Nationalism has the edge

A colleague who has spent many years in and around Serbia writes:

You have probably noticed that Serbian politics haven’t changed much…the same old faces, same games, same centuries-old unresolved issue, same silliness, and the same struggle for the country’s soul, i.e., eastern or western orientation.

That is pretty much precisely my impression from a few days in Belgrade.  Bosnia, Kosovo, Communists vs. nationalists, Washington vs. Moscow, EU as the only route out of the morass.

As fortune would have it (logistics kept me from two other appointments), I spent today mainly among anti-nationalists, which is admittedly where at least some of my personal sentiments lie.  These are the people who defend individual human rights, are unstirred by appeals to ethnic identity and are trying hard to steer the Balkans in a more “civic” and “European” direction.

They are having a really hard time.  The Serbian political spectrum has shifted definitively in the nationalist direction, with President Tadic trying hard to outflank his nationalist competion, both inside and outside the governing coalition.  Today the government fired anti-nationalist Sreten Ugricic from his position as head of the national library, for signing a statement and speaking out in defense of a Montenegrin colleague.  The pretense is that this was done because in defending someone else’s right to free speech–and freedom from physical harm–he really was calling for Tadic’s assassination, which is a stretch even in Belgrade.

But it is indicative of the atmosphere here, which is reminiscent of the Milosevic era for the anti-nationalists.  Their calls to government officials go unanswered, the American embassy ignores them and even threatens to cut off funding if they continue to refer war crimes cases to the relevant state prosecutor, their media outlets get no government advertizing and they find themselves in court on ancient and often spurious charges. Of course this makes them ever more insistent and sometimes strident, determined to steer the ship of state in the direction they thought it was pointed after Milosevic fell:  towards accountability for past behavior, resolution of the Kosovo and Bosnia dilemmas and quick movement towards the EU.

The newest feature on the anti-nationalist landscape is the Preokret (turn-around, maybe U-turn) coalition, which has managed to put Ceda Jovanovic’s Liberal Party, Vuk Draskovic’s Serbian Renewal Movement, Zarko Korac’s Social Democratic Union and some nongovernmental organizations into a pro-European coalition:

All of us, all citizens who have struggled in good faith for a European Serbia…are embittered because of our numerous lost opportunities. We are especially dismayed with the unnecessary and dangerous turn of a pro-European government towards anti-European hysteria and a strategy that logs barricades at two border crossings in northern Kosovo, which could become the barrier to gaining the status of candidate nation and a date to begin negotiations for Serbia’s accession to the European Union.

This is not hyperbole, but it isn’t popular in Serbia these days either. Those who say it over and over–like Preokret and Petar Lukovic at the anti-nationalist, regionally focused internet portal e-Novine–can expect  harassment, accusations of malfeasance, and attacks in the increasingly government-influenced popular press.

I no doubt will get notes from friends criticizing me from associating with Petar Lukovic, allowing my picture to run on his site and agreeing to mention my visit to e-Novine here on peacefare.net, which I happily do (I trust the Serbian secret services will report it anyway).  The test of a democratic society is not whether it tolerates well-mannered dissent, but whether it can allow the more strident but intelligent sort to test its mettle on the sinews of the state.  e-Novine‘s style is not mine, but that’s just the point.

My last visit today was to the indomitable Natasa Kandic.  I will carry back to Washington the Humanitarian Law Centre’s Kosovo Memory Book 1998-2000 and addendum documenting “each person killed during the Kosovo conflict because of his her nationality.”  This is a work of extraordinary dedication and commitment, one that lends a firm foundation to her effort to create a regional reconciliation commission (RECOM)

to create an accurate, objective and official record of war crimes and other serious violations of human rights; to recognize the victims and their suffering; and to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.

Who could be opposed to that, you ask? It is not so much open opposition. You’ll find lots of people to rain praise on the idea, and few who will criticize it. But there are others who do not answer phone calls, or make arrangements for high-level meetings, or otherwise fail to help make this important idea into a reality.  And why should they? Nationalism has the edge today. Keeping the wounds open serves some people better than closing them.