Previously published in the Albanian "Metropol" newspaper, July 9, 2012
By Marion Mardodaj
After the barbarian invasions of the Franks, Ostrogoths, Huns, etc., into the fertile fields of Europe in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, and of the Slavs in the 8th and 9th centuries, these lands experienced endless wars and were fertilized with corpses for centuries. Empires, principalities, provinces, and duchies rose and fell. Princes, kings, scholars, and scientists who left their mark on human history were deified, massacred, or burned. Nations disappeared, new religions emerged, temples and places of worship were built, some of which still exist today. All this happened for territory, power, prestige, or because of capricious or mad rulers.
The climax of cruelty against human beings was reached during and after World War II. Hitler exterminated millions of innocent lives, while Stalin wiped out a similar number of innocents, most of whom perished in the icy plains of Siberia. After this dark cloud that had covered Europe for centuries, it experienced a golden age of flourishing: the European project brought the continent 50 consecutive years of peace, harmony, justice, and democracy.
But today Europe faces new challenges in socio-economic developments as it tries to preserve its prestige. And among the states that continuously create problems for Europe remains Serbia, whose medieval mentality is fueled by Putin’s Russia.
The first wound Serbia inflicted on Europe was on June 28, 1914 – precisely on “Vidovan Day” – when Gavrilo Princip fired the shot that started World War I, with about 9 million victims. Serbia, though a winner on paper, came out drenched in blood, and today again nourishes illusions of territorial victories, while only harming its own people.
The Serbian people must understand that the “Vidovan Constitution” of the Serbo-Croat-Slovene kingdom, proclaimed again on June 28, 1921 by King Alexander, is part of a painful history filled with nationalist-criminal acts. Today, Croats and Slovenes are part of the European Union, while Serbia remains attached to old narratives.
“Vidovan” commemorates the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, between the Serbs and the Ottoman Empire, near Pristina. This day is used as a spiritual and patriotic symbol by ethnic Serbs. But since 1914, it has been commemorated ever more noisily, turning into a tool for promoting nationalist chauvinism.
Kosovo, although it made up only 4.2% of the territory of the former Yugoslavia, had about 10% of its natural resources, including the overwhelming majority of valuable minerals – especially in the north (Geography of Kosovo, 2006, p. 113, Sabri Laçi). This makes the Serbian obsession with this territory understandable.
In this context, statements such as that of Patriarch Irinei (“Kosovo is our Jerusalem”) during the liturgy in Gračanica are dangerous. Likewise, it is no coincidence that at that ceremony only the Russian ambassador – Aleksandr Konuzin – was present.
After a series of recent conflicts in northern Kosovo, the appearance of a new oath in the Serbian gendarmerie after “Vidovan” – in which Kosovo is called “mother,” “origin,” and “history” – is frightening. This oath resembles that taken by Gavrilo Princip in 1912 when he joined the “Union or Death” society.
I believe this is an expression of the last agony of Serbian nationalist chauvinism. And Russia, as its mentor, is using the same approach in Antarctica.
Although Antarctica is an icy and uninhabited continent, apart from research stations, it is extraordinarily rich in valuable minerals. Legally, the territory is neutral and administered through the “Antarctic Treaty System,” intended to be used only for peaceful purposes. But according to the CIA World Factbook, the US and Russia maintain the right to territorial claims, although this faces the obstacle of the 1988 Convention that prohibits mineral exploitation.
In this context, the construction in 2004 of a Russian Orthodox church at the “Bellingshausen” station in Antarctica, with priests rotated every year, raises suspicions. In the Middle Ages, invasions were preceded by priests and missionaries – a logic that, apparently, the Kremlin has not abandoned.
In this spirit, Russian policy fuels Serbian nationalists, as shown by the occasional statements of Serbian clerics. This tactic – first erect symbols, then make territorial claims – is a familiar one. Let us recall the case of the cemetery in Korçë and the claims that followed.
Therefore, “Vidovan” is not just a historical anniversary, but part of a deliberate strategy to divide Kosovo. But the biggest problem that could arise in the future relates to Antarctica: what will happen if a Russian scientist suddenly dies at their station there?
Will this serve as a pretext for tensions or intervention?
Could a Russian “Vidovan” happen in Antarctica?