Students’ „Memorandum“ on Kosovo – politics beyond intellectual correctness

By Saša Janković

My dear Iljir,

Thank you for your thoughts on the students’ “memorandum.” They are far more well-intentioned and thoughtful than the way Serbia’s self-appointed civic guardians are dissecting that document and sprinkling it with holy water to cast the devil out of it.

I disagree with you, and I agree with you.

I disagree because the political language you speak and wish to hear – one in which Kosovo is not merely a national symbol, but a question of people, shared life, universality, reality, and possible solutions – is spoken today by very few. And therefore, probably not even by most students.

And even if, privately, they think about Kosovo much like you or I do, there is another argument: the student movement has entered politics and wants to remove the current government through elections. For that, an ordinary majority is not enough, but rather such overwhelming support that neither fraud, manipulation, nor all the things we know far too well can alter the final outcome.

The political approach you wish for feels foreign to most voters today – complicated and abstract – especially after decades of social decay and systematic media poisoning. In the end, almost everyone who writes about realpolitik and political marketing insists on the same: voters should be addressed through symbols, not because symbols are superior to reason, but because they move people more easily and effectively than nuanced political language.

How do I know they are right? Because I tried precisely what you now find missing in the students.

During my brief but intense time in politics, in 2018 I spoke and wrote that any resolution of the so-called Kosovo question had to begin, above all, with the people living in Kosovo and their well-being. Since I was not prepared then to recognize Kosovo’s independence – nor do I believe to this day that anyone in Serbia has either the right or the obligation to do so – I proposed postponing discussions on status issues for thirty years, and focusing in the meantime on what is good for people and for healing society.

On democratization and the normalization of political life. On decriminalizing the state and fighting corruption. On education and culture without divisions or borders, the rule of law and accountability before the law regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation. On social justice. On an economy free from political and mafia extortion. On employment based on competence rather than ethnic or party loyalty. On membership in every useful international organization. In short – on creating conditions for a normal life for everyone.

And – nobody supported it. Nobody in Belgrade, nobody in Pristina, nobody in the international community. Not a single serious voice of support. But from the regime and its media came countless labels of “traitor,” along with all the accompanying threats. And imagine this: from the president of the Democratic Party – the very party once led by Zoran Đinđić – came distancing and absurd accusations about violating the Constitution.

To put it briefly – my Serbia either did not hear me, or no longer knew how to listen, long deafened by the noise of clowns, Iznoguds, men of small deeds and big tongues, and professional manipulators.

Would it hear the students today, even if they spoke exactly the language you wish for? I do not think so.

I understand your criticism. But I simply no longer believe that politics functions on the level of intellectual correctness. I tried the approach you are asking for. The voters did not hear me.

Today I spoke about this with a friend – a sharp and intelligent man who carries within himself the best qualities of our people. If you ask him what he is, he will not first think of nationality, but will say: grandfather, father, husband, friend. He is anything but a nationalist, let alone a chauvinist. He earned his pension honorably in the police force. A little over a year ago, together with our wives, we endured the effects of a sonic weapon at a student-organized protest.

Today I asked him what he thought about the content of the students’ Kosovo document.

He said: “I’m fine with it.”

At that moment, I thought of everything you had written. And of everything I am writing now. And in the end I honestly concluded – then so am I.

Not everything has to be said exactly the way you or I would want, if the goal remains the same and if the knowledge and will to reach it still exist. Am I certain that will be the case? I am not. But I believe in the future.

And today, today the most important thing is to remove what is systematically distancing us from every normalcy.

Sincerely yours,

Saša Janković

Kosovo as the Final Test of a New Serbia