By Saša Janković
Dear Ilir,
The recent article by Kossev’s Tatjana Lazarević, “Three Years Since the Removal of the Barricades in the North: How the Withdrawal of Serbs Paved the Way for Kurti’s Control,” has once again reminded me of virtually all Serbian “barricades” in recent history – each of which has, as a rule, ended in defeat.
From the so-called “log revolution” of 1990 – an introduction to the war in Croatia that ended with “Operation Storm” and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Serbs from their homes and their country – to the barricades in Kosovo, first in 2011 and then again in 2022.
The pattern is always the same.
And know this: whenever you see Serbs on barricades, first watch your pockets from those
who organized them, and then begin to wonder not whether disaster will strike, but only from which direction. Because it most certainly will. Misfortune inevitably befalls a people who, even in the 21st century, allow themselves to be led by those whose highest political strategy consists of piling logs and stones.
What is particularly painful is the irony that the individuals who, from 1990 to this day, have pushed Serbs to erect barricades and then remove them even faster are, in essence, the same people. First in socialist/old-radical governments, then – after a pause – in today’s neo- radical/socialist one; but also in the governments of democrats between the two radical phases. And today, some of them, as part of the political opposition.
Always the same:
arrogant, self-assured. The smartest when ordering barricades to be raised, and just as smart when, without achieving a single goal, demanding that they be dismantled. That is the full reach of their politics.
As unsuccessful as they have been in protecting the Serbian population and its genuine
national interests, they have been remarkably successful in removing from the political scene anyone who might represent an alternative to them. If you look closely, dear Ilir, you will see that Vučić rules today not because his political option remains strong, but because the others are weak. He undermines them using every public and non-public means, while at the same time taking care not to extinguish them completely. Because most of them are precisely the kind of opponents he could only wish for.
Of course, not everyone is like that. Not everyone commanded Serbs “to the barricades,” only to later drive them away and negotiate with criminals how to disperse those who felt it is even more stupid to leave just like that. Not everyone personally arranged, while in power, the sale of Serbia’s Oil Industry to Russia, only to later thunder from amongst the opposition that the sale must be annulled.
There are different, excellent people, and they are fighting. In my next letter, I will explain
why I believe that this struggle, throughout history, has sadly proven insufficient to bring
about political change unless it is assisted by someone from the outside – a “foreign factor.” I believe there is an good explanation why this remains so; I will write about it.
In the meantime, the New Year is approaching. I wish for it to be free of barricades and
obstacles for all our people, regardless of nation or faith – obstacles placed before them and between them. This is possible only if we succeed in removing the greatest one of all: the ramp of negative political selection. It is deliberately set low, humiliatingly low. And upside down, so that it can be passed only by crawling and self-humiliation, by sinking below every political, or even human, standard. Never by stepping over it with integrity and knowledge, never by upholding principles, and never by demonstrating leadership in good rather than in bad.
In 2026, I wish for us the end of that barricade – negative political selection – the essential
obstacle to prosperity for all our people.
With best wishes,
Saša
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
