There is a generally accepted thesis, unfortunately also from the international community, that statements by ambassadors of foreign countries that support free media or human rights defenders represent interference in the internal affairs of the state. It is exactly the opposite - the international community, in its democratic impotence or incompetence, keeps the parties in power, not distinguishing between cooperation with the state and non-criticism towards the party in power and its actions.
The opposition and civil society have significant potential when it comes to voter mobilization and their informed participation in elections. However, in the pre-election campaigns here, that potential cannot come to the fore. The reason for this is that there is an extremely unfair struggle at work, the cause of which is not only that we have an authoritarian form of government. Authoritarian governments can fall, and always have, under unfair circumstances. There is no such authoritarian ruler who ensured fair electoral conditions before losing power. We have an example in Serbia in the 1996s, even in the media darkness (Pink existed even then, RTS was worse than today, and journalists disappeared overnight), with election theft (again, in XNUMX, the government admitted the loss of local elections after protests) and weak opposition (many arguments about the number of columns to DOS, then SPO craziness, semi-boycotts, "sitting on your hands all day to vote for someone", flyovers...) - and the government fell.
What makes the difference compared to that period? Precisely the role of the international community. It is important to say that I am not a supporter of conspiracy theories, nor do I share the belief that Serbia is irrelevant in the geopolitical games of the great powers. On the other hand, I believe that the world, due to the process of globalization, is a large system of connected courts, as the corona virus pandemic recently proved to us. The change in the role of the international community in the inter-election period, and especially in the election period, is a consequence of the decline of democracy globally, as well as the superficiality of actors on the international scene due to too much information, the rapid development of the situation and the inability to see the long-term consequences. I will paraphrase Biden's statement from June: the world is at a crossroads, every decision we make today determines the world we will live in, more precisely, if we turn sharply to the right at 90 km per hour, we will not return to the same road even in two decades. Unlike the XNUMXs, when the international community was a staunch advocate of democracy, especially in the euphoria after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is now dealing with the dilemma of preserving and building democracy in its own backyards.
There is a generally accepted thesis, unfortunately also from the international community, that statements by ambassadors of foreign countries that support free media or human rights defenders represent interference in the internal affairs of the state. It is exactly the opposite - the international community, in its democratic impotence or incompetence, keeps the parties in power, not distinguishing between cooperation with the state and non-criticism towards the party in power and its actions.
QUASI SCOPES AS SELECTED AMMUNITION
photo: nemanja jovanović / tanjug...
Public criticism of the adoption of repressive and undemocratic laws by the international community is not heard. Very often the informal answer of diplomats is: "We say that behind closed doors." Also, even more often we have the opportunity to hear praises, even congratulations when such laws are passed. French President Macron brought the director of Euronews on an official visit to Serbia and announced that the company will sell the license to Telekom Srbija. The law in Serbia, as well as the current media strategy, expressly forbade state-owned enterprises to be media owners. The international community ignored it. Soon after the visit, the plan was implemented, and Euronews has been working in Serbia ever since. Due to the hasty changes in the media laws in the last few weeks, such a solution was adopted in the Parliament, which legalized Macron's procedure. Just ten days ago, Ursula von der Leyen not only did not have a problem with the fact that the change in the law is not in accordance with the adopted media strategy, but stated: "As far as freedom of the media is concerned, you have just completed important reforms by adopting the Law on Electronic Media and of the Law on Public Information. Congratulations on that, and now you need to implement it and keep working on it.”
As for the implementation of other key strategies and laws of the state of Serbia, there is none. It is enough just to look at the annual EU reports on Serbia's progress. About four hundred laws and strategies are mentioned in them, while only ten are said to be actually implemented. Unfortunately, the citizens of Serbia, when deciding who to vote for, do not read reports, but rather listen to what the international community says.
photo: Rade Prelić / Tanjug...
The American ambassador recently gave an interview to Voice of America, with a key message: "Our policy is correct - regardless of whether it is successful." Nemusto explained the reason for TV Pink's promotion by stating that Pink's owner said what America wanted to hear - in short, Serbia in the West – and that he had to support it. He was not even concerned with the overall negative influence of this state-controlled media on the state of democracy in Serbia. I understand the politics of praise when something good is said, although it is meaningless if the words are not followed by actions, but if such a policy is not followed by pointing out the bad sides, we get - full support for the autocracy. In the end, when it comes to the idea of "the correctness of a failed policy", any democratic government would fail very quickly.
Support for authoritarian authorities continues during the pre-election period, which has far greater consequences. Since the beginning of the process of joining Serbia to the European Union, civil society has indicated that the government presents the opening of the chapter as a huge breakthrough in integration and its own success. Of course, the European Union is aware of this, but with its stick and carrot policy - over which we have all died, because it seems as if we are being beaten with a carrot and we eat a stick every day - it believes that sometimes it is good to reward the party in power in order to continue the European road. I will not even go into the "continuation of the European path", because everyone who follows the development of the rule of law, the rate of corruption and crime, the state of human rights in Serbia in the last ten years knows that we are on the right path, but we are going in the wrong direction. The problem is that these quasi-domains, like the opening of chapters, are used by the party in power as part of the election campaign. For example, in the run-up to last year's elections, and during mass environmental protests and roadblocks, the European Union decided to open cluster 4 dealing with the environment and energy. "The opening of the chapter is very good news for Serbia and its citizens, as well as for the entire Western Balkans. A strong message of commitment to Serbia's accession to the European Union was sent," said the European Commissioner for Enlargement, and a similar statement was made by Ursula von der Leyen.
FOREIGNVOLUNTEERSIN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN
We don't even have to follow the situation too closely to see that all the questions of the international community about the involvement of the Serbian authorities in the events in Banjska died from the moment the elections were announced, not even called. It is obvious that all you have to do is say the magic word "elections" and the international community will change its policy. When we look at the number of times we have had early elections since 2012, it is clear why they are called: during elections, anything is possible and the international community does not ask anything. On the other hand, he often personally helps the party in power by participating in an illegal official campaign. We will take the example of the last elections in Serbia, held on April 3, 2022. On first googling, without detailed research, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić met with the Minister of State for Energy of the United Kingdom (on March 3, they discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation), the German Foreign Minister, the German Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, the German Ambassador to to Serbia (March 11, "regular" visit to the Balkans), with Viktor Orbán (March 19, they traveled by high-speed train), with Quinta representatives (March 22 March, requested and received a meeting for urgent consultations), with the Minister of Defense of Italy (March 29, a man like that came)... Foreign officials volunteer in the pre-election campaign of the ruling party only for the sake of promises of peace and stability.
These facts must be stated because democracy does not tolerate hypocrisy - pragmatism must not be mixed with hypocrisy - which does not mean that it is no longer possible to ensure the changeability of the government in Serbia, as a basic democratic principle. The citizens of Serbia, at the protests against violence, at the environmental protests, at the "1 in 5 million" protests, at the protests against the dictatorship, showed that they do not want to live in a society without the rule of law and the basic rights of every citizen, in a country where corruption, crime and the violence of the values being promoted. It is only important to list everything that affects unfair election conditions, so that we know what we are fighting against and, accordingly, to prepare for that fight. We know what we are fighting for: for European values (both here and within the EU), for basic human rights, for freedom, even if everyone on the international scene has forgotten. I believe that the international community also knows this, it just needs to be reminded.
Finally, to the question of why this text does not talk about the negative influence of Russia, China or the United Arab Emirates on democracy in Serbia, the answer is clear, at least in relation to the current situation: I expect the mentioned actors to destroy democracy, and the promoters of democracy I expect they are building it. If we all tear it down, we can say goodbye to it right away.
The author is the executive director of Civic Initiatives
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