Robelli: Serbian students are following in the footsteps of Greater Serbian nationalism

Journalist Enver Robelli has reacted to the memorandum published by protesting students in Serbia, assessing that the movement that began as a revolt against corruption and misgovernment is sliding towards extreme nationalism and the rhetoric of the '90s.

In a recently published analysis, Robelli writes that the Serbian students' memorandum contains similar elements to the infamous Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts of 1986, a document considered the ideological basis of the nationalist policies of Slobodan Milošević's regime.

According to him, Serbian students are using rhetoric that incites hatred and conflicts in the region, while their attitude towards Kosovo, as he says, "does not differ from that of their racist fathers."

Robelli criticizes the fact that the students' memorandum describes Kosovo as part of the Serbian national identity, while Albanians, who make up the vast majority of Kosovo's population, are not mentioned at all.

"27 years after the departure of Serbian forces from Kosovo and 18 years after Kosovo's independence, Serbian students are so far from reality that they are propagating the return of Serbia to Kosovo," he writes.

According to Robelli, the student protests that began after the tragedy of November 1, 2024 in Novi Sad, where 16 people lost their lives after the collapse of part of the railway station, initially had a civic and anti-corruption character.

However, he estimates that the movement has gradually taken an increasingly nationalist direction.

He also mentions the massive rally of June 28 in Belgrade, where, according to him, nationalist calls and historical references to the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 dominated.

In his analysis, Robelli also criticizes the promotion of nationalist and controversial figures by Serbian protesters, mentioning theologian Nikolaj Velimirović, whom he describes as an anti-Semite and admirer of Adolf Hitler, as well as professor Milo Llompar, known for his nationalist stances and support for the ideas of the "Serbian world".

He warns that the new student memorandum could be seen as an ideological continuation of the 1986 memorandum, which he says was used to justify Serbia's wars and occupation policies in the former Yugoslavia.

"The theses of the 1986 memorandum served Milosevic to legitimize the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo," Robelli emphasizes.

The GeoPost