Serbia has scarcely tried to escape Milošević’s poison
After the ’90s, the process of denazification in Serbia never really began.
|2018.09.28
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Serbian society has never admitted or understood the extent to which Serbia’s Nazi-like policies and crimes were implemented.
Serbian racism towards all non-Serbs in Yugoslavia, out of which Milošević’s neo-Nazi policies stemmed from, was and still is today, most visible in our relation to Kosovo Albanians.
The truth is, Milošević barely lost the 2000 elections, and won in the long term, leaving his legacy and policies intact among his many supporters in Serbian society.
Serbia, under all its rulers, has never even planned to “give Kosovo up” — further cementing the false narrative among the public that it has a divine right to Kosovo.
While ‘democratic’ forces in Serbian society flirted with deeply rooted racist language and policies in order to rally support, Milošević’s successors recuperated and regained legitimacy among the broader public.
The last nail in the coffin of the mere possibility that Serbia could become a de-Nazified society was the ‘historic reconciliation’ between Đinđić’s and Milošević’s successors in 2008.
What connects opposition and government — just like it connected Milošević and his opposition — a colonial, essentially racist, attitude towards Kosovo.
We undertook virtually nothing to face our own responsibility for the deaths of too many children and the destruction of too many families.
It is more important than ever to talk about the consequences of Serbia’s past aggressions, because the current situation greatly resembles the time when Milošević took the stage in Gazimestan in 1989.
Milos Ciric
Milos Ciric is a Serbian politologist, educator, writer, media and human rights activist. He holds a BA in international relations from University of Belgrade, an MA in Cultural policy from the University of Arts, Belgrade and Lumière University Lyon 2, France, and an MA in Media studies from The New School University, New York.
DISCLAIMERThe views of the writer do not necessarily reflect the views of Kosovo 2.0.
This story was originally written in English.