Markovic for Geopost: Serbia has turned into the rule of a gang of robbers and it is important that things move at least a little

Serbia has turned into the rule of a bandit that has everything under its control, from criminal gangs who grind people into kebabs to large marijuana growers who have plantations the size of 25 football stadiums and then defend them when they are arrested, says Tomislav Markovic, columnist, writer and publicist from Belgrade in an interview for The Geopost.

He adds that even the neighbors don’t care who is in power in Serbia.

“If there was someone with less dictatorial ambitions, regardless of the fact that he has a similar policy towards the region, I think that there would be a certain relaxation of relations and that the advocacy of the Serbian world, which is obviously known to everyone, would not be insisted upon after the change of government.”

Markovic is not surprised that MPs enter the Serbian parliament from a list whose leader is a doctor but also a conspiracy theorist.

“I’m actually surprised that Nestorovic didn’t get more votes because conspiracy theories have practically been the official view of the world in our country for three and a half decades and nationalism as the dominant ideological matrix in Serbia actually fuels all kinds of conspiracies and conspiracy theories where we are just victims of some kind of white world powers , the Vatican, Judeo-Masonic conspiracies and all other imaginary phenomena and we are passive and just victims and are not responsible for anything, especially not for the evils we inflicted on our neighbors in the 1990s”.

He assumes, that Nestorovic was given a little help from the progressive regime to push it because, he says, there are various people who are close to the security services, to Vucic and similar people.

He assesses that in these elections the issue of Kosovo was not really important at all and that the interest that exists among the public was artificially caused by decade-long propaganda.

“Because let’s say these parties such as the Serbian Sabor, Zavetnici or Dveri, whose first priority is to not give Kosovo, obviously the issue of Kosovo as part of Serbia is very important to them, so they failed to pass the census, the voters did not recognize it as an important issue, nor was the issue of Kosovo really important”.

When it comes to the opposition, Markovic points out that the pro-European opposition persistently refuses to take a pro-European position, which is absurd.

“First of all, it is important for them to ‘take down’ Vucic and to defeat Vucic in the elections under any conditions. But that cannot be politics. Politics implies a certain set of goals, values and plans for the future of this country, and it seems to me that this is somehow missing”.

Full interview

The Geopost: According to the results of the elections in Serbia, citizens gave more support to the list of doctor, conspiracy theorist Branimir Nestorovic than to the list “Serbia in the West”, which did not even pass the electoral census. What does that tell us?

Markovic: Well, I think that speaks of a certain state of consciousness in Serbia. Doctor Nestorovic is a very interesting phenomenon who appeared in the age of corona, he was part of the crisis headquarters, so together with Vucic he appeared at the first press conference and uttered the famous statement that it is about “the funniest virus in the world that only exists on Facebook”, and after that he suggested the women go shopping in Milan. Later, he continued with conspiracy theories with anti-vaxxer activities and various antics. Therefore, Dr. Nestorovic managed to utter all the craziest conspiracy theories that have been collected around the world in the last 50 years in numerous appearances on television shows with a national frequency, especially on TV Happy. But also at various meeting places, on YouTube, on the Internet for shows that push right-wingers, conspirology and similar things. So, he claimed that sunbathing helps against corona, he talked about time travel, about ships that suddenly disappear and then reappear somewhere after 50 years, about the Bermuda Triangle, about how people with blue eyes actually came from Mars and similar nonsense things. And then such a man, who directly endangered the health of people in Serbia, gets almost five percent of the votes in the elections and enters the Parliament at the republican level but also at the city level in Belgrade and represents the tip of the scales that should decide who will form the government in city, if the elections are not repeated. I’m actually surprised that Nestorovic didn’t get more votes because conspiracy theories have practically been the official view of the world in our country for three and a half decades and nationalism as the dominant ideological matrix in Serbia actually fuels all kinds of conspirology and conspiracy theories where we are just victims of some kind of white world powers, Vatican, Judeo-Masonic conspiracies and all other imaginary phenomena and we are passive and only victims and are not responsible for anything, especially not for the evils we inflicted on our neighbors in the 1990s. So, Dr. Nestorovic fit perfectly into that matrix, and it’s just strange what people here believe in, on the one hand. On the other hand, Nestorovic even has a certain ideological agenda, foreign policy, he praises Russia all the time, despises the West, trusts in Putin and wants a government here that is much closer to the Russian dictatorship, and of course he despises democracy, freedom and all European and liberal values. All of which fits into a dominant matrix in Serbian society. So, I am not surprised by Nestorovic’s success. I assume that those from the progressive regime helped him a little to push it because there are various people who are close to the security services, to Vucic and similar people.

On the other hand, “Serbia in the West” was a small list, these are organizations that have just started their work without any wider support and advocate ideas that are very unpopular – joining NATO, recognizing the genocide in Srebrenica, dealing with the criminal past, facing what we did to our neighbors, EU integration without any calculation, recognition of Kosovo’s independence. And these are all ideas that do not enjoy great popularity in Serbia. They would enjoy more popularity because there is a percentage of people who stand for all that, between 8 and 15 percent, now depends on the point to point of that program, but I think more work in the field and presence among people is necessary. And secondly, to break through that media blockade, since there is no place for such ideas either in the mainstream media that are loyal to Vucic, but, unfortunately, not even in the media that are not under his control.

The Geopost: You said that Dr. Nestorovic also has a foreign policy ideology. What is the ideology of the opposition gathered around the “Serbia against violence” list? Do they have a plan to change Serbia or do they just want to change the leadership of Serbia?

Markovic: The opposition has a big problem with a flawed program, that is, with rising to what is a kind of mainstream and what is public opinion. So, they went to Berlin and there they clearly announced that they will not agree to any plans for Kosovo and that they will be guided by the Constitution of Serbia, in which it is written, in the preamble, that Kosovo is part of Serbia, even though we all know that this is not true and even though we know that this Constitution was passed during the time of Kostunica and Tadic precisely to cement that imaginary state. So, the Serbian constitution is in a way a fictitious document, in that part of the preamble, of course, it is closer to some kind of prose and fiction than to the highest legal document of a country.

Unfortunately, the opposition, which is pro-European, seems to be a little disoriented and does not want to break down and simply say that sanctions should be imposed on Russia, that Kosovo should be recognized and that true civil and pro-European politics should be pursued, which already appeals to some voters who basically they are not theirs. We have seen that in these elections the issue of Kosovo is not important at all. I think that people in Serbia are not that interested in it anymore, and that even the kind of interest that exists in the public is artificially caused by decade-long propaganda. Because let’s say these parties such as the Serbian Sabor, Zavetnici or Dveri, whose priority is not to give Kosovo, we saw Milica Djurdjevic Stamenkovski, the leader of the Zavetnici party, in the pre-election campaign claiming to be from Kosovo, as she illegally crossed the border through some forests and meadows. Now the question of where she actually was is not important. But obviously the issue of Kosovo as a part of Serbia is very important to them, so they failed to pass the census, the voters did not recognize it as an important issue, nor was the issue of Kosovo really important. But, in addition to all that, we see that the pro-European opposition persistently refuses to take a pro-European position, which is absurd. First of all, it is important for them to ‘take down’ Vucic and to defeat Vucic in the elections under any conditions. It goes without saying that any party entering the political race that is not in power, which is the opposition, wants to replace the government and come to power. I mean when you run a race you want to be first. So, it cannot be politics. Politics implies a certain set of goals, values and plans for the future of this country, and it seems to me that this is somehow missing. With the fact that we have sunk so deep that we are better off than Vucic, because this country has turned into the rule of a band of robbers who have everything under their control, from criminal gangs who grind people into kebabs to large marijuana growers who have plantations the size of 25 football stadiums and then defend them when they are arrested. So we have a catastrophic situation, and it is important for us that things move at least a little, and I think that our neighbors would not care who is in power here, if it were someone who has less dictatorial ambitions, regardless of the fact that they have a similar policy towards the region, I think that there would be a certain relaxation of relations and that the advocacy of the Serbian world, which is obviously known to everyone, would not be insisted upon after the change of government.

The Geopost: On election night, we had advocates of the Serbian world together. At the same time, some voters, disappointed with the election results, demanded on the social networks that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, give them Kosovo citizenship to flee from Serbia. How do you see these two realities?

Markovic: Yes, let’s exchange the population in accordance with ideological preferences and not national preferences, as usually happens in the last 100 or 200 years. We saw Milorad Dodik, from the Republic of Srpska, Andrija Mandic, the President of the Parliament of Montenegro in Vucic’s headquarters celebrating the victory. We saw some 40,000 people, according to some information, from the Republika Srpska voting in Serbia.

The Geopost: The minister in the BiH government, Nenad Nesic, was also at the celebration at the SNS headquarters.

Markovic: Yes, he is a member of the coalition and the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina who apparently voted in Novi Sad and Belgrade. It is bizarre that he votes at all, he cannot be a minister in one country if he does not have a residence there, and he cannot have two residences. So, it’s all illegal.

It should be noted that this is the return of some kind of debt, the same scenario was seen in the opposite direction when buses with citizens of Serbia went to Niksic to vote, even the same company transported people, when Vlada Mandic distributed money for voting in Montenegro. And the same was seen in the Republic of Srpska, so people from here also went to Srebrenica to vote and outvote the local population, to support Dodik. It must be said, since it is now insisted that many people from the Republic of Srpska came to Belgrade, that it is not only Belgrade, but I think that this was the case in other cities as well, especially in western Serbia where it is close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, so it is convenient to come.

And the fact that people half-jokingly write to Kurti that if it is possible to obtain Kosovo citizenship, it is not accidental at all, because it seems to me that in the last few years, people who are pro-European and pro-Western have recognized Kurti as the only serious politician in the Balkans, who is able to opposes Vucic’s hegemonic plans and is the only one that somehow manages to provide strong resistance to him despite not enjoying the support of the international community. People like to see someone who leads independent politics as they loved Tito who, as far as possible, managed to lead independent politics for the benefit of his own country. And who resists bullies, especially dictators and autocrats like Vucic.

The Geopost: Opposition leader Marinika Tepic is on hunger strike, her colleague Miroslav Aleksic initially wanted to show solidarity but, as he said, because of the glory of St. Nikola, said that his faith does not allow it. Since you are versed in the SPC and everything about it, is this one of the paradigms of holiness embodied in the word “dogodine”?

Markovic: ‘I’m going on a hunger strike in Prizren next year’ could be Miroslav’s slogan. It is strange that the holders of the list at the republican level are on hunger strike, and the Belgrade elections are at stake all the time. Where are the holders of the Belgrade list – Dobrica Veselinovic and Vladimir Obradovic? So, they should be asked where they are, what they are, if there is already a hunger strike, let them strike. Many people such as Dusan Teodorovic, an academic, or Nikola Samardzic begged Marinika to stop her hunger strike, the woman has two children, and someone else from the coalition could join in her place. But that announcement was actually bizarre. On the one hand, we have Marinika who decided on that radical act that could endanger her health and seriously question it, I mean, kudos to that, somehow, we didn’t even expect that. And on the other hand, we have Aleksic, unhappy, who announced a hunger strike and then said that he is fasting anyway, but that his faith does not allow him, so he will be on a strict fast on the water. So, we don’t know at all whether he is on strike or not, whether he celebrated Saint Nicholas or not. Does that fasting on water mean, which normally means eating food that is prepared without oil, vegetables, or is it about him drinking only water. It is about a serious matter such as the theft of votes and irregularities and the struggle of the opposition to still lead to the fact that we have some kind of normal elections, since these were certainly not normal elections, and it is made into a kind of comedy and joke. And Miki Aleksic obviously has that Svetosava charge and fits into that traditional matrix. And in this example, it was seen that the faith that does not allow him to do something is always some kind of false content, that it is not a true faith in anything, but rather keeping to customs and escaping from any responsibility and from any serious commitment to what man believes. But, well, it seems to me that nothing more could be expected from him. In general, we see a little confusion and confusion of the opposition, here Marinika is apparently the only one who is radical and consistent in her act, because it is a dangerous thing, it is not a joke at all, and the rest is somehow confused. We saw those young people, students, who at the protests asked to be told what the plan was, and one deputy from the Milivojevic Democratic Party was unable to tell them, as if they were not ready for all that was happening. I think it’s a good thing that at first no one from the West congratulated Vucic on his victory, only dictators and autocrats like Putin and Orban congratulated him. And on the other hand, a whole series of international institutions are talking about the fact that these elections were illegitimate and that they were stolen.

/The Geopost