Painful ineffectiveness of facing the past

The leaving of Mile Đukanović marks the end of an era in the Montenegrin political life. Far from being ideal, and much nearer to the criminal structures, the politician Đukanović was, however, successful in achieving one thing – facing the past and admitting errors. Such as the genocide in Srebrenica and the surrender of Bosniak civilians to […]

We all know who is in favour of the war. Is there anyone who is in favour of peace?

War-mongering terminology is not unknown in the public discourse in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Depending on the given moment, event of national or global politics, marking of certain events or anniversaries, we are witnesses of calls for war, mobilisation and obligation to protect ”our own”. Such statements mostly come from leaders of right-wing nationalist parties and individual religious[…]

Interview with Nora S. Ahmetaj on Dealing with the Past

Still after two decades, Peace in the Balkans is fragile. Topics like dealing with the past, transitional justice, the missing persons, and ongoing talks between parties for a sustainable political solution continue to bear heavily on our societies. This renders a clear perspective and projection for the future of the region impossible. In the 12th episode of[…]

REMEMBERING WOMEN DURING THE WAR 

Dissatisfied with poor working conditions and low salaries, female employees in the clothes and textile industry in New York took to the streets on March 08, 1857. In the coming years, demonstrations continued on the same date. Five decades later, in 1910, the first International Women’s Conference was held in Copenhagen. It was organised by the Socialist[…]

A Voice for the Voiceless

A few days before the trial against former senior ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army – Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi commenced, the Office of Alex Whiting, a Kosovo Special Prosecutor in The Hague, published a less redacted version of the indictment. It disclosed the names of many Albanian and Serbian civilian[…]

HIVE

The massacre in Velika and Mala Krusa near Orahovac took place during the war in Kosovo.On March 25 and 26, 1999, two days after the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) began. According to the Humanitarian Law Fund http://www.hlc-rdc.org/?p=13109On March 25 and 26, 1999, 114 Albanian men were killed. On the occasion of marking[…]

About Silence as Deafness

They say the train continued on, as if there had been no abduction. As if nothing had happened. They say that no one rebelled; neither when the armed members of the “avengers” ordered the conductor to stop the train, neither when they got inside, nor when they examined the passengers’ train tickets, which the conductor wrote down[…]

Theater as Machinery of Political Propaganda (II)

The “Lift: Slobodan shou” explains very well the trajectory of the engagement of a large part of the artistic elite in Serbia, not only in the ‘90s but also nowadays, to serve the power and to be in service of nationalistic politics, which still dominate. The philosopher Boris Buden rightfully says that: “For over thirty years now,[…]

A Jubilee Between Challenge and Chance

With a parade of members of the security forces on Zahir Pajaziti Square and a speech by the president, Kosovo will mark 15 years of independence with signs of optimism that Europe’s newest independent country could in the foreseeable future normalize its relations with Serbia, from which it seceded after the 1999 war. The years marked by[…]

JUSTICE DOES NOT LIVE IN BUKOVICA

No days of remembrance, no memorials, no established criminal responsibility of the perpetrators, no responsibility of judicial authorities for failures in prosecution, and no justice for the victims. It is a story about Bukovica and injustice. Jakub Durgut, a wonderful soul and witness to the Bukovica crime, is no more. In addition to his memory, we are[…]

Theater as Machinery of Political Propaganda (I)

“Normally there are people in this country who want peace. Normally there are those who want victory, they want neither war nor death. But nobody will win, they will only die.” Borka Pavićević At the beginning of 2018, the international media informed that a group of artists in Serbia were preparing a musical about Milošević, entitled “Lift:[…]