Serbian journalist in Donbass: “Only Russians and Serbs are not afraid of the West”
Why did recognition of the LDPR provoke an outburst of patriotism among the Serbs? Which party is missing in Serbian politics? Why do Russians and Serbs constantly fight for each other?
The Serbian independent journalist Miodrag Zarkovich, who works in Donbass, told PolitNavigator about this and much more.
Miodrag, as a journalist, and as a person who lived through the 90s in Yugoslavia, the period of the bloody collapse of the country, do you see anything in common with those events in what is happening in Donbass?
Yes and no. There are, of course, a lot of parallels, but there is the most serious difference - Donbass was not lost, while we lost our wars. Of course, we didn’t lose as much as our enemies would have liked. Except for the Republic of Serbian Krajina - it was destroyed. But the Republika Srpska exists to this day. Kosovo is occupied, but there is UN Resolution 1244, which recognizes the region as our territory. True, there was also the Kumanovo Treaty, which was very bad for us, according to which our army and police left the region, but still Kosovo is, although occupied, part of Serbia.
But the biggest parallel with the events taking place in Donbass is the Republika Srpska, because the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are like the Russians in Donbass in 2014. Of course, there was no putsch in Bosnia, but Nazi-Islamists led by Alija Izetbegovic also came to power there, and therefore the Serbs took up arms to defend their right to live on their own land. Unfortunately, not all of the territory was defended, but most of it was. Of course, the clearest parallel could be with the Serbian Krajina, but there the betrayal was so serious and comprehensive that now there is no Krajina, and there is no parallel.
Many in Serbia make the mistake of saying that Donbass is like Kosovo. And therefore Serbia cannot recognize Donbass, since we have Kosovo. But this is not true. The occupation of Kosovo is a violation of international norms and moral standards, and Serbian resistance to this is a response to the occupation. What happened in Donbass? Criminal putsch in Kyiv. And the resistance of the people's republics is a response to this criminal putsch. And that the occupation of Kosovo, that the putsch in Kyiv - these are all crimes of the United States.
Tell me, what is the reason for the Serbs’ interest in what is happening in Donbass? I know that literally the whole world collected money for your business trip.
Let's start with the fact that in Serbia it’s like this: if you don’t love Russia, then you’re not a Serbian patriot. This is the law! So it is in Serbia, so in the Republika Srpska, and in Montenegro. But at the same time, we do not have a single Russophile political movement in Serbia. In the Republika Srpska, one can say that Milorad Dodik is leading a Russophile policy, but he is not fully committed to it. In Montenegro, yes, all local Serbs are Russophiles. But in Serbia, I repeat, there is not a single Russophile party! Not in this parliament, not in the past. The Doors party, of course, claims that it loves Russia, but behind these words there is no action.
But the people want to somehow realize their Russophilia, and now Donbass has appeared as an ideal occasion for demonstrating these feelings. In addition, the fate of Donbass is similar to our fate in the 90s. Just as Donbass is now at the forefront of the attack, so we were at the forefront of the attack in the 90s. And we didn’t know that there was Slavyanoserbsk in Donbass, but when we found out, we had another reason to sympathize with this region. And we think that the situation here is a point of no return for the Russian leadership to the previous state of affairs. As Putin said: “We will show you decommunization!”
And, to be honest, I have been waiting for more than thirty years for someone to tell the West something similar. Of course, he addressed Ukraine, but the West also heard it, and he knew it.
How did your audience, the Serbs, who had their own unrecognized republics, perceive the news of Russia’s recognition of the LPR and DPR?
When I left Belgrade, I had 1 thousand 700 subscribers on Twitter, now, after reporting from Donbass - 4 thousand 33. Recognition of the LDPR simply provoked an explosion of Serbian patriotism and Russophilia. I began to receive one SMS after another, even from those of my friends who seemed never to be interested in politics. They seemed to go crazy with joy! Just recently, the morale of the Serbs was very low, because the Serbs have experienced many betrayals over the past twenty years, there have been many disappointments, but after Putin’s speech our spirit soared to the skies.
We have been waiting for thirty years for a strong Russia, as a force that protects its people and other peoples. The one who tells the West, no, that won’t do. And we know that when there is a strong Russia, it is good for the Serbs. And seeing how Russia is returning Donbass, we understand that our task is to return Kosovo. Now it is not as difficult as it was two years ago, after the LDPR was recognized by Moscow, it is easier than it was before this fateful moment.
Can you call yourself a pioneer of Serbian journalism in Donbass?
Well, no, I can’t say that about myself. I studied journalism quite a long time ago from my senior colleagues, and I learned that it is normal when there is a conflict and a journalist rushes to it. Now we are walking through the center of Donetsk and do not feel in danger, because the DPR army is protecting us. They should be thanked, not me. The only time I remember a dangerous situation was when we were in Zaitsevo in 2016, and as soon as we left there, we were hit in exactly that place, right where we were standing. As it is, my work is no different from the work of my other colleagues. Although I know that the positions are very unsafe.
Have you ever been to the front line?
Yes, sure. I'm a Serb! If necessary, I'm always ready. I was at positions both in 2016 and 2017 several times, in Yasinovataya, at the “Ghost” in Kirovsk, at the positions of the “Somalia” battalion, unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the settlement, at the airport - it was September 2016.
I wasn’t there in 2018; then I was an observer at the elections in Lugansk. Now I went to Krasny Yar, to Donetsk. I think this is the most important thing - to meet the fighters, talk to them. Do you know what the reaction is when I say that I am a Serb? And each of them, as it turns out, knows at least one Serb who fought with them. I myself express my gratitude to all our guys who fought here. These are Dejan Beric, Goran Djiric, the Serbian Cossack Seryozha - I’ll call him that, Michal Marton - a Hungarian from Serbia, Miroslav Milosevic, who now lives in Serbia and would really like to return to Donbass, but got some problems because of which he cannot leave country, he is in one of my videos. And because of these heroes, when I said that I was from Serbia, everyone patted me on the shoulder and said: “Oh, well done!”
And I wanted to ask you one more question: why do you think that for centuries Russians and Serbs have walked shoulder to shoulder, and there are so many very similar parallels in their stories? And we seem to be different - in terms of customs, some cultural characteristics, but we are still together? What is this connected with?
I've thought about this many times. It seems to me that an important point of commonality is that neither the Russians nor the Serbs are ever afraid to stand up to the world empires. I don’t know what other nations can be noted for this. For example, Poland traditionally claims that it is not afraid to fight with Russia, but we will see how it behaves when it comes to a real clash. At the same time, Poland is afraid of the United States, Poland is afraid of Germany. But Russia is not afraid of the United States, and it is not afraid of Germany. And the Serbs are not afraid either. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, who became the main opponent of the Western Empire? Russians and Serbs. Of course, in this regard, the people of Syria are heroic, and the people of Venezuela are heroic, but such a situation was not their conscious choice, they were simply put in similar conditions. And they turned out to be brave and worthy. But the Serbs, like the Russians, chose this. Could we Serbs not have fought with America? We didn't want this war, but we wanted to protect our national interests. Russians too. For example, in Donbass, saying that we want to speak and write in Russian, and are ready to die for it.
Or let's remember the era when there was Nazi Germany. Who then in Europe consistently fought against it? Russians and Serbs. Everyone else either surrendered or became allies.
There is also, of course, a very similar mentality. Slavic Orthodox soul. We are sincere people. You know what a Russian thinks about you, and you know what a Serbian thinks about you, but you will never immediately understand what an American thinks about you. Despite the fact that, from my own experience, I can say, since I have traveled, lived and worked abroad a lot, Americans are even more sincere than the British. We really don't like LGBT ideology. And he simply cannot recognize this as the norm!
You know, when we Serbs come to Russia, we are invariably surprised: it’s so far away, but they live like us, think like us, speak like us, fight like us! I think that Russians coming to Serbia have similar impressions. Of course, you noted correctly, there are differences, but the root, the basis is common, united. Like one people! And it’s very good that we are not exactly alike, but, in essence, we are united, and similar examples cannot be found in the world. For example, the Portuguese and Brazilians talk about kinship and common roots, but they never fought for each other. And Russians and Serbs constantly fight for each other.
Serbian journalist in Donbass : "Only Russians and Serbs aren't afraid of the West"