Nationalism has the edge
A colleague who has spent many years in and around Serbia writes:
You have probably noticed that Serbian politics haven’t changed much…the same old faces, same games, same centuries-old unresolved issue, same silliness, and the same struggle for the country’s soul, i.e., eastern or western orientation.
That is pretty much precisely my impression from a few days in Belgrade. Bosnia, Kosovo, Communists vs. nationalists, Washington vs. Moscow, EU as the only route out of the morass.
As fortune would have it (logistics kept me from two other appointments), I spent today mainly among anti-nationalists, which is admittedly where at least some of my personal sentiments lie. These are the people who defend individual human rights, are unstirred by appeals to ethnic identity and are trying hard to steer the Balkans in a more “civic” and “European” direction.
They are having a really hard time. The Serbian political spectrum has shifted definitively in the nationalist direction, with President Tadic trying hard to outflank his nationalist competion, both inside and outside the governing coalition. Today the government fired anti-nationalist Sreten Ugricic from his position as head of the national library, for signing a statement and speaking out in defense of a Montenegrin colleague. The pretense is that this was done because in defending someone else’s right to free speech–and freedom from physical harm–he really was calling for Tadic’s assassination, which is a stretch even in Belgrade.
But it is indicative of the atmosphere here, which is reminiscent of the Milosevic era for the anti-nationalists. Their calls to government officials go unanswered, the American embassy ignores them and even threatens to cut off funding if they continue to refer war crimes cases to the relevant state prosecutor, their media outlets get no government advertizing and they find themselves in court on ancient and often spurious charges. Of course this makes them ever more insistent and sometimes strident, determined to steer the ship of state in the direction they thought it was pointed after Milosevic fell: towards accountability for past behavior, resolution of the Kosovo and Bosnia dilemmas and quick movement towards the EU.
The newest feature on the anti-nationalist landscape is the Preokret (turn-around, maybe U-turn) coalition, which has managed to put Ceda Jovanovic’s Liberal Party, Vuk Draskovic’s Serbian Renewal Movement, Zarko Korac’s Social Democratic Union and some nongovernmental organizations into a pro-European coalition:
All of us, all citizens who have struggled in good faith for a European Serbia…are embittered because of our numerous lost opportunities. We are especially dismayed with the unnecessary and dangerous turn of a pro-European government towards anti-European hysteria and a strategy that logs barricades at two border crossings in northern Kosovo, which could become the barrier to gaining the status of candidate nation and a date to begin negotiations for Serbia’s accession to the European Union.
This is not hyperbole, but it isn’t popular in Serbia these days either. Those who say it over and over–like Preokret and Petar Lukovic at the anti-nationalist, regionally focused internet portal e-Novine–can expect harassment, accusations of malfeasance, and attacks in the increasingly government-influenced popular press.
I no doubt will get notes from friends criticizing me from associating with Petar Lukovic, allowing my picture to run on his site and agreeing to mention my visit to e-Novine here on peacefare.net, which I happily do (I trust the Serbian secret services will report it anyway). The test of a democratic society is not whether it tolerates well-mannered dissent, but whether it can allow the more strident but intelligent sort to test its mettle on the sinews of the state. e-Novine‘s style is not mine, but that’s just the point.
My last visit today was to the indomitable Natasa Kandic. I will carry back to Washington the Humanitarian Law Centre’s Kosovo Memory Book 1998-2000 and addendum documenting “each person killed during the Kosovo conflict because of his her nationality.” This is a work of extraordinary dedication and commitment, one that lends a firm foundation to her effort to create a regional reconciliation commission (RECOM)
to create an accurate, objective and official record of war crimes and other serious violations of human rights; to recognize the victims and their suffering; and to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.
Who could be opposed to that, you ask? It is not so much open opposition. You’ll find lots of people to rain praise on the idea, and few who will criticize it. But there are others who do not answer phone calls, or make arrangements for high-level meetings, or otherwise fail to help make this important idea into a reality. And why should they? Nationalism has the edge today. Keeping the wounds open serves some people better than closing them.
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“…the American embassy ignores them and even threatens to cut off funding if they continue to refer war crimes cases to the relevant state prosecutor, …”
WHAT?>
You have always been biased when commenting the Balkans. Nationality in the form of extremism is not as noticeable in Serbia as you describe it. Furthermore, you describe Serbia as some illicit place and its people as war criminals and guilty-for-all-what’s-happening in the region and beyond. You must remember that Serbia is not Draskovic, Kandic,Jovanovic, and the rest of the clan you see as ‘rightful leaders’. They do not even enjoy significant support among the citizens. And you must respect citizens’ will, their intentions and desires, and how they see their own future. I really do not see the reasons for your constant ‘condemnation’ of Serbia and its people; is it only because they do not want to be controlled and become dependent and someone’s marionette? Please, leave these people alone because your advises are not helping solving the problems in any way. The people have the right to decide on their own future and certainly know what’s the best for them better than you do.
@Faresha
what will you speak of? go back to 90ties?
I really don’t know what do you mean by that. Serbia apologized for its crimes, it has extradited all war criminals to the ICTY,some of them died there, some are serving their sentences. What about other countries? They have all released their war criminals from prison. Why Serbian victims have no right to justice? What happened with the investigation on organ trafficking in Kosovo? Such a gruesome crime must not remain unpunished. On the other hand, EU said before that Serbia has fulfilled all requirements to get the EU candidate status. And now what? They continue to make pressure and are forwarding some impossible conditions, i.e. to renounce a part of its territory, which no other country in the world would do. I wonder, if Serbia is stupid enough to do that? Internationals said, ‘Kosovo is put under international administration to stop repression by Milosevic’. Now Milosevic is gone, Serbia is a democratic country where minority, human, and all other rights are respected, so why they do not return Kosovo to Serbia? Or was their plan something else than to simply protect human rights? Remember that nothing can’t be build on lies and dishonesty. I am only saying that the people of Serbia should decide about their own destiny, and it is terrible that this country is blamed for everything bad that happened in the region. It is about honesty and equality, and I do not see why would any country or a nation accept being constantly disparaged for something they did not do. Those who did have already been punished. If you want partnership with someone, you need to be honest, to show respect and sincere intentions, not just to ask for unconditional surrender.
typical answer to everything but to question. what destiny you speak of?
“The people have the right to decide on their own future and certainly know what’s the best for them better than you do.”
Before the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., a large part of the country wanted to be able to discriminate against Blacks, and the rest of the country didn’t much care whether they did or not. Before Women’s Liberation, women were automatically paid less than men for the same job and had little chance of advancement in most professions. Before the Gay Rights’ movement, being homosexual was a life sentence to misery.
Based on what I’ve seen in my own lifetime, what “the people” want can change, to allow more of the people a chance at a better life.
In Mrs. Kandic’s view nationalism is just a kind of hate crime. Just a soccer hooligans have no reason for their destructive behavior beyond “being bored” in her view nationalists are just irrational morons.
I think this is a rather simplistic view that ignores what really happened. The bloody nature of the conflict in some parts of Kosovo reflected existing tensions about properties and power.
Sure, the conflicts in Yugoslavia knew their opportunists too who just grabbed the opportunity for violence or theft. But the conflicts would have been there even without them.
When I see the label “nationalist” applied to someone it is nearly always a cheap effort to discard someone else’s opinion without having to think about it. It is a sign of intellectual laziness.