Nikola Samardžić for Geopost: Serbia needs an independent Kosovo to get out of its delusions and mistakes from the past

Serbia needs an independent Kosovo in order to come out clean from the mistakes and errors and crimes of the past and to direct its future development in general, and I do not see the Europeanisation of Kosovo as possible without the Europeanisation of Serbia, says Nikola Samardžić, a historian, in an interview with Geopost and a distinguished professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.

“In this sense, I am of the opinion that both Belgrade and Pristina must be pressed to meet our general need, which means a near future in which Bulgaria and Romania will enter the Schengen area, a near future which means, I hope, the defeat of Russia in Ukraine, and which includes our more specific needs that we also enter the Schengen area, that our currencies are fully euroised, that we do business smoothly, move around and mutually enjoy the transformation of culture” .

It shows that Serbia does not have enough relevant political power and that it respects not only the reality in which Montenegro and Kosovo are independent states from Belgrade, but also the need for Serbia to define its borders so that they disappear into the Schengen area and finally become a complete state instead of an incomplete provisional one that suits radical and criminal elements and Russia, and to make the status of incompleteness a thing of the past for its neighbours, for Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I also see dangerous lobbying, from Belgrade and Moscow, and in Zagreb, in the circles of the socialist left, close to the serbian patriarch. Until clear boundaries are set for him, Vučić will not back down from those intentions, which have been the essence of serbian politics for the last 120 years, to cause temporality, instability and misfortune,” says Samardžić.

When it comes to the “protests against violence” in Belgrade and their potential to unleash real forces of change in Serbia, Professor Samardžić points out that the current protests are in fact born out of a revolt against two massacres in Serbia, which is a tragedy for which no society is sufficiently prepared, but also because of the inadequate, often inhumane, reactions of the authorities and a large part of the public, referring to the media.

“These protests are politically directed against the most important sources of violence, namely the media and those state officials most responsible for encouraging and tolerating violence, namely the Minister of Police (Bratislav Gašić) and the head of the secret police and secret service (Aleksandar Vulin)”.

Samardžić points out that we are living in a time of extreme dynamics of change, so that the position we occupy today, or the impression that surrounds us today, may no longer be valid for the future.

“In this sense, I hope that the changes that Europeans in general are facing will also take place – I would reduce them to confronting the legacy of populism and the Russian aggression against Ukraine as challenges that Europe will have to face on each of its territories and on each of its peripheries, including Serbia and Kosovo”.

As for the West’s attitude towards Vučić and Serbia, Geopost’s interlocutor stresses that the West has started to react too late to the problems of corruption and organised crime.

“And while corruption is political, not just economic, and I am referring to Russian and Chinese influence, there are two important points of Vučić’s economic stronghold – the north of Kosovo and the port of Bar – from where illegal substances are transported.”

And the transfer of illicit substances is one explanation for the economic boom with which, he says, Vučić has until recently made the middle class happy.

“In fact, in the last month, those who have been the beneficiaries of his transition, or those who have not been unduly harmed in that transition, have rebelled against Vučić. But Vučić and Dačić are supported by the losers of the transition, who have been promised since 2012 that this would not happen anymore, and they are what they are.”

Samardžić believes that the increased KFOR forces in the north of Kosovo at the moment are contributing to the division of Kosovo, recalling the recent statement by the President of the Serbian List, in which he expressed satisfaction with the reinforcements approved by KFOR in the sense that they honour the commitments made and that he trusts them.

“And not only with this case, we are also coming to the absurd situation that the West is punishing Kurti and allowing Vučić and his cronies in Bosnia and Montenegro, and more and more of them in Zagreb, to do almost everything,” Samardžić said.

Kosovo, he says, is still the punished party in relations with the EU, as visa liberalisation has not yet taken place.

“I would add to the sanctions against Kosovo the discriminatory attitude of the EU in general towards Balkan Muslims, who have the right to be Europeans as much and more than Muslims in Germany or France.”

THE FULL INTERVIEW

The Geopost: Do the weeks-long “protests against violence” held in Belgrade have the potential to be a real force for change in Serbia if it is known that the opposition, with minor exceptions, is united against Vučić, but ideologically they hardly differ. First of all, when it comes to the relationship with Kosovo, Montenegro, BiH…

Samardžić: The doubts you raise about the scale of these protests are justified in the sense that all the protests against Vučić in the last ten years have been held under the slogan “Next year in Prizren”. This was just one of the phrases that were used to point out that Serbian political society is going round in circles, that it is unable to break through its own limitations, which are not only strictly political, but also stem from a failure to accept reality.

The current protests are actually the result of one revolt over two massacres – at the “Vladislav Ribnikar” Primary School in Belgrade and in a village near Mladenovac – and the inadequate, often inhuman, reactions of the authorities and a large part of the public, I mean the media.

Perhaps no society is sufficiently prepared for such events, but in any case, an unfortunate series of tragedies and terrible reactions to tragedies brings people into the streets. So these protests are politically directed against the most important sources of violence, namely the media and those state officials who are most responsible for encouraging and tolerating violence, namely the Minister of Police (Bratislav Gašić) and the head of the secret police and secret service (Aleksandar Vulin).

This attitude gives room for optimism, since the demands are not narrowly politically coloured, defined by no political party, and there are different parties in the protest – both original and interjected.

Secondly, it is imperative that your viewers and readers are aware that we are living in a time of tremendous dynamics of change, so that the position we occupy today, or the impression that surrounds us today, may not be valid for the future.

In this sense, I hope that the changes that Europeans in general are facing will also take place – I would reduce them to confronting the legacy of populism and the Russian aggression against Ukraine as challenges that Europe will have to face in each of its territories and in all its peripheries, including Serbia and Kosovo.

The Geopost: Serbia will “breathe” if, as predicted, Ukraine defeats Russia?

Samardžić: I am under no illusions that the feelings and opinions in Serbia are on the Russian side, but I would not put too much faith in the quality of those feelings, because that quality does not really exist, as soon as feelings and opinions are like that they are like that.

The Geopost: The West has sanctioned Pristina after the recent violence in the north of Kosovo. Serbia passed without reprimand. Until when will Vučić be allowed to play the game of ˝escalation to de-escalation˝?

Samardžić: This is a question that has been open for the last ten years, not only since the first Brussels Agreement in 2013, but also from a series of written and unwritten conventions that allowed Vučić to take power in 2012 with the consent of Germany and other important European administrations that had nothing against at the time. He has made very specific promises that go to the heart of Serbian politics, that you cannot close any major problem unless those who caused the problem take responsibility and bear it.

Vučić’s radicals and Dačić’s communists have been making trouble since 1903 at the latest. It is a virus that has embedded itself in the identity of Serbian political opinion, and you can only eradicate this virus if you bring the causes of all the deviations to absurdity, that was the idea for which Vučić received support all these years and still has it.

Vučić has not yet been given a serious political alternative, and the opposition in Serbia is actually following him, not only reacting childishly to all provocations, but the opposition is essentially of the same opinion, which applies not only to Kosovo and Kosovo Albanians and other neighbors, or to international relations, they are in agreement on every single platform of the economy, transition, the organisation of institutions, culture and, finally, of course, attitudes towards European integration, which is generally negative, and attitudes towards Russia, which are generally positive.

The Geopost: What, in your opinion, are the underlying ideas behind Western policy towards the region at the moment? Satisfying the appetites of individual players who constantly cross “red lines” to the detriment of smaller countries (Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina). According to Western officials, there is no corruption in Serbia. For years, the West seems to have maintained a very similar, illusory relationship towards Putin.

Samardžić: If I were to start from the end, I think the West has started to react too late to the problems of corruption and organised crime. And while corruption is political, not just economic, and I am thinking of Russian and Chinese influence, there are two important points in Vučić’s economic stronghold – the north of Kosovo and the port of Bar – from where illicit substances are transported. And the transfer of illicit substances is one of the explanations for the economic boom with which he (Vučić) has, until recently, made the middle class happy. In fact, those who have benefited from his transition, or those who have not been unduly harmed by it, have rebelled against Vučić in the past month. Vučić and Dačić, on the other hand, are supported by the losers of the transition, who have been promising them since 2012 that they won’t be anymore and they remained that way.

Secondly, in all this, it is important to remember that neither side, neither Serbia nor Kosovo, neither Belgrade nor Pristina, acceded to the first Brussels agreement. Kosovo has committed itself to forming a Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM), and while I understand Pristina’s reluctance to such an idea, it is a legitimate position, but the abandonment of the commitment has already provoked an international reaction that may contribute to the division of Kosovo.

At the moment, the increased forces of KFOR, in the north of Kosovo, are contributing to the division of Kosovo. The President of the Serbian List recently stated that he was satisfied with the reinforcements approved by KFOR (NATO), that they respect their commitments and that he trusts them. And not only with this example, we are also coming to the absurd situation that the West is punishing Kurti and allowing Vučić and his cronies to do almost everything in Bosnia and Montenegro, and more and more of them in Zagreb.

I have followed Kurti since the days when he was a political prisoner. Let me remind you that neither the governments after 5 October, the interim government formed immediately after 5 October 2000, nor the government of Zoran Đinđić, were very keen to release him from prison, where he was illegally staying as a victim of persecution. Kurti was at that time acting as a partly political extremist, but also as a politician willing to take big risks, and it is fascinating how he, along with Kosovo society, has managed to change and evolve over the last twenty years. His strength lies, in fact, in the principled way in which he points to the fundamental principles of Western civilisation that ethnic divisions are unacceptable and that, while respecting these principles, he does not want to accept such divisions.

The Geopost: Kosovo has made more progress than any other country in the region in the fight against corruption, in the fight for an independent judiciary …

Samardžić: I would also look to the future. Serbia needs an independent Kosovo in order to cleanse itself of the mistakes and errors of the past and the crimes of the past, and in general to direct its future development, and I do not see the Europeanisation of Kosovo as possible without the Europeanisation of Serbia.

In this sense, I am of the opinion that pressure must be put on Belgrade and Pristina to meet our general needs, which means a near future in which Bulgaria and Romania will enter the Schengen area, a near future which means, I hope, the defeat of Russia in Ukraine, and which includes our more specific needs, that we too enter the Schengen zone, that our currencies be fully euroized, that we do business smoothly, move around and mutually enjoy the transformation of culture.

And I would actually start from those immediate needs of ours to serve each other, to help each other, not only in the process of European integration, but also in facing the daily difficulties that arise from immense poverty and a long period of isolation.

Kosovo is still the penalised party in relations with the EU, as visa liberalisation has not yet taken place. In addition to the sanctions against Kosovo, I would add the discriminatory attitude of the EU in general towards Balkan Muslims, who have the right to be Europeans as much and more than Muslims in Germany or France.

The Geopost: Serbia, as you said, needs an independent Kosovo in order to come out of the delusions and mistakes from the past. In this sense, does an independent, stable Montenegro suit Serbia?

Samardžić: Montenegro does not suit Vučić. Serbia has never accepted the declaration of Montenegrin independence, although it has reacted peacefully. This was another, I would say, emotional absurdity, because the union between Serbia and Montenegro was always more realistic than the union between Serbia and Kosovo, I mean the cultural similarities, but our social, historical and cultural ties are deeper. We do not have a political force in Serbia that is relevant enough to respect not only the reality in which Montenegro and Kosovo are independent states from Belgrade, but also the need for Serbia to define its borders so that they disappear into the Schengen area and finally become a complete state instead of an incomplete provisional one that suits radical and criminal elements and Russia, and for the status of incompleteness to become a thing of the past for neighbours, for Montenegro, for Kosovo, for North Macedonia and for Bosnia and Herzegovina. I also notice a dangerous lobbying, from Belgrade and Moscow and in Zagreb, in the circles of the socialist left, close to the serbian patriarch. Until clear boundaries are set for him, Vučić will not give up his intentions, which have been the essence of serbian politics for the last 120 years, to produce temporariness, instability and misfortune.

The Geopost: How do you see the results of this week’s parliamentary elections in Montenegro? Is this a continuation of political instability?

Samardžić: Most of the political parties that entered the Montenegrin assembly are Vučić’s players, including the Albanian MPs who are Rama’s players, and that is actually the same thing. Vučić and Rama share the idea of a new division of territory on ethnic lines, which would also apply to the Albanian communities in Montenegro. Their regional coalition is contrary to all the interests of Kosovo, if Kurti is sincere in his intention not to implement ethnic divisions and in the sense of releasing Kosovo from its status and condition as an unfinished, penal state.

The players and analysts are likely to have expectations of the coalition that won the majority of seats, and I would remind you that ‘Europe Now’ is a clerofascist, cleroibean formation of serbian services that, after 2020, I mean their major players, question Montenegro’s status in NATO, that they have supported the irredentist intentions of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is one of the most dangerous russian players in South-Eastern Europe, that they have called into question the fiscal and monetary stability of Montenegro, and that they are the promoters of the idea of Open Balkans, which is, in fact, the idea of dividing the sphere of interest between Zagreb, Belgrade and Tirana./The Geopost/