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Democracy Versus Nation the Post-Communist Hypernational State and the Position of Its 'Ethnically Different' Citizens

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Democracy Versus Nation the Post-Communist Hypernational State and the Position of Its 'Ethnically Different' Citizens Democracy versus Nation The Post-Communist Hypernational State and the Position of its 'Ethnically Different' Citizens Vojin Dimitrijevi� ' Nationalism and Pluralism . Political allegiance and voting based exclusively on ethnic lines, observable in many Eastern and Central European states and especially in former Yugo- slavia, inherently contradict political pluralism and civil society. Individuals are pushed not to act primarily as citizens but as members of the ethnic group'. They are not supposed to recognize any social, economic, pro- fessional and other interests and behave as if all members of the ethnic group were in the same social position. The society gradually becomes blocked as are the to their regards progress and national elites given opportunity exploit co-nationals in the name of the 'national interest', which, conceived as the interest of the whole ethnic nation (including the 'diaspora'), has been an obsession in Serbian, as well as Croatian and Slovenian, politics. Extreme nationalism also operates against ethnically identical political opponents and their associations. Under its pressure, all political organizations become gradually submitted to a 'test' of patriotism and ethnic conformity: when, in the opinion of the self-appointed judges, an association, no matter how politically unambitious, does not embrace a modicum of nationalism, it is subjected to damnation with a corresponding epithet, that includes the ubiqui- tous 'ant-', but varies from country to country. In Romania, it is anti-Roma- nianism', in Serbia anti-Serbism, in Croatia, anti-Croatism etc. Animosity against co-nationals with insufficiently developed ethnic feelings eventually becomes greater than hatred against aliens. This results in wholesale regres- sion in life: some of the cease to be perceived as political political participants 3 opponents and become treacherous enemies, unworthy of respect and protection.3 1. The followingstatement of MiroslavToholj, one of the leadersof the SerbianDemocratic Party in Bosnia-Herzegovinaand until recentlya ministerin the governmentof the Bosnian Serb 'RepublicSrpska', deservesto be quoted:'The Serbs have been finallydeprived of their Serb name, they have been made citizens,which they will not accept', in Vreme, Belgrade,9 March 1992,p. 54. 2. V. Tismaneanuand M. Mircea, `Infamy Restored: Nationalismin Romania', East EuropeanReporter, 1992, vol. no. 1, p. 25. 3. VojislavSeselj, the leader of the ultra-rightSerbian Radical Party, who had supportedthe incumbentPresident of Serbia, SlobodanMilosevic, against Milan Panic, who was regardedas moderateand pro-Western,made the followingstatement after the results of the December1992 elections: 'For him (i.e. Panic)voted Hungarians, Albanians, Croats, Muslimsand other treacherousstrata', Borba (Belgrade),25 December1992, p. 4. From the results, it was obvious that many ethnic Serbs had voted for Panic. One Ostoja Sibin?i6,the leaderof a group of Serb refugeesfrom Croatia,has coinedthe widelyused syntagmof 'higher quality' (kvalitetnijl)Serbs, as distinctfrom the 'low quality' ones. Sibin£I£is a simple man, but not so Zoran Djindji6,doctor of philosophy,translator of 14 When the government is in the hands of nationalists, it is in a good position to choose its weapons against the non-nationalist opposition, or, for that matter, anyone who could be labelled as such. They can be vilified by state-controlled media, physically attacked by untraceable nationalist vigilan- tes, and, ultimately, criminally prosecuted. Moderately nationalist govern- ments may be under strong pressure from aggressive groups and may fear violent reactions if the law enforcement agencies show more determination to prevent nationalist violence and intimidation. Common interests are best realized and defended when they are per- ceived to be in jeopardy. The tribal instinct is therefore most probably the result of fear for national identity, which overshadows all other considerations. Nationalist regimes have always shown strong resilience vis-d-vis economic sanctions and this has been proven again in the case of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Sanctions are assumed to induce rational reactions, but national- ist sentiments are not rational: under their influence people are prepared to sacrifice 'vulgar' rational interests in favour of 'noble' irrational demands of national survival, dignity and sovereignty. Abstract anxiety is indeed permeat- ing most societies in post-communist transition: 'fear of yesterday, fear of today, and fear of tomorrow's. The defence of the ethnic group has become the primary concern. Nationalism and the Idea of Human Rights Not only is extreme nationalism hostile to true pluralism, but it poses a serious threat to human rights. As demonstrated, authorities hesitate to offer protec- tion of life and limb against 'patriotic' hooligans, or, even worse, use them as accessories6. Freedom of association becomes restricted to a circle of natio- nally acceptable groups. The laws against defamation, slander and libel do not operate and the freedom of expression becomes the property of the ruling elite. On the other hand, editors of publications belonging to the opposition Husserl and leader of the moderateand supposedlynon-nationalist Democratic Party: 'There have alwaysbeen statisticalSerbs who havebeen more Catholicthan the Pope, and . less Serb than manyCroats', in NW,8 April 1994,p. 7. 4. V. DimitrijeviEand Jelena Pejic, `Theeffects of UNsanctions against Yugoslavia(Serbia and Montenegro):theory and conventionalwisdom in the currentcontext', paper presented at the 1992 AnnualConference of the BritishInternational Studies Association, Swansea, 14-16December 1992. 5. F. Miszlivetz,'Nationalism vs. Civil Society:Paradoxes of Transition', in: Jensen,Jody (ed.), New Challenges forEurope After 1989, Budapest,1991, The Centerfor European Studies,p. 15. 6. An obituary, publishedin the main Belgradedaily newspaperby the colleaguesof a journalist who allegedly committedsuicide, speaks for itself: 'Dada VujasinoviE,a journalist, will not write for 'Duga' any more. She believedthat it pays to tell the truth. We lovedher', in Politika,10 April 1994,p. 29. .
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