The responsibility of this state lies in the fact that since the mid-eighties, the nineties and the wars, and up until now, it has been supporting an extreme Serbian nationalism and hatred towards other nations in the region, and other countries like America which is allegedly guilty for the Serbian fate. Nationalism and hate propaganda was enormous. A large number of paramilitary groups and weekend warriors, such as the White Eagles. Scorpions, the Serbian Guard, the Red Berets, etc. were actually formations that have been concealing Serbia’s participation in wars, and these gangs were used for wars, massive crimes and robberies. It was all official policy during the nineties. We have seen that these groups survived afterwards. The Scorpions were only recently put on trial for the murder of young Bosnians (and it’s going very slowly), and Red Berets are also responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic.
Does this mean that the groups that operate today are some kind of successors to paramilitary groups from the war years?
These groups are being formed in the ongoing atmosphere of hate, misery and aggression. They are neither protected, nor despised by the state, because some officials still share the ideology of the nineties.
I would say that these groups were formed partially due to the education where children are still, formally or informally, getting familiar with ethnic hatred and threats.
Do these groups pose a threat to citizens and the system?
Firstly, it should be clearly established which extreme groups are we talking about. You have extreme “supporters” who are obviously protected by the state because certain political officials and ministers are at the same time the executives in criminal football clubs. An example of state protection of this group is the fact that the verdict against serious threats to Brankica Stanković have not been reached after almost two years, the perpetrators are still not punished, and we, the citizens, pay the 24 hours security for her protection.
Citizens are paying so that the hooligans could be covered up and the false image of the journalist’s protection could be created. As for the fact that the court and public services do not work – well, though luck. The same goes for the other masked “hooligans” who participated in setting the American Embassy on fire, or burning down Jarinje in Kosovo this summer. These are the paralegal formations which are hiding the state. Not the same, but close to them are groups such as Ours, Dveri, 1389, The National Front, etc.
What will happen if this process continues to develop and what can be done to reverse its direction towards the one appropriate to a civil society?
That will not happen if you have responsible security services which do their job properly. It is important that such groups are observed and evaluated in regards to citizens’ safety and the danger they present to the government’s system. These extremist groups are also present in other countries, and they are constantly under the control of security agencies which assess the dangers and report to Parliament about this issue. When it is established that certain group is dangerous for the democratic system, it is prohibited on the basis of facts and evidence. But if the country itself needs such groups so that state and political officials could hide behind them with the aim of denying security support to the pride parade, than this is a completely different matter. You saw the alleged accusations about the plans of these groups, made up by Dacic and the police. If they are indeed so powerful, then they should be banned. We watched the same parade in Brazil attended by 700,000 people, and we cannot organize it even with just a hundred of participants. The law clearly points out all the rights of all LGBT population.
We should bear in mind that these groups are strongly supported by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is not a secret, but expressed publicly and openly. This is a very important support to the extremists.