Serbia Divided

Vučić’s calls for “unity” actually represent a call for his supporters to unify. Serbia is a deeply divided society – and two massacres (in a Belgrade primary school and settlements around Mladenovac) provided the spark for accumulated hatreds to ignite. And politics has again spilled over onto the streets major Serbian holiday of Vidovdan, which is linked symbolically to the Battle of Kosovo, the famous 1389 clash between Serbs and Turks, the 1989 anniversary of which was utilised by Milošević with his speech at Gazimestan – the memorial site marking the spot where this legendary battle, representing a central point in the Serbian identity, took place. Proving that history can be cynical is the fact that it was also on Vidovdan that Milošević was extradited to the Hague Tribunal.

When he fears those dominated by the ghosts of 5th October, Vučić remains silent about the fact that he could not have achieved economic success without the heritage of 5th October, nor would he have had the stability of the regime if it had not been for the lucrative exodus of 5th October participants to his shirttails

The aesthetics and messages of the proVučić (counter) rally in Belgrade were reminiscent of the Milošević era. As Vučić’s rule has unfolded, his somewhat surprising piety towards Milošević has become ever more visible, while in his frequent addresses he has almost never emphasised his real political mentor, Vojvislav Šešelj. Again, on the other hand, even though Vućić has also attempted to mutely rationalise his radical past, the political and media atmosphere and practice in Serbia have long since “re-Šešelj-ised”, as has SNS itself. Is it purely coincidental that the SNS

Assembly was held in Kragujevac – the city where the Serbian Radical Party was founded in 1991 through the unifying of the political organisations of Šešelj and Nikolić?

Vučić’s calls for “unity” actually represent a call for his supporters to unify. Serbia is a deeply divided society – and two massacres (in a Belgrade primary school and settlements around Mladenovac) provided the spark for accumulated hatreds to ignite. And politics has again spilled out onto the streets.

It is increasingly evident that Vučić is obsessed and frustrated with the regime change of 5th October 2000. Milošević’s mistakes mustn’t be repeated. That first and foremost means avoiding an irrational conflict with the West. Vučić is still holding his own on this front, the West is still relatively receptive, mistakes have long been made in the media sphere. It is very important to Vučić that they are not in the Praetorian prefecture, as was the case with Milošević. When he fears those dominated by the ghosts of 5th October, Vučić remains silent about the fact that he could not have achieved economic success without the heritage of 5th October, nor would he have had the stability of the regime if it had not been for the lucrative exodus of 5th October participants to his shirttails. It would have been even tougher for him if he’d had to deal with the extraditions of Mladić and Karadžić to The Hague, from which he was saved by Milošević’s successors.

Vučić tied his political destiny to the regime’s might not to permit the opposition to make essential concessions towards full democratic elections. If this changes, it will be a sensation.

H.E. EMANUELE GIAUFRET

AMBASSADOR AND HEAD OF THE EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA