On Thursday, April 16, 2026, the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies of the University of Rijeka hosted Dr. Milica Popović, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Cultural Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Dr. Popović is the lead of the research project The Silence of Saying No: (Un)Remembering Deserters from the Yugoslav Wars, the first comprehensive study on individuals and groups who refused to participate in armed conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
At this occasion, a research seminar was held for faculty members and researchres at the University of Rijeka. Dr. Popović presented the framework and initial insights of her research, followed by a rich discussion. Participants of the seminar agreed that the topic is highly timely and relevant in the context of increasing militarization and normalization of war in political and media discourse.
