According to Miloš Jovanović, president of the New Democratic Party of Serbia and assistant professor at the BU Faculty of Law, it is likely that the two opposition coalitions - "Serbia against violence" and NADA - New DSS and POKS, will hold a meeting these days. The president of the New DSS says that it is best to act in two columns for the sake of a better result for both coalitions, and if that fails, the final unification of the opposition under the same roof is possible. In the conversation held in the Parliament of Serbia, we touched on the topics of the urban redesign and destruction of Belgrade, Gencic's Villa, the Fair, the General Staff offered to American partners, the "Yugoslavia" hotel handed over to a company close to the government, the sale of the Geneks office building to a controversial businessman, the Expo complex, Rio Tinto.
"Pure, private interest above all led to the fact that you are also offering the General Staff building for sale. "Urbanism is not thought through except as a piggy bank," says Miloš Jovanović for "Vreme".
Unfortunately, we also talked about the escalation of cause-and-effect violence in all segments of society and the atmosphere of violence, arrogance and callousness, which is broadcast daily from the top of the government and spills over like merged courts into the people.
"WEATHER" The President of Serbia announced that this week we will have a mandate for the composition of the Government. Do you know anything about that??
MILOS JOVANOVIC: I don't know if it will be this week, some representative will be: Siniša Mali, Miloš Vučević or someone third, fourth, but the policy will remain the same. The center of power will still be at Andrić's crown and that will not change. Until now, the mandate holders have always been either some kind of outpost or not to say puppets, but they are certainly not the people who fundamentally lead and determine the policy in accordance with the Constitution. Governments are not the ones who run politics, politics is run by one man, Aleksandar Vučić, it is not something I am overly interested in.
Nor did Ana Brnabić in the position of the Speaker of the Parliament?
Ana Brnabić's engagement, as I have said many times, sounds and may be harsh, a symbol of the humiliation of Serbia. Sometime in 2017, after the election, there was a debate on one television whether a candidate for a high state office should have "status and voice". But when it comes to Ana Brnabić, I am quite sure that not a single citizen of this country, not a single Serb or Serb, could be proud that Ana Brnabić was our prime minister. It's not about her sexual orientation, but about the absence of education and eloquence, because apart from her operative position, she has the role of representing the state. I think that Serbia, and even this progressive one, could have produced a better representative. In addition, her election as the Speaker of the Parliament is not the best solution because she did not show any kind of tolerance and openness to dialogue. They have entered the mold of rudeness and primitivism and they will not move from it because they are not capable of anything else. It even seems to me that they think that this way of communication is completely legitimate and that it keeps them in power.
The register of tones that can be heard in the parliament is getting higher and higher, and the level of treatment is increasingly disgusting. How long?
Yes, it's getting more disgusting and that's the right word. It was not like that in the period from 2012 to 2014. It started to slide in the period from 2016 to 2018, I can't say exactly when and I think it is connected with the processes of handing over Kosovo and Metohija. That process is unconstitutional, and regardless of one's political orientation, we must know that it will cause a serious geopolitical crisis in the coming years or decades, I mean the Republika Srpska, the unitization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Raska, Vojvodina... It will not stop. When you have a policy like they have, anti-constitutional and anti-state or high-treason, then you have to ban the media, to cover it up as much as possible, and that's why you increase the media barrage and propaganda. As they gave more and more legitimacy to the secessionist forces and the abandonment of their state territory, they intensified the propaganda against those who campaigned against it. Therefore, it is not just their being or the mentality of the progressives, but it is an essential misunderstanding of democracy combined with a violent streak and primitivism, and behind everything is the masking of the political process of the surrender of Kosovo and Metohija.
Belgrade elections annulled, repeated or new and under what conditions?
Formally, it is not important at all, the essence is whether we can even have elections that are as democratic, fair and honest as possible. I'm afraid we can't. To your question whether work is being done on the revision and control of voter lists, freedom of the media and migratory applications for residence, the answer is that it is not being done. We, as the opposition to the government - the coalition "Serbia against violence" and the NADA coalition, sent a written invitation to the parties in power to respond urgently to the demands, but we did not receive any response except for some airy reactions, nothing in writing and official. And time flows. We within the opposition will have a meeting these days and it is possible that we will have an official reaction when this text is published. The opposition and ProGlas said that if the conditions are not met, we will not participate in such elections.
What if how much they did not fulfill the demands of the opposition, boycott or semi-boycott?
I don't know what a semi-boycott is, but if there are no fair elections, then there won't be any. Whether that means preventing elections from taking place, there are many ideas. We witness Mala Krsna every day, and if we can't prevent that either, we can immediately declare Vučić a marshal. We cannot do this alone; and the citizens should say "enough is enough" because we are slipping into a serious dictatorship. If there is no change, those elections are meaningless.
Isn't it already realistic that there probably won't be any concessions, and ODIHR recommendations and they are interpreted as they see fit? Is uniting all parties that declare themselves opposition under the same roof a good option or are two columns a better solution??
I think the opposition would make a huge mistake if they went to the elections under unchanged conditions because Vučić is rigging the elections to win them, not to lose them. We would be truly foolish and irresponsible to the citizens to accept the elections under the existing unchanged conditions. The question of the legitimacy of such an opposition would be raised with every right. I can't even imagine a scenario where we go to the elections under the same conditions and I don't want to imagine it. We signed that together with ProGlas.
Photo: Lenka Pavlović...
If the conditions were to change, joining together under the same roof has its pros and cons. In principle, I am in favor of two columns because I know many people on the right who would not accept a pre-election alliance with the "Serbia against violence" coalition, because I think we can achieve a better result in two columns. There is one option in which the opposition under the same roof makes sense, and that is if the tension rises so much and there is a sharp polarization between the various opposition and the regime.
You are in favor of canceling French German agreement, diplomacy regarding the withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo and the declaration of occupation. How would it improve the life of Serbs in Kosovo?
I have two things to say. Whoever comes to power in the future, has the obligation to cancel that agreement because it is unconstitutional and as such null and void for Serbia. It is not a question of political determination, but of the rule of law. If we are fighting for a legal state, that means free elections, respect for the Constitution and the principle of territorial integrity. As far as Serbia is concerned, the agreement was not accepted, it was accepted by Aleksandar Vučić. Your second question is how it would affect the people of KiM. There is a replacement of theses in the part of the political elite, which is more pro-European oriented, and which, by the way, does not know much about what Europe is and what those values are. They say "let go of the borders and the country, the people who live there are important". Of course they are important, the only problem is that the rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija cannot be respected without respecting the rule of law of Serbia over Kosovo and Metohija. One does not work without the other. With the Franco-German agreement they get nothing, only the right to pack their bags and leave. We have to stop Serbia's complicity in stealing its own territory. Since 2008, with the policy that the EU has no alternative, we have come to a situation where the number of Serbs has decreased, their safety is almost non-existent, children are shot at Christmas, houses are set on fire... We have not received anything for the Serbs in Kosovo and we will not receive anything. If the state of Serbia implicitly recognizes the secession of Kosovo and Metohija, not a single Serb will remain there in 10-15 years. It is a little hypocritical to say that people are important and not the state, because the state exists because of the people. We have surrendered so many responsibilities and positions on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija and the Western powers are treading on us, that the only solution would be to declare it through a parliamentary resolution occupation of part of the territory of Serbia, which shows a clear political position that Serbia will not give up on it, while respecting Resolution 1244.
Who would be a partner for the policy of declaring the occupation of KiM??
The people, of course, otherwise we will not be in power. Another dimension is helping the people who live there, but not in the way Srpska lista does. I have said more than once that I have no problem with the concept of the Serbian List, I even think that it is a good idea that is poorly implemented. The Serbian list was supposed to be an instrument of support for solidarity, faith in the success and maintenance of the Serbian corps, but it turned into an instrument of injustice, lack of faith in survival, often corruption and crime. Third, to be completely frank, you have situations where you have to respond to tensions with tensions, and nobody likes to hear that. Everyone wants to hear a politician who says everything will be fine, but it isn't. Currently in the world we have two major hotspots, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. We cannot act like children, closing our eyes when we don't want to see something.
What exactly does tension on tension mean??
Then when the barricades were erected, they should have been maintained, but Vučić removed them. If there would be an increase in tensions, maybe, if there would be a war - no, because in this situation, the West does not need a war in the Balkans. Then came the Franco-German agreement, the meeting with the famous five, Vučić accepted the concept and the plan to work on its implementation. In addition, it is inconceivable that one person goes alone to a meeting at a high state level without associates, colleagues, advisors, a team that would show strength and unity in decision-making. The man leaves on his own and decided unconstitutionally, without witnesses. Does anyone know what was behind those closed doors? No one in Serbia knows what was said there except those five diplomats and Vučić, who decided the fate of the nation. That's unheard of. The way they work, they don't work well - plates, there are no more dinars, there is also talk about the associated membership of Kosovo and Metohija in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
You don't need to keep backing away. It is not easy, but we will have to show a little more determination not to give up the fight. There is no meritocracy in Serbia (to each according to merit), but we have negative selection, an authoritarian system and party fliers. We have a government that panders to the interests of foreign investors and the West, they satisfy them a little with this hotel here, land there, Kosovo policy that favors them, and they don't mind Vučić's autocratic rule. We sold the holy land and got Belgrade on the water.
25 years have passed since the bombing, The 5th of October changes and the belief that we will soon enter the EU, but that didn't happen. Yet, some processes of synchronization and harmonization have been initiated, some chapters have been opened. Why should we give up on that path, even if we are still waiting, it is good for Serbia in the long run?
Three things. You say we came off as naive. You have to keep in mind the democratic maturation, because hardly any nations would survive in the face of the geopolitical pressures that we have mentioned, they would be even worse. This does not release us from responsibility, but objectively it was bad for us and we could not influence it much. This people has a tenacity that should not be underestimated. Regardless of the path we have taken and my position on Kosovo and Metohija, I am a Eurosceptic. The EU today is the forerunner of Western ideology, neoliberalism, decadence, market economy, it has everything. I am not a fan of same-sex marriage, two mothers or two fathers, nor do I think that gender has anything to do with biological sex, these are serious social issues and it does not lead in a good direction. Call me a traditionalist or what you will. But, aside from that, Serbia cannot become a member of the EU without recognizing the secession of Kosovo and Metohija, that was said clearly and loudly already in 2008. In a situation where 22 member states have recognized the secession of Kosovo and Metohija, by definition they will ask you to do so before joining. At the time, the "Both Europe and Kosovo" policy was not sustainable, they are two different tracks, i.e. they are very connected - the more we let Kosovo and Kosovo go down the drain, the greater our chances of joining the EU will be. My position is that we should not enter the EU at the price of renouncing part of the territory.
The alternative is isolation., isn't it, our children will always be last in line?
The European Union will not expand in the foreseeable future, there is nothing to be gained from that business. They talk about expansion because they have to talk about it. The discourse on enlargement has a legitimizing function, because with it you are saying two things: that your project has a future and that you are desirable as a union, because there are countries that want to join, and there are more and more of them with territorial problems. The EU does not want to import conflicts. I am afraid that the talk of EU membership is a kind of escape from responsibility, putting fate in other people's hands and civic immaturity. We think everything will be better if we join the EU. In my building on Vračar, I warn my neighbors to water the plants in the front yard and to pick up papers that have fallen on the way. Without success, all tenants think that someone else should do it.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called you his "with the greatest disappointment" in a TV show. What did he want to say?: that you let him down, you were with him and then moved to another apartment?
They told me that, I don't watch his performances, I can't comment. I see every criticism of the regime as an award and a confirmation that the NADA coalition is on the right track. Let them do their job, I have my job at the university and it gives me great pleasure to work with young smart students. And regarding the topic of my doctoral dissertation "Justification and justification of the use of force in the post-Cold Novian period, Case study: Military intervention by NATO against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999", they attack me and lie wholesale and lie fatly without insight into the academic approach to the subject, they advertise unqualified people. They claim that I was out of the country at the time of the bombing. It's all verifiable.
What is, in your opinion, Aleksandar Vučić did a good job since it is statistically impossible that he missed everything in all these years? Until recently, you were not explicitly against him.
Yes, I was like that until it became certain that he was teaching KiM, there was a little bit of faith and hope that it wouldn't go all the way. With him we see some kind of quality, energy and a lot of work - another question is whether it is good - which is not the case with all politicians, and all that in his case turned into politicking and pure maintenance of power. Vučić is a Protestant by his intellectual structure, a man who does not understand spirituality, and we should not be surprised by his fascination with Weber, material things, highways and buildings. He became a civil engineering and civil engineering engineer. He is not a statesman, in the philosophical sense he is a rationalist and materialist and as such is a true Westerner of Protestant provenance. To the shouts in the parliament "Let's not give away the shrines", he replies: "Well, what do you want, I built the Temple of Saint Sava". Gračanica and the Church of St. Sava are not comparable. He built highways, that's respectable in a way, but the idea that history will remember you by highways while you lost Kosovo at the same time is completely insane. He will be remembered in history, but worse than Vuk Branković. We return to Weber, Protestantism, civil engineering and high-rise construction, to the absence of understanding of something that is not material. He is a strange combination of great energy, certain intellectual abilities for technical matters, unscrupulousness and the absence of morality, a mixture that will have terrible consequences. I would like to be wrong in this assessment.
photo: lenka pavlović...
How will this long-standing suffering be resolved?, on the street or where?
Hopefully the street won't be an option, but it's not impossible.
Do you believe that Belgraders and citizens of other cities will (disappointed and tired) who support the opposition to participate in local elections under the same conditions?
Under such circumstances, I would not blame anyone for not appearing at the polling station, it would be difficult to explain why we agreed to the same conditions. If we agree to the same conditions, we have been clamoring for nothing. Above all, I believe that voting is the duty and obligation of every citizen of Serbia. I am afraid that if this goes through and if Belgrade does not wake up first, we will be in the same situation for a long time under this regime.
