International Fair in Belgrade Canceled After Attacks on Generali Director

Belgrade (Photo: unsplash.com)

The South East Europe Mobility 2025 rail industry fair which was supposed to be held in Belgrade in April was called off over tabloid attacks on Generali Insurance executive board chairman Dragan Filipovic and the expulsion of civil sector activists in January, the Nova Ekonomija magazine reported on March 6.

When asked for the specific reason, the organizer of the fair, Cluster Railway Southeast Europe (RCSEE) said that the fair was being canceled because the Italian companies that were supposed to participate in the fair had pointed to the attack on the director of Generali Insurance "which a lot about was heard heard in Italian business circles in the past week, which caused some business associations to react."

"Generali is the second largest Italian company in the world and obviously the word about what he experienced in Serbia spread far and wide. The Italians even mentioned that the case was reported to the Court of Honor of the European Federation of Industries," the RCSEE said.

Generali executive board president Dragan Filipovic was exposed to tabloid attacks for weeks for privately participating in protests being organized by students in Serbia. Pro-government tabloids published his picture and accused him of "wanting to bring the state down." After that the company itself became a target, Nova Ekonomija said adding that Generali Insurance consequently decided to withdraw from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Insurers of Serbia.