In Belgrade, Serbia, the struggle against the eviction continues. On 9 March, activists of the Roof Over Head Initiative — an association of progressive organizations, movements and parties — demonstrated in front of the building where the Maurer family awaited the eviction from their home.
The family’s trouble began when their tenant used false documents to put their flat under mortgage, opening up a new line of credit from the bank But instead of chasing the criminal, the bank decided to evict Maurer family. Having raised this issue at the bank, activists of Roof Over Head Initiative were informed that this bank alone has roughly 1000 similar cases.
Despite their legal struggle, the Maurer family was evicted from their home on 16 March under the enforcement of the local police. Demonstrations and street blockades quickly followed. But their numbers and means were unable to challenge the wide range of vested interests that keep the eviction industry going.
The unfair treatment of this family ought to be taken as a wake-up call for all Europeans to take to the streets and struggle until these residential evictions — which profit only our domestic oligarchs and multinationals — no longer sweep through our cities.
Aleksandar a member of DSC Belgrade 1, a writer, dramatist, historian and journalist. His main points of interest are media freedom and European cultural politics.
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