The political carnival of
sans-cullottes, directed by Serbian elites in
the week from February 17 to February 23, 2008,
turned into a mute and failed attempt to translate
ethnic and symbolical contents into a language
appropriate for political communication. The kitsch
newly-fanged supplicatory-prayer parody of political
events culminated in militarization of Kosovo
ideal and not a single political message that
could be decoded by modern political language
was sent from the Kosovo is Serbia rally, which
was sodden with artificially induced religious
and nationalistic enthrallment.
Mental maps of violence and vandalism were desperately
drawn and symbolical geography in which "Kosovo
is the holy city of Jerusalem" was defended.
The persistence
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in outlining emblematic
maps and the refusal to come to terms
with borders in the region were underlined
by speakers and participants at the rally:
those who attempted to implement "All
Serbs in One State" project back
in the 90's, and also representatives
of Republika Srpska, Montenegro and Republika
Srpska Krajina, demonstrating the readiness
to go on with realization of statehood-forming
project for a Serbia that is "powerful
and knows what it wants"; to call
a referendum in Republika Srpska; to recognize
autonomous Republika Srpska Krajina. To
keep on living in parallel reality, acknowledged
only by us, in which Kosovo remains the
measure of all things "of things
that are, that they are, and of things
that are not, that they are not";
in which Kosovo figures as the mother
of all reasons: the reason to sign Stabilization
and Association Agreement and join EU;
the reason for civilized and democratic
protest; the reason to impose ourselves
like res publica Christiana as the etalon
of God's and human justice.
Communities that persist in fostering
exclusivity of their culture, race and
ideas
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Illustration from the
book Art klinika - Prva petoletka,
Novi Sad 2007
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decay in isolationism and under terror of their
own elites. The unwavering choice of Serbian elites
is self-isolation, and the social environment
of marking the enemies and xenophobia, the disregard
for processes of modernization - they all introduce
into the public sphere new generations that are
objectively unable to perceive the world outside
the self-imposed boundaries. The elites did not
seek rational and responsible subjects and counterparts
in generations of young sans-cullotes, which grew
in the nineties - the elites of all Serbias (the
first, the second and the others) needed this
generation solely as extras and listeners, as
coverage for successfully conducted projects of
falsified reality, especially during the last
eight years, and especially on the part of civil
Serbia. The promoters of civil, different Serbia,
started talking to themselves after year 2000,
the same speakers talking to the same audience
in closed salons. It is a legitimate approach,
but its logical and anticipated outcome is the
generation of those who are destroying and demolishing
Serbia, glorifying Legija and Mladic, and shouting:
"Kosovo is Serbia".
In the context of evident legitimization of Radicals'
and Socialists' politics, and with support of
democratic political options, it does not come
as a surprise that a generations of young people
adopt as socially desirable the attitude that
"the Brussels commissioners both bombed us
and placed us into a makeshift state, and now
they threaten us with new integrating association,
dissolving Republika Srpska and forcing Serbs
to live in the multiethnic Kosovo camp, with their
murderers". Or that the generation of those
who were five in 1995 is now hiding behind a banner
saying "Goodbye EU" and incorporating
the friend-foe dichotomy in its political code
of a reasoning person. A generation of political
reasoning persons is growing up in a self-sufficient
and isolated country that only needs to "grow
stronger and wait" till it becomes economically
powerful and buys Kosovo back. Another generation
will exhaust the substance of its political engagement
in Serbia while waiting for its political Godot
(D. Radosavljevic). Another generation that can
offer to the united EU only a curriculum vitae
of thugs and hooligans.
Serbian elites artificially generate the false
Kosovo problem: Serbia's only problem is Serbia
itself. Hence the necessity that elites, first,
need to accept the fact that Serbian state, which
borders Kosovo, does exist.
Serbian elites must build their response to challenges
of the time in a new mobilizing paradigm, in ethics
of responsibility, by rationally dismissing the
false dilemma: Kosovo or Europe. Serbia needs
elites ready to open the Euro-Atlantic page, and
to close the chapter of real or metaphorical battles
with the world, Serbia needs elites that do not
generate frozen conflicts with Euro-Atlantic community.
The elites that would not end relations with the
neighbors, EU member countries or the NATO. The
elites ready to demonstrate their political maturity
by constructively resuming cooperation with EU
civil mission and KFOR forces in Kosovo. The elites
ready to give their own contribution to strengthening
of regional stability and peace.
