yugoslavias implosion

“Serbs cannot live peacefully in a state where
non-Serbs form the majority. Serbia can never
live peacefully with her hostile neighboring
states. We will never join the European Un-
ion. We will never acknowledge Srebrenica as a
crime. We will never give up Kosovo and Meto-
hija.” There has been, and still is, a lot of “nevers”
in Serbian political discourse. However, by the
end of 2012 the country is on the path to
EU-membership. Politicians from nearly all quarquar- ters claim to have the best strategic approach
to EU-membership, despite having to deal with
demands that would not long ago have been laughed at as utterly unrealistic. What
happened to the aggressive nationalism that not long ago would have crushed all at-
tempts to challenge such “nevers”?
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has worked in Serbia since the early nineties;
monitoring and reporting on the human right situation, following the political devel-
opment and supporting human right defenders. We have chosen to publish this book
written by Sonja Biserko, President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
Serbia, in an attempt to direct attention to exactly how indispensable human rights
activists are right now, and how vitally important they are for the time to come.
For two decades, Biserko has persistently and courageously protested against war,
nationalism and human rights abuse. Her analysis represents a perspective on Ser-
bian politics that is very much needed among the optimism of all the problems that
can seemingly be solved by an EU-membership.
As Biserko argues in this book – addressing the destructive forces of nationalism is a
pre-requisite for real change and lasting peace in Serbia. Where nationalism went?
Nowhere. It has taken on new forms, but it still shapes the mainstream understandunderstand-
ing of the past and maintains perception of values in the Serbian society.
Those most in need of tolerance suff er the consequences.
This is not a history book; it is a book debating history, with
the ambition of challenging what Serbia is and may become.
isbn 978-82-91809-01-4
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