MONITORING RUSSIA SERBIA RELATIONS - ISAC Fund

Two Russias: On The Two Dominant Discourses Of Russia In The Serbian PublicDr. Miroslav Jovanovic 1In late 2008 and in early 2009 heated debates were held in the Serbian public regarding thesigning of the oil and gas arrangement with Russia and the sale of NIS. Similar, and slightlyhysterical, debates were held in the spring of 2007, on the issue of a possible Russian veto inthe UN Security Council on the future status of Kosovo 2 .Those two events - with an entire series of other indicators - clearly testify to the fact thatthe Serbian public today is very focused on Russia, events related to Russia and the new yethistorical Russian-Serbian relations.Two Discourses of RussiaIt is in the course of these latest events that the Serbian public has again been polarized veryclearly and for a zillionth time.Observed from the extremes of the Serbian public scene, we have, on one side, theapologists of Russia, those who see in Russia a protector, an elder brother or a savior ofSerbia, the Serbian people, the Orthodox spirit, etc. That side of the spectrum is very oftenassociated with Tomislav Nikolic, a short-term Serbian Parliament speaker (May 2007),who earned "fame" at that time owing to his clumsy and inept statement about Serbia as a"Russian guberniya", which he was later to disown 3 . We also have on this side intellectualssuch as Veselin Djuretic, who publicly champion a confederacy of Russia and SerbianLands as the only salvation for the Serbs 4 , and who, like Nikolic at the time, offered Russiaa military base on Mt Kopaonik 5 . Such intellectuals include, among others, RadomirSmiljanic, who founded the Putin Association of Serb-Russian Clubs in Serbia 6 and who as1 Prof. Dr. Miroslav Jovanović, is a historian and Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.University of Belgrade2 Cf. Antonijevic: Russia Will Not Give In, Glas javnosti, 6 June 2007(http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2007/06/06/srpski/P0706503.shtml);Slobodan Samardzic: The USA Is Not Deciding about Independence of Kosovo -Americans Are Doing Things on Their Own, Glas javnosti, 12 June 2007(http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2007/06/12/srpski/T07061101.shtml);Resolution in Two Steps or a Russian Veto, Danas, 11 June 2007(http://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/rezolucijaizdvakorakailiruskiveto.56.html?newsid=113394);Serbia and Russia Are Defending Kosovo, Press online, 6 June 2007(http://www.pressonline.rs/page/stories/sr.html?view=story&id=12804);Russian Support to Serbia for Kosovo, Politika online, 10 June 2007(http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Svet/t30993.sr.html);3 "EU Is Taking Away and Humiliating, Russia is Helping", an interview: Tomislav Nikolic, Politika online,10 June 2007 (http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Politika/t27907.sr.html)4 Interview: Veselin Djuretic, historian, Confederacy of Russia-Serbian Lands - the Only Salvation for theSerbs, Glas javnosti, 9 May 2008 (http://www.glas-javnosti.rs/clanak/glas-javnosti-09-05-2008/konfederacijarusija-srpske-zemlje-jedini-spas-za-srpstvo)5 Nikolic: The Russian Base on Kopaonik or on Pasuljanske livade, Blic online, 19 December 2007(http://www.blic.rs/politika.php?id=23853)Interview: Veselin Djuretic, historian: The Russian Base Creating a Balance, Glas javnosti, 7 July 2008(http://www.glas-javnosti.rs/clanak/tema/glas-javnosti-07-07-2008/ruska-baza-pravi-ravnotezu)6 Interview: Radomir Smiljanic, writer, on his three new novels ready for publication: Resisting the Evil Spiritof Time, Glas javnosti, 30 June 2008(http://www.glas-javnosti.rs/clanak/kultura/glas-javnosti-30-06-2008/odupreti-se-zloduhu-vremena)43