Facing the Past

In our text on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kumanovo Agreement, which brought some kind of peace to Kosovo, we were able to speak about some kind of status quo, a situation in which Kosovo could not round out its statehood, yet  Serbia did not try too hard to bring Kosovo back under its authority, settling for influence in the north of Kosovo. However, it could be said that the events of the next five years — on several occasions almost to the point of war — almost completely reversed any progress made in the previous twenty. 

Due to its imposing design, function, as well as central location directly across the street from the Government of Serbia, the General Staff building has become a symbol of the 1999 bombing, and everything consciously or subconsciously connected to that event - the undeniable trauma from those times, the self-righteous indignation at the “unprovoked” illegal NATO aggression and violation of Serbia’s territorial integrity, as well as the all-consuming stagnation and inability to recover from the defeat and create a functional society.  

From socialist monuments to war memorials, Kosovo's memory landscape reveals a complex web of competing narratives. Through Prishtina's city center, history unfolds in statues and squares, where "politics of memory and oblivion" shape identity—but civilian voices remain silent, and some stories are deliberately erased from public spaces.

The resolution on the Srebrenica genocide would have found its way onto the agenda no matter how Serbia behaved. It is also possible that some hypothetical Serbia with more dignity, one that has taken responsibility for victims, the past, and the future, would have agreed with the resolution.  

Ivan Čolović reflects on his contribution to Perspectives SEE from five years ago, with context on additional developments in two footnotes. The myth of the Battle of Kosovo Field on June 28th 1389, in which the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Murat I and Serbian Prince Lazar clashed, has, since the early 19th century to this day, served the purpose of legitimizing various political and military projects: From the breakup of communist Yugoslavia and the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, through the “Kosovo is Serbia” motto, as part of the Serbian “European agenda”, to the dialogue –both internal and with Brussels– led by Aleksandar Vučić. The “Kosovo Covenant” in modern Serbian history is used to accommodate various political ideas and actions.

  The prewar political history of the former Yugoslav autonomous province of Kosovo was shaped by its educational system. Both Albanians and Serbs have omitted the other community’s language and history from their curricula. Today, twenty years after the armed conflict, Albanian and Serbian students are using textbooks with different versions of history. Some of the controversial phrases from Kosovar textbooks describing activities by Serbs include: “violence and chauvinist terror”, “terror and genocide”, and “horrific barbaric scenes of bloody squadrons”. Serbian textbooks use phrases such as “attacks by Albanian gangs” and “Albanian terror over the Serbs”. Such language in school textbooks amplifies prejudice, inter-ethnic intolerance, and nationalist ideas.

The process of regional and internal consolidation of Western Balkan (WB) countries remains incomplete, with the legacy of conflict still exerting significant influence. Since the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and the US have shifted their focus towards security issues. The Western Balkans exemplify how post-conflict societal transformation is as crucial as war prevention.

The current state of affairs best suits the stabilocratic despot Aleksandar Vučić, who, against the backdrop of a gaping vacuum, creates narratives that suit his ongoing need for capital enlargement. In spite of the fact that the current President of the Serbiatrics department is an honored guest and friend of the very people who were leading NATO countries during the bombing (Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder), he doesn’t shy away from presenting himself to his voters and the public at large as a man who will stand up for the fatherland and bare his teeth to the enemy, just like he did before (he didn’t!).