The Monocle Minute

I visited Belgrade a few weeks ago to interview Serbia’s new foreign minister, Marko Djuric, for an upcoming issue of Monocle. As you might expect, our conversation was largely concerned with foreign affairs. I found Djuric to be surprisingly punchy – given Serbia’s apparent general ambivalence – about what he sees as the country’s ultimate destiny in the EU. He was also very sharp on the need for better relations with the country’s Balkan neighbours. It is, if I’m honest, a matter of some relief that we didn’t spend much time on Serbia’s domestic politics, as we would have been in severe danger of being overtaken by events.

On 1 November a concrete canopy at the main railway station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people. Yesterday, Serbia’s prime minister, Milos Vucevic, resigned. Between the two events have been weeks of huge protests, initially about the corruption and dysfunction that left Novi Sad’s 1960s-era station so poorly maintained, then escalating into demonstrations about the corruption and dysfunction of, well, everything.

Vucevic is an easy sacrifice. He has not been prime minister long and one of his previous posts, from 2012 to 2020, was as mayor of Novi Sad. Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, seems to understand that this won’t be enough; he has promised a major reshuffle of his cabinet, replacing at least half of its members.

It’s always interesting (and often surprising) to discover the tipping point of a given electorate. People will often put up with astonishing corruption and/or chronic dysfunction for decades, then flip all the way out over something that might seem like a random, isolated incident. The last time large numbers of Serbs gathered with a view to chasing their government out of office was in 2000, when president Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown. Among the crowd that forced Milosevic’s demise was a young activist by the name of Marko Djuric, then a member of the Otpor! protest movement. It will be instructive to see which chair he is occupying when this shakes out.

Andrew Mueller is a contributing editor at Monocle and presenter of‘The Foreign Desk’. For more opinion, analysis and insight,subscribeto Monocle today.

Emmanuel Macron rushed to the Louvre yesterday to announce renovation plans after a leaked memo warned of the storied institution’s dilapidated state. The memo – recently sent by the museum’s director, Laurence des Cars, to France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati – claimed that the Louvre’s collections were threatened by “structural damage”, with the building creaking under the sheer volume of visitors. At a time when the government’s purse strings are particularly tight, the president is now personally making an appeal for generosity from private citizens to help restore the museum. Estimates for the bill are hovering at about €1bn; meanwhile, French fashion giant LVMH is rumoured to be preparing to step in with timely largesse.

The Louvre is personal for Macron. It was there that he celebrated winning the election that first brought him to power in 2017. Now the museum’s shabbiness mirrors his own fading popularity. Macron desperately needs a win, particularly after his disastrous decision to call an early election last year. When Notre-Dame cathedral was heavily damaged by fire in 2019, the president’s ambition to rebuild it within five years was mocked as wishful thinking. Its rapid restoration and reopening in December, however, gave a rare confidence boost to a nation that is pessimistic by nature. A rejuvenated Louvre has precisely the legacy-making potential that Macron is after. But he will have to wait until 2031, when the renovations are slated for completion, to bask in the glory of another job well done. Meanwhile, the “Mona Lisa” will move to a room of her own.

Syria is opening up, albeit tentatively, and the EU is seeking to build ties with the new leadership in Damascus. At a meeting in Brussels earlier this week, EU foreign ministers agreed to lift specific sanctions from 2011 related to energy, transport and key financial institutions to aid the country’s economic recovery. Though many European countries still advise against visiting Syria, travel firms are gearing up for a renaissance in tourism – provided that conditions on the ground improve.

“We have just returned from a research trip to Syria and are provisionally planning to resume tours in May,” Dylan Harris, the founder of UK-based Lupine Travel, tells The Monocle Minute. “If the situation remains stable, there’s no reason why tourism can’t return quickly. Syria has a wealth of historical sites, great cuisine and Mediterranean beach resorts. It all hinges on the country’s transition. By late March we should know the direction of travel.”

Thailand’s luxury goods market is booming – expected to grow 9 per cent year on year. As the head of Central Pattana, the country’s largest retail-property developer and the real-estate arm of Central Group, Wallaya Chirathivat oversees a big portfolio of shopping centres, office towers, hotels and residential buildings. Best known for Centralworld, a bustling mixed-used development in Bangkok, Central Pattana has a presence across the nation, from Phuket and Samui to Chiang Mai. We sit down with Chirathivat at Central Pattana’s headquarters to discuss Thailand’s retail scene, her €3.8bn investment plan and Bangkok getting back to work.

Bangkok is a rare bright spot in Asia for luxury brands. Why?
It’s a world-class tourist destination. We also have a large pool of high-income residents. But Bangkok isn’t the only hot spot for those labels. Tourism numbers have already surpassed pre-coronavirus levels in Phuket. Central Phuket has become the number-one luxury shopping mall outside Bangkok.

What makes Thailand so good at shopping centres?
We never stop listening to our customers, looking for new trends and travelling around the world. We use all of this knowledge to create buildings that people want to visit. We combine this with good software. Marketing is important. When it comes to holding events, we consider every single day of the year. Our shopping centres are alive and active all of the time so people can always find something to serve their needs.

Offices are part of your mixed-used developments in Bangkok. How does the Thai capital view remote working?
It’s a bit of a mix but working from the office is making a comeback. Our technology-company tenants want to bring their staff back to the office, providing them with a better working lifestyle.

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