Boycotts in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Hungary have been launched.

[2] Apart from the potential violation of competition laws, the boycotts came amidst soaring food prices and cost of living throughout the region and are caused by various economic factors.

This began as part of the broader increase in prices due to inflation from the COVID-19 pandemic and was accentuated when Croatia joined the Eurozone in 2023.

[3] A declining agricultural sector, large food retailer monopolies and erosion of smaller businesses, an influx of imports, and an overreliance on tourism have all contributed to the inflationary surge.

[4] Branimir Bradarić, writing for the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, noted that tourists in Croatia, who used to frequent restaurants on a regular basis, now began to eat in their apartments due to the exorbitant prices.

[5] As a result, Croats refrained from shopping at retail outlets and grocery stores, and avoided using delivery services, banks, restaurants, and cafes.

[6] The idea for a boycott in Croatia began in the Facebook group Halo, inspektore,[a] managed by the European Center for Consumer Excellence.

Initially, it called for a boycott of veal for a week, citing an alleged 40% increase in food prices within the past few months.

[9][10] The idea for a one-day 24 January boycott spread across Croatian social media, receiving massive support.

One of the more prominent attempts was the renaming of groups made in support of the leading party's presidential candidate Dragan Primorac to "Halo inspektore".

This boycott specifically targeted the retail chains of Lidl, EuroSpin, and DM which were alleged to have exorbitant prices.

[26] Inspired by efforts in Croatia, social media users in Bosnia and Herzegovina began calling for a similar boycott on 31 January.

[22] It aimed to pressure authorities and employers within the country to curb inflation and increase the minimum wage and standard of living.

[28] A boycott organized by the "System is Killing Us"[c] movement, the Federation of Consumers in Bulgaria, the United Pensioners' Unions, the former ombudswoman Maya Manolova, and ex-MP Velizar Enchev[30] occured on 13 February.

In a social media post, they stated that prices in retail chains and smaller grocery stores have skyrocketed, threatening 800,000 Bulgarian pensioners living below the poverty line, as well as the working poor.

[33] Nelly Dimitrova of the System is Killing Us stated that Bulgarians could not even afford basic essentials such as milk, eggs, or meat.

[36] The 13 February boycott resulted in a revenue decline of 28.8% for the largest supermarket chains compared to the previous day.

[d] It calls for Greeks to not spend a single euro that day, even calling for avoiding payments to banks, public services, water, electricity and telephone bills, fuel, supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, commercial stores, purchases of electrical and electronic goods, plus any financial transactions.

[45][46] The boycott specifically targeted Aldi, Lidl, SPAR, Tesco, Auchan, Penny, Coop, CBA, and G-Roby.

[53][55] Kosovar supermarkets had record profits in the year prior, according to ex-minister of foreign affairs Petrit Selimi.

[62][65] The country had one of the highest inflation rates in the European Union in 2023, at 5.1%, leading to price increases for vegetables, fruits, and detergents.

[68][69] In October, four retail chains; Delhaize, Mercator S, Univerexport, and DIS [sr], were investigated by the Serbian government over allegations of price gouging.

[70][71][72] The page called for a boycott specifically against Billa, Tesco, Lidl, Kaufland, and COOP Jednota [sk].

[72] The Slovak Alliance of Modern Commerce[g] has criticized the initiative, pointing out that prices in Slovakia are only 82% of the EU average, as opposed to Croatia's 102%.

[62] In Croatia, the government did not condemn the boycotts and on 30 January announced a price freeze on 70 consumer goods in response.

The Chamber of Commerce, whose members are owners of retail chains, and the Montenegrin Consumer Association opposed the measure.

[89] Delyan Peevski, the leader of DPS – A New Beginning, announced that his party would introduce a law aimed at controlling prices in response to the boycott.