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The latest appearances of high-ranking Serbian
officials, especially Aleksandar Vulin, the current Minister of the
Interior, are increasingly isolating Serbia in the region and moving
it away from the allegedly desired goal, EU membership. The
celebration of the 13th anniversary of the Movement of Socialists
was obviously one the first pre-election rallies for next year’s
presidential elections. However, what raises concerns are the
messages sent from this gathering, attended by President Aleksandar
Vučić as well, who did not distance himself from them.
Vulin reiterated his thesis, which he mentions
whenever the opportunity arises, that “the task of this generation
of politicians is to create the Serbian world and unite Serbs
wherever they live”. And for the Serbian world to come into being,
Serbia must be economically successful and well governed, and have
an army capable of saving both itself and the Serbs wherever they
live. The message of the gathering is certainly not only the
unification of all Serbs into one state, but also that such Serbia
can be preserved only by the policy and leadership of Aleksandar
Vučić.
Such a forthright shouting of war policy directed
at all neighbours is at the same time a test of how far one can go
in the given international circumstances, that is, how long the
international community will tolerate such behaviour.
The Helsinki Committee reminds that the insolent
provocation of the region and the world is very reminiscent of the
behaviour of Slobodan Milošević, who managed for years to present
the world with a fait accompli on the ground. Therefore, we call on
the international community to set red lines when it comes to the
borders in the Balkans and to concretize its already announced
policies on sanctioning all those who destabilize the region.
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