In Serbia, there is a right wing in power and in some parliamentary parties, but also a right wing in non-parliamentary groups, such as Leviathan or the People's Patrol, which is much more dangerous because it can be a weapon in someone's hands, said historian Milovan Pisarri in an interview with FoNet. He believes that the two rights are connected.
"With the right in power, there is an absolute identification of the party and the state that keeps everything under control," Pisarri pointed out in the Kvaka 23 series in a conversation with Zoran Sekulić, and this means "that the non-institutional right cannot be outside the government's control."
The government controls the leaders of right-wing groups
He explains that right-wing groups are not only "manufactured", because there are young people who believe in those ideologies, but that "their leaders are certainly in contact with the government", or the government supports and controls them.
In this context, he said that during the time of the Democrats' rule, during the organization of Pride, hooligans completely destroyed Belgrade, and when the progressives came to power "suddenly there were absolutely no problems".
According to Pisarri, this is "clear evidence" that the government has control over extreme right-wing and nationalist movements, that it does what it wants with them and directs what these movements do.
To the remark that now the same government is announcing the cancellation of Pride precisely because of possible security problems, he replied that there is absolutely no security problem and that "they know very well" that there will be no riots. It is propaganda for other reasons, but "they know" that they cannot cancel Pride, claims Pisarri, who sees the whole story as a cover to divert attention from some other topics or painful decisions in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
Right-wing infrastructure
Asked about the danger that at some point the government will no longer be able to control the right-wing groups and movements it built, he answered that it is possible, because those groups and movements are strongly connected with extreme nationalist groups from abroad, especially from Russia. Right-wing infrastructure is being built, not only in Serbia, but also in Europe and beyond.
They can destabilize the region, and in Serbia the right has become louder and more visible after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pisarri sees this as a result of Russia's influence and recalls that even before the start of the war, there were various contacts of Serbian nationalists and members of right-wing groups with related Russian organizations, including the Imperial Legion, which is internationally designated as a terrorist organization.
Sanctions against Russia and possible riots
Asked whether the government risks riots in case of sanctions against Russia, Pisarri answered in the affirmative and noted that he sees a real danger that the extreme right will break out of control and publicly react against such policies.
On the other hand, the West fears that Serbia will become a terrain for Russian expansion and pose a threat to the interests of Europe and America, unless it introduces sanctions and takes a clear stance towards Russia. At the same time, the Balkans are absolutely not a priority for the West. Their only priority is to create a barrier to the spread of Russian influence.
When asked if the West is also responsible for strengthening the right and anti-Western mood in Serbia, by supporting stabilocracy instead of democracy, and neglecting problems in the region, he confirmed that, unfortunately, this had a huge impact on the current situation.
The role of the Church in strengthening the right
Pisarri also called the role of the Church problematic, because the Church is, in a way, the cradle of extreme nationalism, which we saw in the nineties, but also after that.
It is enough to listen to statements about Pride or other similar manifestations, explained Pisarri and stated that right-wingers in Serbia have refuge in the Serbian Orthodox Church, just as right-wingers in Russia have it in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The role of the media in strengthening the right
Asked about the role of the media in the promotion and strengthening of the right, he emphasized that the media is part of propaganda whenever there is identification of the party and the state and assessed that in totalitarian states everything works the same way.
"I am not saying that we are now in a totalitarian state, but I am afraid that we are heading towards that," said Pisarri and explained that the media, especially the tabloids as an instrument of propaganda, only repeats what is said by the party that is identified with the state and supervises and controls all segments state and society.
Asked where he sees Serbia in five years, Pisarri predicted that in that period there will not be any big differences compared to the current situation, but the question is what will happen to Europe then and whether Serbia will join the EU or the Russian Federation in the meantime. When asked which of those two options he would bet money on in a political bookmaker, he answered: "I would bet money on the Russian Federation, but I would like to lose."
FoNet
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