Serbia’s Vučić faces tough election as fraud fears mount

{"text":[[{"start":7.36,"text":"Good morning. Today, our south-eastern Europe correspondent previews the elections in Serbia, while the CEO of the Finnish quantum company IQM tells me how Europe can continue to be at the forefront of the new technology."}],[{"start":19.16,"text":"Henry will be back with you on Monday. Have a great weekend."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":19.66,"text":"Serbian showdown"}],[{"start":22.8,"text":"Serbia heads to the polls on Sunday in what could be the toughest election of Aleksandar Vučić’s career, amid fears that the country’s longtime leader will resort to electoral fraud to stay in power, reports Marton Dunai."}],[{"start":37.12,"text":"Context: Vučić, a populist strongman who has ruled Serbia for 14 years, is running for prime minister after serving as the country’s president. He faces a powerful student-led movement, known as the Student List, which has displaced the opposition and poses his biggest challenge yet."}],[{"start":54.46,"text":"At least three ways exist in which Vučić may try to swing the vote, which opinion polls show are very close."}],[{"start":60.92,"text":"He can import and invent voters, he has made it very hard for mostly opposition-minded Serbs in foreign countries to vote, and he can simply claim victory soon after the votes close and let the institutions cover his tracks, according to Slobodan Tomić, a Serbian political scientist who researched the subject for years at the University of York."}],[{"start":81.56,"text":"“Fraud will be an extremely important factor in this election,” Tomić said. “The opinion polls are very close and it might indeed take just a little bit of fraud to push the result one way or the other.”"}],[{"start":93.1,"text":"There is precedent for such concerns. During previous elections, ethnic Serb voters have been bussed in from neighbouring countries, especially Bosnia, boosting local participation with tens of thousands of pro-Vučić supporters."}],[{"start":106.76,"text":"Many municipalities have more voters on the election lists than the adult population — in some cases one and a half as many, according to registration data."}],[{"start":115.88,"text":"Voting has also been made difficult for Serbs living abroad. There are far fewer polling stations, forcing some voters to travel long distances, while voting hours are tied to central European Time. In Australia, for example, that could mean casting a ballot in the middle of the night."}],[{"start":131.36,"text":"A silver lining, experts say, is that even these practices have a limit."}],[{"start":136.92,"text":"With Vučić voters appearing less motivated to vote and the opposition sensing a rare opportunity, a high turnout could still tip the balance in the students’ favour."}],[{"start":144.84,"text":"Vučić, however, is unlikely to go down without a fight."}],[{"start":148.76,"text":"Chart du jour: Made in China"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":151.52,"text":"Western drugmakers have spent record sums on medicines developed in China in recent years. Now they are using Chinese hospitals to test experimental cell and gene therapies on humans for the first time."}],[{"start":152.02,"text":"Quantum leap"}],[{"start":163.92,"text":"Europe is already a leader in quantum technology. Now, it needs to defend that position, the boss of IQM Quantum Computers said."}],[{"start":174.32,"text":"Context: The European Commission is preparing a Quantum Act aimed at strengthening Europe’s position in the emerging industry, as the bloc seeks to boost its competitiveness and build up more homegrown technological champions."}],[{"start":186.56,"text":"The legislation comes as quantum computing, which uses the principles of quantum mechanics to tackle calculations that are extremely difficult for conventional computers, increasingly moves from scientific research towards industrial application."}],[{"start":200.12,"text":"Jan Goetz, the chief executive of IQM Quantum Computers, said Europe is unusually well placed to lead in the technology, unlike in areas such as cloud computing or artificial intelligence, which are dominated by US companies."}],[{"start":213.48,"text":"“It is not so much about how do we catch up . . . but it’s really how can we defend our leadership position, our position of strength,” he said."}],[{"start":221.6,"text":"The co-founder of the Finnish company urged Brussels to use the upcoming legislation to boost public procurement, which could trigger private investment and help companies such as IQM develop products for export."}],[{"start":233.44,"text":"“Ultimately, we need industry engagement. It’s about use cases and how do we build an industry that enables these use cases. And this requires capital,” Goetz said."}],[{"start":243.64,"text":"IQM’s quantum computers have, for example, been used by companies such as German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and German carmaker Volkswagen to simulate the charging and discharging of batteries, helping develop better batteries without having to physically test every new material."}],[{"start":260.2,"text":"What to watch today"}],[{"start":260.7,"text":"Informal meeting of trade ministers in Dublin."}],[{"start":261.2,"text":"Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh meets Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Helsinki."}],[{"start":261.7,"text":"Now read these"}],[{"start":270.56,"text":"‘Germany is uninvestable’: Europe’s largest residential landlord Vonovia stands to lose more than €8bn from nationalisation plans in Berlin."}],[{"start":280.08,"text":"Safer grain trucks: Ukraine is negotiating to move customs checks on its grain trucks inside the EU to avoid being attacked by Russia while waiting to cross."}],[{"start":290.14,"text":"Deadly hot summer: New research finds there were an estimated 50,000 heat-related deaths in Europe this summer, making it the worst on modern record for heat mortality."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":303.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792840802_6183.mp3"}