It's Not the Students, It's the Societal Elites
The student movement in Serbia has succeeded in opening up topics that have been suppressed from public life for years and in awakening the belief that there is still energy in society that is not tainted by everyday party trading, corruption, and political cynicism.
TL;DR
- The Serbian student movement initially avoided sensitive political topics, focusing on general critiques of the government and calls for democracy.
- A memorandum on Kosovo and Metohija, stating it's part of Serbia and resolution must involve international law, became a test for the students.
- Previously supportive public segments criticized the memorandum, labeling it 'nationalist' and 'retrograde,' revealing a societal elite unwilling to accept even the insistence on sovereignty.
- The article posits an attempt to shift the Overton window, where state sovereignty is presented as extremism and renunciation of national interests as a condition for modernity.
- It highlights the pressure for Serbia to accept Kosovo's independence as a prerequisite for EU integration, despite EU statements to the contrary.
- The piece questions whether Serbs still have a right to a national interest, contrasting it with the acceptance of other nations' minority and national rights in the region.
- The author warns that accepting the renunciation of sovereignty for political acceptability will ultimately leave even Europeanists without a state capable of protecting its interests, culture, and history.