Nationalism Rising in Serbia? - TIME
A banner reading "Russia Help Us!" is seen in front of a poster of Tomislav Nikolic in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica.
Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP / Getty Images
Nationalism Rising in Serbia? - TIMEBlogged with Flock
Showing posts with label SRS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SRS. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 29, 2007
Reality Dawns
In this succinct piece, Tihomir Loza of Transitions Online, argues that the threats of Kosovo's independence are exaggerated. His predictions on what might happen are not much different from what I wrote down a few days ago at A Fistful of Euros and here.
by Tihomir Loza
29 January 2007Suggestions that the independence offer to Kosovo will destabilize the region are greatly exaggerated.
...
An important element in the Serbian rejection of Kosovo’s independence will be the popular lack of respect for Albanians among the Serbs. Ethnic Albanians were close to the bottom of an unspoken yet omnipresent food-chain among the former Yugoslavia’s ethnic groups, a rating list whose top was occupied by often antagonistic but largely mutually respecting – if not always respectful – Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. To reward the Albanians, who are still often disdained and ridiculed as backward by the region’s nationalists, with something as shiny as an independent new state, on top of the one that they already have in Albania, just doesn’t and will not soon make any sense to ordinary Serbs.
...
Transitions Online: Reality Dawns
Thursday, January 25, 2007
No fanfare for the carve-up of Serbia
 Peninsula On-line |
International Herald Tribune -
BELGRADE, Serbia: Serbia's ultranationalist Radical Party, which once ruled with former president Slobodan Milosevic, wants to form a new government after having garnered the most votes in recent parliamentary elections, a party leader said Thursday.
European Union demands speedy formation of unity coalition in Serbia
Ultranationalists riding high in Serbia after crucial vote
 AKI |
Reuters -
The state created in 1918 is no more. Slovenia and Macedonia walked off in 1991. Croatia and Bosnia had to fight brutal wars with their Serb minorities, backed by Belgrade.
FEATURE-No fanfare for the carve-up of Serbia
Kosovo cut from Serbia, with strings
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Ultranationalists riding high in Serbia after crucial vote
Ultranationalists riding high in Serbia after crucial vote
Published: January 24, 2007
BELGRADE, Serbia: The party that won the most votes in Serbia's elections is staunchly anti-Western, has counted Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein among its allies, and wants to go to war over the breakaway province of Kosovo.
Many in the West had feared the ultranationalist Radicals would come out on top in the weekend parliamentary vote, but their stronger-than-expected performance shows how Serbia is having trouble moving beyond the bloody legacy of its late autocrat Milosevic.
The Radicals, who ruled Serbia together with Milosevic and were his iron fist during his Bosnian, Croatian and Kosovo war campaigns in the 1990s, won 28.7 percent of the vote to give them 81 seats in Serbia's 250-seat parliament.
They don't have a majority to form the next government alone, but may try to woo Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica into a right-wing coalition — perhaps by offering him the premiership.
The pro-Western Democrats, who were second in the polls and won 64 seats, would also need the support of Kostunica and his third-place Populist Coalition to form a government, but don't want him to retain the top job.
They are hoping Kostunica can be convinced that joining their camp is the only way to prevent Serbia from plunging back into international isolation.
Kostunica, long know as a masterful political operator, appears to be relishing his role as kingmaker and throughout the campaign kept open the possibility of aligning himself with either side.
The deputy Radical leader, Tomislav Nikolic, said Serbian President Boris Tadic, also the president of the Democrats, should offer "our strongest party" a mandate to form a government.
"But, I know he won't do it," Nikolic said, predicting new elections by the end of the year because "the so-called Democrats cannot agree on anything, let alone the new government."
"And, after the new vote we'll be even stronger," Nikolic said, appealing to Radical supporters to "have patience because we'll soon be ruling Serbia."
The Radicals' pre-election platform was drafted by their leader Vojislav Seselj who is awaiting a trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
It called for using force to block Kosovo from becoming independent under a U.N.-backed plan, giving up attempts to join the European Union, establishing "brotherly" ties with Russia, and keeping alive Milosevic's dream of uniting all Serbs in the Balkans into a single country.
In the vote, the Radicals won the most votes in almost all Serbian constituencies, including the capital Belgrade, which had been a traditional pro-Democratic Party stronghold.
The Radicals' supporters were active in paramilitary units in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are widely blamed for launching campaigns that wiped out non-Serbs near the border regions.
Seselj rallied volunteers for an armed rebellion by Serbs against Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia and threatened to scoop out the eyes of Croats with a rusty spoon. He later claimed the remark was a joke.
During their alliance with Milosevic, the Radicals constantly attacked the United States and "internal enemies" — such as opposition officials — who allegedly supported U.S. policies.
After Milosevic's ouster in October 2000 by united pro-democracy forces, the Radicals slowly sneaked back into the public eye, winning air time with bombastic remarks in parliamentary sessions.
They protested Milosevic's extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in 2001 — support that later prompted Milosevic to urge his supporters to vote for the ultranationalists, rather than his own Socialist Party, in elections.
Radical leaders often visited Saddam during his reign, publicly praising the Iraqi leader for his bravery and defiance of the United States. In return, Saddam's Baath party financed the Radicals' election campaigns. They are also known for maintaining ties to ultranationalists like France's Jean-Marie Le Pen and Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Ultranationalists riding high in Serbia after crucial vote - International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
"Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"
Monday, January 22, 2007
Jasmina Tešanović: "Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"
"Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"
Jasmina Tesanovicphoto by Stephanie Damoff
These elections, the most important since the toppling of Milosevic seven years ago, have proved that time can stand still. One third of the population still votes for the fascist Radical Party, whose leader Seselj is in jail in The Hague. Between dramatic hunger strikes, Seselj raves politically against the vast conspiracies of "the West." I know a translator who was forced to translate those speeches of his; driven mad, he resigned.Here in Belgrade, half an hour after the official results were confirmed, my gay friend and a Woman in Black activist were attacked and beaten in the streets by joyful skinheads.
Yesterday, young voters in their early twenties were crying in front of the school where they were supposed to vote. I interviewed them. They told me they were desperate because they cannot vote for what they want in their lives, but only against what they fear.
Their youthful aspirations are overwhelmed by fascists, radicals, wars, global isolation... They have had enough of that treatment in their young lives, for practically all their days. "Never make decisions out of fear," I told them boldly. I wonder how they voted. The gypsy party was first time in history on the electoral list. But death threats, and graffiti "Go Back to India" immediately appeared in their neighbourhoods.
A small and promising new party (LDP) passed the electoral threshold to enter Parliament. The leader of this party, a younger man who personally arrested Milosevic seven years ago, had a tough election campaign. In the last day before the vote, somebody planted a device under his car, apparently a bomb. The police blocked the streets for several panicky hours, then denied that anything hadhappened. I myself was a couple of blocks away, I saw the incident take place, but denial is a big art in Serbia. Who are you going to believe: the official version, or your lying eyes?
A couple of us electoral losers spent the evening waiting for new Serbia to arise. On blog B92, we chatted with our virtual friends from all over the world, many of whom who left Serbia in order to survive. As the new day was dawning, our hopes werefading. Those who left Serbia have no reason to return. If we ourselves leave, then we forfeit the country to the raucous, violent minority who just won the most votes, but can't take power. They want us toleave. Then they'd make life here impossible even for themselves.
I wonder: if every last Serbian left Serbia as a hopeless, dysfunctional mess, would "Serbia" still exist? Would the last Serbs to leave the country turn out the lights? Maybe the last pair standing would become cannibals, in our ultimate political solution: kill and eat.
Boing Boing: Jasmina Tešanović: "Good Morning, Fascist Serbia!"
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Ultranationalists win elections in Serbia
Sunday's election in Serbia was a show of nationalist fervor. Seselj's ultranationalist SRS got 28.7% of votes, Kostunica's nationalist DSS got 16.7% of votes, and Slobodan Milosevic's SPS got 5.9 of votes giving the nationalist parties an altogether 51.3% of votes. Clearly, Serbia missed an opportunity to make a break with its nationalist politics of the 1990s. All hope to create a democratic bloc government now lies on Kostunica who fashions himself as a democrat, while at the same time plays the nationalist card. The divided democrats didn't get enough votes to form a government, although the party of the assassinated former Prime Minister Djindjic almost doubled its share of votes to 22.9%. The Liberal Democratic Party of Cedomir Jovanovic also fared impressively gaining 5.3% of votes.
These are the preliminary results according to B92:
Cesid's latest preliminary results translated into the number of seats in the new parliament read as follows:
-Serb Radical Party (SRS) - 81 seats (28.7 percent)
-Democratic Party (DS) - 65 seats (22.9 percent)
-Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS-NS) - 47 seats (16.7)
-G17 - 19 seats (6.8 percent)
-Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) - 16 seats (5.9 percent)
-Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) - 15 seats (5.3 percent)
-Union of Vojvodina Hungarians - 3 seats
-Party of Democratic Action (DSA) - 2 seats
-Serbian Roma Alliance - 1 seat
-Roma Party - Roma 1 seat
Serbia's Radical Party wins 28 percent of vote
Reuters via Yahoo! News - 1 hour, 12 minutes agoThe hardline Radical Party attracted most support in Serbia's general election, dashing Western hopes the nation blamed for a decade of war in the 1990s would finally turn its back on nationalism.
Serbia's ultranationalist Radical Party leader Tomislav Nikolic smiles during press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007. The Radicals, who ruled Serbia with Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s, gathered about 29 percent of the vote, followed by the pro-Western Democratic Party with 23 percent and the ruling center-right Popular Coalition with 17 percent, said CESID, an independent polling group, citing its own vote count at Serbian polling stations. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
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