Draskovic: Serbia subjugated by the KGB, pro-Putin and anti-West

Serbia has not truly been liberated from the system built under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, as the same political mentality continues to dominate today.

This was stated by the writer and former Serbian opposition leader, Vuk Drašković, in an interview with the Montenegrin portal "Pobjeda".

While expressing optimism about Montenegro's membership in the European Union, Draskovic stated that Serbia remains "strategically, spiritually and civilizedly in captivity to the KGB order," comparing the political climate to authoritarian regimes like Iran.

He said that in Serbia, Milosevic continues to be glorified, while protesting students are declared "traitors" and "terrorists," adding that anti-Western propaganda has deformed the collective consciousness.

According to him, for more than three decades, an "engineering of forgetting" has been developed that has erased from public memory the role of the anti-Milosevic opposition and the protests of the '90s.

In a direct criticism, he said that the majority of citizens in Serbia believe that the US, the European Union and NATO are enemies, while millions of Serbs live and work in these countries. According to him, anti-Westernism in Serbia is extremely high and sympathy for Russia and President Vladimir Putin is excessive and dangerous, adding that political and religious elites have contributed to this orientation.

Speaking about Russian influence in Serbia, Draskovic said that "it is deep and enduring."

Regarding the Kosovo, Albania-Croatia military alliance, which Vučić claims to pose a threat to Serbia, Drašković stressed that the rhetoric of fear is used to justify armament, while the real danger, according to him, comes from Russian influence in domestic politics.

According to Drašković, although there are ongoing protests against the system in Serbia today, the government responds with repression and real change is lacking. He notes that unlike in the 90s, protesters no longer carry pro-European symbols, while the fear of public stigmatization has increased and the public discourse has shifted towards nationalism.