By LUFTI DERVISHI
It’s hard to find a bar in Belgrade where smoking is not allowed… Traces of snow can be seen on the well-known pedestrian street in the center of Belgrade, while a gray twilight follows you everywhere. The reopening of the airline flight route with Belgrade has shortened distances, for those who can afford to travel, which usually include two categories: business and politics. Sometimes even the media…
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The future of the country is tied to EU accession. The opening of the negotiations has prompted a little optimism. But Serbia is a country that has more than one geostrategic choice. Russia appears more and more interested in the Balkans! Investments in Pink media group show Russia’s “Soft Power” . At kiosks one can see T-shirts with a picture of Putin on it and the “Kosovo is Serbia!” inscription. To what degree is Kosovo Serbia? In the Parliament it is rumored that Serbia’s trade volume is greater in Kosovo than in Russia! Two different “realities” stand behind this “critique” .
Newsweek editor Milorad Ivanovic, chuckles as he recalls the time when he worked for Blic newspaper. “Every time we placed Kosovo on the first page of the newspapers, we would sell fewer and fewer copies.” In the new magazine, Newsweek, he says that even when they (barely) write about Kosovo, they write about personal stories. There is simply no interest for Kosovo…! Not to everyone though. When speaking with journalists and representatives of the civil society it feels like reading the last page of a chapter. Kosovo? Nothing but a closed chapter! When speaking with officials at the Foreign Ministry of Serbia, the vocabulary is not new: “Kosovo has been and continues to be part of Serbia.”
When you hear this rhetoric you are unsure if the person standing in front of you is saying what he or she feels or what he or she has learned by heart and repeated for years … However, for Kosovo, the 1244 Resolution of the United Nations seems like the “Nastradin Hodja’s nail” … The official policy is using the Russian veto to Kosovo’s independence like a drowning man clutching at the straw. Kosovo is practically lost since January 17, 2008, its Declaration of Independence Day. Today, over 100 countries from 5 continents recognize Kosovo. A Serbian website (http://kolikokostakosovo. info) titled ‘How much does Kosovo cost us?’ updates every minute how much Kosovo costs the Serbian government …
As I was writing this piece, the amount had reached an astronomical figures. 834 868 5264 Euro!! Accounting the costs started in 1999. In addition to official spending, the lion’s share belongs to the smuggling. You don’t need a master’s degree in economics to understand Kosovo’s burden to Serbia’s economy. Veran Matic, a well-known publicist, tells his story with a meat trader. When asked about why he does not open stores in Kosovo, he says: It does not interest me. It is not a huge market. When the trader learns that he can supply the goods with by 15 % less due to the removal of customs duties, he immediately reaches for his cellphone and starts calling Kosovo’s market!
Veran Matic, tells us about the investigative program “Patriotic Plunder.” “We were threatened and they called us traitors” . The members of the parliamentary committee who investigated and confirmed the show’s findings were called patriots! For Matic, Kosovo is a lost case for which no time or money is to be wasted. Serbia is looking forward to its own future, but without coping with its past. Sometimes by justifying itself, sometimes by blaming others, Serbia wants to start a new relationship, without putting an end to the old one.
“The younger generation has no idea about what happened…” says Sonja Biserko, president of the Helsinki Committee. She blames the political elite, which cannot distance itself from the past, because ‘it has been a part of it.’ “It is fortunate,” she says, “that the wars that accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia during the first decade of the 90s were in the focus of the international community. “The International War Crimes Tribunal is not writing history, but it is giving evidence about the history that we passed!”
“Let the bygones be bygones,” says a young Serbian journalist who expressed his annoyance and seemed not only uninformed, but also uninterested about the past. “Tito’s figure is still being honored,” says Biserko who thinks the West is making a mistake by leaving out of its agenda the nationalism issue and the break with the past. Sooner or later Serbia will ‘break’ with Kosovo, because the EU membership process requires zero problems with neighbors. “There is no other alternative to dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade,” says Dushan Janjic of the Forum for Ethnic Relations.
The opening of the Chapter 35 will also be the moment of the last page in the “chapter with Kosovo.” Not only the past but also the present constitutes a hindrance to the EU integration. Dragged transition, corrupt and “immature” elites are not only a problem for Serbia … The region, has for the first time the chance to be under the umbrella of the EU, but the European perspective is clouded by dayto-day problems (the economy, unemployment, lack of perspective), the Russian desire to influence, and other problems that surpass the region, such as immigrants from the Middle East or terrorism.
One of the problems that persist in the region as well as in Serbia is that of not sustaining and making progress on what has been already achieved. Even the ones that could be considered key achievements resemble the Penelope’s web. “We are losing even what we took for granted. Now, free and fair elections are in question,” Biserko says. Youth unemployment, lack of prospect, weak institutions, and unprofessional judges are a sound heard in the ears of many in the Balkans. The magic stick that can bring back optimism is the economy.
The East European countries do not appeal interesting when separated. Together we can become interesting. The regional approach is a phrase used more and more often. You cannot choose your neighbors, but you are required to give and take with them. At the Foreign Ministry, an official stresses with enthusiasm that he wants good relations with Albania and emphasizes the improvement of infrastructure – highways, rail lines, and unused tourism potentials. “Your seaside has a great tourism potential. We have a great interest to transport goods through the port of Durres.” For Sonja Licht, the president of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, the problem is that “we do not know each other very well.”
She insists on the “horizontal communication” and exchange, especially among young people. Problems, according to Licht, cannot be solved only by bringing politicians together at a table, while the society remains uninvolved. “Universities, local authorities, doctors, chambers of commerce, different organizations such as architects should visit each other more often,” she says. Maja Vasic from the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia, smiles as she remembers her first visit to Albania in 2006! “Tirana left me dumbfounded.” The headscarf that they had recommended her to cover her face remained in her luggage!
“Ethnic distance is very big, and you know more about Serbs that we know about Albanians,” says publicist Veran Matic. In fact people with experience in civil society realize this quickly and are making steps to correct the existing gap. The Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) has joined hands with a partner in Belgrade, the Europe Movement in Serbia to establish a Centre for AlbaniaSerbia relations, which will serve as a large umbrella hosting opportunities that facilitate exchange and cooperation between young people, reporters etc. The Centre will also shed light on the current state of affairs on various segments of the relations.
“The Norwegian Embassy is going to support significant research on the potential of economic relations in 2016,” Alba Cela, Deputy Director of AIIS says, citing one example of intervention. The Centre is also supported strongly by the Federal Republic of Germany through a grant that will make possible a forum with experts, a European Academy for youth as well as joint internships for young professionals. The logic is the same: more interaction, more communication, less prejudice, less enmity… “We are in this for the long haul, Albert Rakipi, Executive Director of AIIS explains- “ this is a strategic project of normalizing relations for the sake of both our countries, but also for the region.”
Lich mentions other problems, not only in the EU but also outside it, that may serve to understand that “we are in the same boat.” Immigrants! They still do not use Albania as a transit, but that cannot be excluded. Problems that surpass the boundaries of one state and seek common solutions are growing.
The media and elites…
The day of the match (Serbia – Albania Belgrade October 14, 2014) seemed like the day that started a war … I remember rather well where I was and that I was doing. Only during major events one can remember in detail different moments during the day. Licht is rather agitated and concerned when talking about the match. She blames the tabloid media, which she calls the force of darkness! “Something must be done,” she says with the calmness and competence of a doctor who is sure that the case has a solution.
The prescription, according to her, is to open a serious debate even if you know that you can lose the debate. The internet and social networks have facilitated communication, but at the same time, with the same speed, have multiplied misunderstandings, prejudice, and xenophobia. Frequently, a tabloid in Belgrade is simply cited as “the Serbian media” and vice versa. Quoting actors that are not factors in Albania are simply taken as a representative opinion from Tirana. The return match in Elbasan went much better. I remind the Official at the Foreign Ministry the moment when the Serbian captain replacement at the last minute was followed by an applause. “We should not forget that someone threw stones at the bus,” he hastens to say with the speed of a striker that stays hidden to mark the “equalizer” .
The match in Belgrade and the drone has left marks. Whether you use the word “provokacia” or “incident” – the match will be remembered for a long time and it serves as an indicator of the fragile relations between the two countries. The media can play a key role in relations between the countries and the region. Nevertheless, the media has its own “troubles” . Vukasin Obradovic, president of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia says that journalists are poorly paid in Serbia. The average salary is 400 euros per month. “How can you be a professional when your mind is concentrated on how to feed your family?” he asks.
“If there are problems, they come from the political elite and the media,” says Sasha Mirkovic, state secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Media. Coming from the field of journalism, like the shoemaker who believes that every problem is solved with a cleat, he believes that the information distribution will illuminate people and the future will be better, not only in “Pristina-Belgrade” relations. People will travel more, will get more acquainted with each other and have less prejudices. “In a place where most people follow their leaders, it is important that the message conveyed is positive,” notes Licht! “We do not expect miracles, but it is important for people to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Licht says.
But in the Balkans, even when there are cases that allow people to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the media and the political elite call for the “tunnel extension” bid…
