Le Kosovo vu par la Serbie

Selon Jelena Obradovic de l’Institut d’études de sécurité de l’Union européenne, les récents sondages montrent qu’une écrasante majorité de Serbes (94%) s’oppose à l’indépendance du Kosovo. 

The April paper argues that the « popular response to Kosovo’s independence » is « characterised by a mixture of two dominant discourses ». 

Obradovic outlines Serbs’ two main responses to the Kosovo issue, which are « clearly represented » by Serbian President Boris Tadic’s Democratic Party (DS) and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). 

The author portrays Kostunica’s discourse as « emotional » and based on « high moral ground », while Tadic’s is seen as « pragmatic » and tends to orientate towards « legality debates ». Obradovic stresses that both politicians’ discourses are based on the popular assumption that Kosovo is an « integral part of Serbia [and] Serbian identity » and perceive its declaration of independence to be « illegal ». 

The paper points out that the protests following Kosovo’s independence took place for « different reasons », thus showing that the Serb response is not as « uniform » as it may seem. For instance, some expressed dissatisfaction at « US imperialism », « disregard for international law » and « the way in which independence was achieved, » says the paper. 

The paper further claims that Kostunica draws on « conspiracy theory » to « blame the international community for Kosovo’s independence ». Its independence generated a « sense of injustice » on the part of the Serbians, says the paper, as they consider the international community « mistreated » them.

Faced with a rising « negative attitude towards the EU, » the author concludes that Serbia must « find a way to reconcile » two opposite notions of Europe: the « conspirational ideas of Europe as an enemy » and « the desire [for] and aspiration towards European standards, » says Obradovic.