi is not common in public spaces, we would advise you to arrange and/or activate roaming services with your network provider before arriving in Serbia.

This will enable you to easily use mobile data for navigation through the city, updates about the programme, communication with other delegates, etc.

For our American guests, please be aware that Serbia uses Europe’s electrical system, which differs from that in the US in terms of the voltage and the shape of the plug. European appliances are 220V – please remember to bring your adapters!

If you have questions, problems, or need additional support before or during the AAG, please write to info@assitejsrbija.org.rs

For more urgent matters, contact us via Viber, Whatsapp, or phone:

+381 65 3391 389 – Aleksandra Avramovic

+381 63 309 886 – Jovana Bundalo, for guests and programmes in Belgrade

+381 64 2809 814 – Nataša Markovinović, for guests and programmes in Novi Sad

+381 64 3901 877 – Tatjana Nikolic