National Theater Artists Angered by Appointment of their New Managing Board Chairman

National Theater in Belgrade (BETAPHOTO/NENAD PETROVIC)

Representatives of trade unions of artists of the National Theater in Belgrade on June 24 said they would not nominate their members to the institution’s Managing Board, following appointment of Dragoslav Bokan, film director and writer and former politician and paramilitary commander, as its chairman

“At this moment, we cannot know whether Dragoslav Bokan will be implementing some repressive methods, but bearing in mind his professional qualifications and his political engagement, we believe that impacts on the National Theater will be catastrophic,” said Boris Postovnik, the president of the Trade Union of Music Artists, adding that they would request support of the International Federation of Musicians. 

Darko Tomovic, the president of the Actors Union of Serbia (SINGLUS), said that trade unions could not influence appointment of Managing Board members in a formal or legal way, but added that their hands were not tight “for any forms of fight outside the institution that can take place also within the institution.” Actress Nela Mihailovic described the appointment of Bokan as “a punishment for disobedience,” including “one of the biggest supports to protesting students and raising academic transcripts at the end of theater performances.”  

In the Official Gazette on June 19, it was published that Dragoslav Bokan had been appointed chairman of the Managing Board. Bokan is known as former paramilitary commander during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, who now frequently speaks on pro-regime media outlets. Ahead of the news conference, actors staged a performance, including reading some of Bokan’s statements they consider to be hate speech.