Let us therefore forget Tadic’s measured dignity, his slightly formal international statements, his intense Europeanism and that conciliatory attitude perceived as an affectation by his detractors. Just one month after his victory, Nikolić has clarified his agenda, stating, “I swear that all my efforts will be addressed at defending Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Kosovo as being integrally part of the country.” The words used when he was sworn in, watched by the new members of parliament, leave one with no doubts. As far as recognising the independence of Kosovo is concerned, this president, with prospects very different to those envisaged by Tadić, will not back down, and it is reasonable to envisage that the parliament elected in May will support him in this, with a majority that is with great difficulty trying to achieve an agreement to desist between former supporters of Milosevic and representatives of the Democratic Party.
And there is more. Judging by Nikolić’s first public statements, the important element is the new relationship with the European Union. Serbia, which in March obtained the status of candidate member thanks to results achieved by Tadić in the battle against transnational organised crime and cooperation with the International Criminal Court in the Hague, to which he had handed over war criminals such as Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić, will from now on be country whose head of state is less enthusiastic about Brussels’ interference policies and one that aspires to form new international alliances, all issues the E.U. will have to address.
It is no coincidence that Nikolić described European membership as a “lengthy and uncertain procedure” when speaking from Moscow, where he made his first international visit as president. “My victory is a victory for the ‘both EU and Russia’ ideology, not for ‘the EU or Russia’ ideology,” he said cheerfully during a joint press conference held with Russian President Putin. Many took this as confirmation of the nick name licemjer, “opportunist” attributed to this politician who has moved up from being the “commander of the Chetniks” as he was called by the ultranationalist Seselj – currently detained in The Hague for war crimes – to being appointed President of Serbia.
Now the chameleon Toma dreams of a Serbia “portrayed as a house with two doors, one open to the West and the other to the East.” This nod to the East is based on two fundamental aspects, an $800 million loan recently approved by Russia to restore the jaded Serb economy, and Putin’s unconditional support for maintaining Serbia’s territorial borders. This approach is one decidedly differing from the euro-enthusiasm that characterised Tadić’s mandate and says a great deal about new foreign policy prospects also as far as regional equilibrium is concerned.
Confirming the turbulence that is beginning to be felt on this front, the solemn swearing of the new Serbian president on June 11th was not attended by most of the representatives of Balkan countries. To the defections of the presidents of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia, one must also add the absence of the president of Macedonia, Gjorgje Ivanov. Mapping the new network of alliances for the Nikolić era, the only regional heads of state present were the President on Montenegro Filip Vujanović and the leader of the Republika Srpska (RS, the territories in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a Serb majority) Milorad Dodik. Casus belli, were the inappropriate statements reported by all international news agencies that had an even more volatile than usual Nikolić making revisionist comments on the genocides in Vukovar and Srebrenica.
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Nikolić described as Serbian the Croatian city of Vukovar, destroyed by the Serbian army in 1991. This was an insult to the memory of the 1,700 dead, 4,000 wounded and the 500 people who vanished after a siege that lasted three months, and who were rounded up and massacred in the name of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Serb army. It was also a significant step back compared to the visit so firmly planned by Boris Tadić and made in November 2010 together with the Croatian President Ivo Josipović.
“I am here today in Vukovar to kneel in front of the victims and pay homage to them. I am here to once again express words of repentance and remorse; to give Serbia and Croatia a chance to turn a new page in their history,” said Tadić only two years ago, paving the way for reconciliation that now suddenly seems to be at risk, undermined by disrespectful statements such as the most recent one on Srebrenica.
“It is hard to make accusations and prove in court that this event had the characteristics of a genocide,” said Nikolić at the beginning of June, destroying in a single moment the memory of those 8,000 Bosnian civilians killed by Serb militias in 1995 “with the specific intention of destroying Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina because of their religion” as the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia sanctioned. “A deliberate genocide” the horror of which now seems even harsher.
In an attempt to remedy matters and calm the European and American chancelleries, alarmed by his statements, in the course of a speech made at his swearing in ceremony, the newly-appointed president said that as far as regional policies are concerned, “we will not allow differing opinions about some past event to endanger our common future,” adding that he believes that “all diversities and problems should be resolved in peaceful and democratic ways and above all through dialogue.” Once again Toma is reshuffling the cards. When will the next denial come?
Translated by Francesca Simmons
Image: Wikimedia commons