Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Thursday, Oct 10, 2024

Serbia still hasn't come to terms with the 1999 NATO bombing campaign

Serbia still hasn't come to terms with the 1999 NATO bombing campaign

No other event in modern Serbian history brings more Serbs together than the 1999 NATO bombing campaign.

The two-and-a-half-month operation involving major air strikes undoubtedly represents an experience of collective and personal trauma.

And every 24 March — the day the air raids to stop another war-crime-riddled campaign by strongman leader Slobodan Milošević began — Serbs relive their traumas of the last 20 and so years.

Yet, the majority of people in Serbia today see themselves as the only victims of what is referred to as NATO aggression, not intervention.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who were the sole target of Milošević's forces in Serbia's then-province, either do not exist in this narrative, or are perceived as murderous, subhuman puppets of the West.

As this narrative of self-victimisation grew over the years, the space for reflection completely shrank, and the NATO military intervention itself is now viewed as a goal in its own right — an isolated event whose only purpose was to target Serbia and its people.

"This is an integral part of the conspiracy theory that is at the root of the lasting legacy of Milošević’s regime: the West has been out to get Serbia and Serbs in general for centuries."

Yugoslav Army forces patrol the destroyed military headquarters in downtown Belgrade, May 1999


It wasn’t the result of the systematic policy of repression and disenfranchisement of Kosovar Albanians that had been going on since the end of the 1980s, started by Milošević, one-sidedly diminishing the political autonomy of the province under the control of Belgrade, that ended up in bloodshed.

Not at all. It’s as if the US and the collective West made a secret plan to intervene militarily against the rump Yugoslavia comprising Serbia and Montenegro at the time and invented a reason for it instead.

This is an integral part of the conspiracy theory that is at the root of the lasting legacy of Milošević’s regime: the West has been out to get Serbia and Serbs in general for centuries.

Serbia belongs in Europe, but first, it has to overcome the barriers it built itself


The truth is, however, that there is no concrete historical obstacle or divide that stands in the way of cooperation and even integration of Serbia with the rest of Europe, to which it clearly belongs.

Milošević’s lust for unlimited power, his support for the wars which raged across the former Yugoslav republics, and his rejection of democracy and an open market economy are what built the wall that still separates Serbia from Europe.

It is an artificial barrier constructed by Belgrade’s own erroneous and criminal policies.

"In the end, the type of black-and-white thinking typical of populists everywhere has denied Serbia a shot at a complete catharsis."


Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic gives a speech announcing the arrest of alleged anti-Serbian ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo, 28 February 1989


While these particular policies ended by 2000 and the removal of Milošević from power by massive protests that saw him end up in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague, the narratives his regime hung on to survive to this day.

In fact, they were actively reconstructed and expanded when Serbia’s new undisputed populist leader, Aleksandar Vučić, came to power in 2012.

While Vučić was careful not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor and engage in direct conflict with the democratic world — he even facilitated cooperation with the EU and NATO alike — he intentionally made Milošević’s narrative of Serbs as the main victims of the Yugoslav wars official state propaganda once more.

In turn, this brought him votes and popular support.

What would ensue is more than a decade of an unrelenting campaign of disinformation in which Serbs have been shown — through newspapers and tabloids, TV channels, films and TV shows, public statements made by officials, faux independent experts and the Serb Orthodox Church clergy — as victims of Albanians, Croats and Bosniaks, and sometimes even Montenegrins.

This resulted in the whitewashing of Milošević’s policies for which he was tried at The Hague, while the chance for the nation’s self-reflection was eventually wasted.

And in the end, the type of black-and-white thinking typical of populists everywhere has denied Serbia a shot at a complete catharsis.


The opposition long embraced victimhood, too


A more nuanced view would show that it is indeed quite possible to mourn the deaths of innocent Serbian civilians during the bombing and to admit that Milošević and his allies were war criminals who brought destruction to their neighbours and, ultimately, their own country.

No sane Serbian would welcome the bombing of his own country, but any moral and decent citizen of Serbia would have stopped supporting Milošević as it became clear he was waging yet another conflict.

And yet, while more than two decades later, some 80% of the voters in the 2022 election opted for populist or outright nationalistic parties, parts of Serbia’s more liberal and progressive opposition (as they claim to be) paradoxically also promote Milošević’s narratives.

For instance, Vuk Jeremić, the former foreign minister of Serbia and the leader of the centre-right Narodna stranka or "People’s Party," openly wrote on Twitter on 24 March that the NATO campaign was aimed against the Serbian nation and not against Milošević’s regime.

"If those are the liberal talking points, one can then easily imagine what the nationalist and far-right parties are saying."


Intentionally or not, he illustrated this statement with a photograph of Baghdad in flames.

Even Dobrica Veselinović, the leader of the green-liberal Ne da(vi)mo Beograd or "Do Not Let Belgrade D(r)own" political movement, started his tweet on the same day with a condemnation of the “NATO aggression”.

If those are the liberal talking points, one can then easily imagine what the nationalist and far-right parties are saying.


Ethnonationalism feeds on self-righteousness


Beyond the collective trauma that the bombing campaign brought to the nation’s psyche lies the foundation of ethnonationalism — the dominant ideology in Serbia, but also the rest of the region, since the 1990s.

The nature of ethnonationalism is that it disregards the interests or suffering of neighbouring nations and focuses solely on a singular, own “righteous” nation.

"This hypothesis ... gave the people what they wanted: a sense of superiority over their neighbours while retaining the angelic aura of innocence that comes with victimhood."


Belgraders and Yugoslav army soldiers, hold a Serbian flag as they pose for photographers, showing the Serbian salute while celebrating the Kosovo peace deal, 9 June 1999


Through the lenses of Serbian ethnonationalists, ethnic Serbs have the right to secede from any other neighbouring country and form Greater Serbia.

Yet Albanians, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Vlachs and Bulgarians, who all populate distinct regions of Serbia, have no such right, even if they are repressed at some point.

This hypothesis explains why Milošević’s narratives about Serbs as the only victims enjoyed and continue to enjoy such popularity.

After all, it gave the people what they wanted: a sense of superiority over their neighbours while retaining the angelic aura of innocence that comes with victimhood.

As a narrative, it's astonishingly myopic yet incredibly empowering: it simultaneously wholeheartedly supports aggression against the perpetual “other” and the feeling of being under constant existential threat by the same “other”.


The change has to come from within


The narrative in question is particularly resilient to outside change, and no amount of pressure from foreign democratic forces or factors can weaken it.

If anything, it cannot simply be displaced through foreign "carrot and stick" methods — as seen in the way Brussels has attempted to use the country's EU integration, for instance — because defeats, even when barely on the horizon, only further strengthen the feeling of victimhood.

"Forward-thinking, progressive Serbs must work together to find a way to bring their own society out of the depths of self-deluded ethnonationalism."

A Serb youth throws a wastebasket through the windows of a McDonald's restaurant in Belgrade, 30 March 1999


The only way out can be found from within. Forward-thinking, progressive Serbs must work together to find a way to bring their own society out of the depths of self-deluded ethnonationalism.

In this, they need and will need the support of the democratic world.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
North Korea Seals Borders Amid Rising Global Tensions; Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Deepens
Global Conflicts and Rising Tensions: Key Developments from U.S. Military Decisions, Terror Threats, Human Rights Concerns, and International Diplomacy
Israel's Dilemma: Retaliation Debates Amid Rising Tensions with Iran and Hurricane Milton's Impact on US Politics
Escalating Middle East Tensions: WHO Warns of Disease Outbreaks in Lebanon Amid Conflict and Airline Flight Suspensions
Global Strains and Humanitarian Efforts: France and Qatar Aid Lebanon Amidst Regional Tensions
Turkey's Trade with Palestinian Territories Surges, UK Faces Arms Export Dilemma, and Norway Heightens Terror Alert amid Middle East Tensions
Russia’s Largest Bribery Case and Middle East Tensions: From Bitcoin Bribes to Regional Conflicts
From Sahara Lagoons to Hurricane Milton: A Week of Severe Weather and Global Tensions
Global Updates: France Deports Omar Binladin, Uganda Faces Mpox Surge, Indonesia Launches $28 Billion Nutrition Program, Pope Diversifies Church Leadership, EU Urges Lebanon Ceasefire
Supreme Court to Debate "Ghost Guns" as North Korea Expands Nuclear Arsenal and Global Tensions Flare
Global Unrest: Protests and Policy Shifts Shape International Conflicts
India Strengthens Maldives Alliance Amid Regional Tensions with $500 Million Financial Boost
Middle East Tensions Soar: Mass Exodus from Lebanon, Calls for Stability, and Regional Conflict Fears
Iran-Israel Tensions Escalate Amid Global Calls for Ceasefire on Conflict Anniversary
Amid Rising Tensions: Global Responses to Middle East Conflict Escalate, Highlighting Humanitarian and Security Concerns
Pope Francis Denounces Global Inaction as Middle East Tensions Escalate Amid New Alliances
Regional Unrest: Jordan's Solidarity, Sweden's Historic Trial, and U.S. Military Aid Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Global Unrest: From Myanmar's Loss of a Democracy Advocate to Escalating Conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan
Escalating Tensions and Global Challenges: A Complex Tapestry of Conflict, Crisis, and Cooperation
On Anniversary of Hamas Attack, Regional Tensions Mount with Missing Iranian Commander and Election Dynamics in Focus
Global Crisis Escalates: Latin American Evacuations, ICC Arrests, and Rising Tensions in Lebanon and Israel
Escalating Middle East Tensions: Syrian Defenses, Global Protests, and Hezbollah Leadership in Crisis
Iran Awards Order of Fath Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel; Global Crises Unfold in UK and Bangladesh
Global Events Highlight Challenges: Wolf Attacks in India, Tragic Shooting in Israel, and Marburg Virus Vaccine Trials in Rwanda
Escalating Conflicts and Humanitarian Efforts: A Regional Crisis Unfolding from Gaza to Ukraine
DR Congo Launches Mpox Vaccination Amidst Global Calls for Peace as Middle East Tensions Escalate
Netanyahu Condemns Macron's Arms Embargo Call Amid Escalating Gaza Conflict and Regional Tensions
Escalating Middle East Tensions: Israeli Airstrikes Target Hezbollah Leaders Amid Rising Humanitarian Crisis
Turkiye Braces for Refugee Influx Amid Regional Tensions; Global Leaders Weigh in on Middle Eastern Conflicts
Global Tensions and Transformations: From Saudi Arabia's Revolutionary Change to Ukraine's Resilience and Middle East Peace Struggles
Global Turmoil: Pakistan's Unrest, Gaza Protests, and Ukraine's Fight for Support
Rising Tensions: Israel Prepares Major Offensive in Gaza Amid Regional Fallout
Hurricane Helene and Typhoon Krathon Devastate Globally, While Tensions and Violence Escalate in Iraq, Lebanon, and India
UAE Issues First Casino Licence to Wynn Resorts
Biden Warns of Election Unrest Amidst Trump Legal Battles and Rising Middle East Tensions
Global Tensions and Challenges: From Yazidi Rescue Claims to Egypt's Economic Bread Dilemma
Tunisia's Election Amid Authoritarian Shift and Human Rights Concerns
Iran Warns of Stronger Response to Israeli Aggression
Global Unrest: Concerns Over Israeli War Crimes, EU-Morocco Trade Dispute, and Rising Protests in Tunisia
Global Unrest: UN Condemns Israeli Airstrikes, U.S. and U.K. Respond in Yemen, and Humanitarian Crises Escalate Worldwide
Russia Removes Taliban from Terrorist List, U.S. and South Korea Strengthen Defense Ties Amid Global Tensions
Donald Trump Urges Israel to Hit Iran's Nuclear Facilities First
US Army Tests Armed Robot Dogs in the Middle East
Biden Advises Israel Against Striking Iranian Oil Fields
US Strikes 15 Houthi Targets in Yemen Amid Ongoing Tensions
Israel Wipes Out Entire Hezbollah Leadership in Yet Another Devastating Strike in Beirut
Global Tensions Surge: Nuclear Threats, Natural Disasters, and Crime Crackdowns Shape a Tumultuous Week
Intensifying Conflicts: Israeli Airstrike Tragedy, Iran's Bold Stance, and Rising Tensions Across Asia and the Americas
Unlikely Alliances and Global Tensions: From U.S. Politics to Middle East Conflicts
Global Turmoil: Lebanon's Humanitarian Crisis, Mpox Outbreak in Africa, and Escalating Tensions in the Middle East
×