On May 26, 2011 Serbian police entered a house in Lazarevo, situated in the north of the country and arrested an old man. The old man was General Ratko Mladic, the commander of the Bosnian Serb militia that was responsible for the bombing of Sarajevo during the bloody Balkan civil war that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia. Amidst muted protests from Serbian nationalists, Mladic has been deported to The Hague, where he will stand trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The other person to have been caught since the arrest of Mladic is a Serbian leader from Croatia, Goran Hadzic. With the capture and arrests of the most wanted persons from a war that was fought two decades ago, ICTY is ready to close its campaign to secure and bring accused persons to justice.
For many Serbs, especially those who have grown up in the former Yugoslavia and lived through its violent break-up, the actions of the international community seems to be another example of an inherent bias against the Serbian people. Serbs are disproportionately represented in the list of people wanted by the ICTY and currently under trial. Undoubtedly, this adds to their notion that Serbs have been historically short-changed by dominant powers, be they the Ottoman Empire, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or United States-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). History and politics are often invoked in the Serb narrative, one that might find an echo among many dominant communities that feel besieged by modern nation-states, where their dominance is challenged by a host of minority groups and peoples.
For every story of their being the oppressors and major antagonists in the Balkan conflict of the 1990s, the Serbs have a counter-narrative of resistance and perseverance. Take for instance the major story of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia itself. The breakaway republics have cited Serbian aggression and domination in the former republic, as the trigger for the break-up for the federation. Serbs though see a western conspiracy, backed by Germany and the rest of the European Union that resulted in more persecution of their community and the subsequent break-up of former Yugoslavia. Serbian accounts of their history usually begin in the 12th century, where they – a community of eastern orthodox Christians – were welded together as a nation by an array of saints and princes who fought against the Muslim Ottoman rulers. These descriptions merge with historical experiences of a community that was forever on the fringes of larger empires, but who developed a proud, nationalistic culture that craved autonomy from their overlords. After being subjugated by the Turkish Ottomans for several centuries, the Serbs managed to secure autonomous, clan-based regions for themselves but these were soon to pass under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (part of the larger Holy Roman Catholic confederation of kingdoms) by the beginning of the late 18th and early 19th century. This merger was first challenged during World War I and subsequently during the patriotic resistance to Nazism during World War II.
Nationalist Serbs see this as an unbroken past, where resistance to Islam and Roman Catholicism were just as important as their fight against fascists and Nazis between 1939-45. It is no coincidence that the Balkan war of the 1990s seemed like an old ‘settling of scores’ between the Serbs and those they considered to be the Balkan allies of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, namely the Bosnian Muslims and Croats (respectively). Moreover, Serbian nationalism is also wedded to a sacred territory, one that unfortunately is inhabited by other ethnic groups. For instance, Serbs see Kosovo as the place where they made a heroic stand against the Ottomans in the Battle of Kosovo in the 14th century and hence remains an integral part of their collective, moral universe. It is discordant memories such as these that will fuel controversy over any attempt to institute an international body that seeks to deliver justice after bitter conflicts, where the wounds run deep and have festered for long.
For many Serbs, especially those who have grown up in the former Yugoslavia and lived through its violent break-up, the actions of the international community seems to be another example of an inherent bias against the Serbian people. Serbs are disproportionately represented in the list of people wanted by the ICTY and currently under trial. Undoubtedly, this adds to their notion that Serbs have been historically short-changed by dominant powers, be they the Ottoman Empire, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or United States-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). History and politics are often invoked in the Serb narrative, one that might find an echo among many dominant communities that feel besieged by modern nation-states, where their dominance is challenged by a host of minority groups and peoples.
For every story of their being the oppressors and major antagonists in the Balkan conflict of the 1990s, the Serbs have a counter-narrative of resistance and perseverance. Take for instance the major story of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia itself. The breakaway republics have cited Serbian aggression and domination in the former republic, as the trigger for the break-up for the federation. Serbs though see a western conspiracy, backed by Germany and the rest of the European Union that resulted in more persecution of their community and the subsequent break-up of former Yugoslavia. Serbian accounts of their history usually begin in the 12th century, where they – a community of eastern orthodox Christians – were welded together as a nation by an array of saints and princes who fought against the Muslim Ottoman rulers. These descriptions merge with historical experiences of a community that was forever on the fringes of larger empires, but who developed a proud, nationalistic culture that craved autonomy from their overlords. After being subjugated by the Turkish Ottomans for several centuries, the Serbs managed to secure autonomous, clan-based regions for themselves but these were soon to pass under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (part of the larger Holy Roman Catholic confederation of kingdoms) by the beginning of the late 18th and early 19th century. This merger was first challenged during World War I and subsequently during the patriotic resistance to Nazism during World War II.
Nationalist Serbs see this as an unbroken past, where resistance to Islam and Roman Catholicism were just as important as their fight against fascists and Nazis between 1939-45. It is no coincidence that the Balkan war of the 1990s seemed like an old ‘settling of scores’ between the Serbs and those they considered to be the Balkan allies of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, namely the Bosnian Muslims and Croats (respectively). Moreover, Serbian nationalism is also wedded to a sacred territory, one that unfortunately is inhabited by other ethnic groups. For instance, Serbs see Kosovo as the place where they made a heroic stand against the Ottomans in the Battle of Kosovo in the 14th century and hence remains an integral part of their collective, moral universe. It is discordant memories such as these that will fuel controversy over any attempt to institute an international body that seeks to deliver justice after bitter conflicts, where the wounds run deep and have festered for long.
Sanjay (Xonzoi) Barbora
xonzoi.barbora@gmail.com
