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Serbia's reaction shows a volatile nation looking forward
By William J. Kole
Associated Press
Jul 24, 2008
BELGRADE, Serbia - Just a few months ago, thugs outraged at Kosovo's independence set part of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade on fire, and ultranationalists prepared to seize power. But this week's capture of genocide suspect Radovan Karadzic revealed an extraordinary turnaround for Serbia, and the prospect of yet another former communist country embedding itself in the West.
On the gritty streets of Belgrade, there was a palpable sense yesterday that nationalism may finally be losing its iron grip on hearts and minds.
"It's a positive step," said Sreten Tasic, a resident of the capital. "I think Serbia is going to move forward."
Many Serbs say their country simply reached a breaking point. In May, after decades of frustration with nationalists, a pro-Western bloc confounded opinion polls and won national elections on a promise to bring the impoverished nation closer to mainstream Europe.
Virtually overnight, the volatile republic's image has changed from that of a hoodlum in Europe's most rough-and-tumble neighborhood to a country well on its way to joining the European Union, the Continent's club of responsible democracies.
"The state of Serbia has made a giant leap forward," Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic declared triumphantly after Karadzic's capture Monday.
It's just a beginning. But if Serbia continues on its bold new path, it could follow in the footsteps of other former communist countries, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Today, all are members of the European Union and NATO, and count themselves among America's allies.
At its heart, Serbia was never truly anti-Western.
Under Josip Broz Tito, who ruled from the end of World War II until his death in 1980, Yugoslavs traveled freely around Western Europe and the United States.
It was not until the early 1990s - when the Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic whipped up nationalist sentiment that led to the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia and international sanctions - that Serbs became embittered against the West.
What has changed? Why now?
Serbia has had pro-Western forces before, notably Zoran Djindjic, a reformist prime minister who was assassinated by nationalists outside the main government building in Belgrade in 2003.
And President Boris Tadic, who wants to bring his nation into the EU, has just begun his second four-year term.
Braca Grubacic, a prominent political analyst, offers a simple answer: After years of entrenched nationalism that survived Milosevic's ouster by pro-democracy activists in 2000, Serbia's leaders finally realized the international community was fed up.
The public saw three of the six former Yugoslav republics, Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia, joining or on track to join the EU, and feared Serbia would be left behind.
"Serbia finally decided to do something," he said. "We realized the West is sick and tired of this old Balkan story. Enough was enough."
Tadic's new pro-Western government took power only two weeks ago. One of the president's first acts was to appoint a new security chief to replace one who was a close ally of nationalist Vojislav Kostunica, the former prime minister.
Within days, Karadzic - rumored, despite denials, to have enjoyed Kostunica's protection for nearly a decade - was tracked down with no-nonsense efficiency and bundled into a police van.
Bruno Vekaric, spokesman for Serbia's war-crimes prosecutor, said, "There was a whole new energy that came with the victory of the pro-European forces" in May's elections.
Despite the election outcome, nationalist fervor still simmers. Dozens of hard-liners threw stones at police in central Belgrade this week to protest Karadzic's arrest.
"We will always have these people," political analyst Grubacic said. "The key difference is that now we have the possibility to shed Milosevic's legacy and solve our problems."
Copyright 2008
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