Serbia: January 14

Yesterday I wished for Serbia to have a new year that was better than the one before.  It seems that a lot of Serbians would consider that a tall order; there’s not a lot of optimism about the present situation, both economically and politically.

Today, we met with a couple of NGO’s that were aiming to change that.  The first was the European Movement, whose aim it was to set Serbia on the road to EU accession.  One thing about Serbian NGO’s that is important to remember is that most of them are locally-founded “grass-roots” movements, though most of them have to sustain themselves through foreign support.  In fact, during the years of the Milosevic regime, most commerce and communication with Serbia was cut off except for these NGO’s, which formed a core of Civil Society in Belgrade, and often were connected to the Democratic Opposition, in addition to their stated goals.

This first one was no exception, as Milosevic was by no means interested in greater European integration of Serbia, and instead aimed for more nationalistic goals of territorial expansion.  By the time he’d been ousted out of power, he’d caused Serbia to lose territory, be bombed by NATO, and generally decline in infrastructure and economy.

Postcommunism in Serbia began with autocracy, war, and decline, which did much to instill pessimism and apathy into the general public.  The younger Serbians tend to be more active, though the European Movement spokesperson related that lately skepticism has grown up among them as well, as most of the work which has been done already has produced few tangible benefits or improvement.  Still, the EU Movement continues to engage in its task, supporting concrete local initiatives and fostering dialogue discussing the relative merits of a path towards integration, in the hopes that the people will better understand what is happening, and what is desired.

The second NGO we visited, the Open School in Belgrade, was founded as an educational supplement for the brighter students in the University of Belgrade.  It provides a one-year course for the top students who apply, giving them travel opportunities in Europe, as well as training in leadership skills and policy formation.  This is important, as politics in Serbia are deficient in policy and policy discussion, tending to be more focused on obtaining power, usually via populist/nationalist emotional appeals, and enforcing that power through law, without the middle step of building a foundational statement of what one’s actual aims are, what problems are to be focused on, and how solutions are to be found and implemented.

One of the problems that comes with legislation passed for the sake of improving to EU standards, especially in the environmental aspect, is that Serbian feel that such things are being done for “them,” “them” being the West, Brussels, the EU, the US, instead of “us,” even though they’re the ones who will be reaping the long-term benefits.  There’s a lot of political apathy among the population that makes it necessary for NGO’s to go into the field and engage with people, to help them understand how a civil society works.

One of the recurring themes that seemed to crop up was that things were improving, but very slowly.  I’m beginning to think that if things don’t start accelerating, they’ll never get off the ground.  It’s hard to work at a thing for so many years without seeing any result, and for Serbia to climb back economically to where it was even in 1990 may take over a decade, and political changes, more intangible in any case, provide even fewer concrete signs of progress.  If there is no sign of progress, it is all to easy to be discouraged.  Understandably, many of the brightest Serbians plan to move elsewhere, especially among the young, simply because they cannot see any opportunities in their native land, and the government’s [lack of] economic policy makes it almost impossible for them to make those opportunities themselves.

However, if the best minds leave Serbia, then the movements for change will have little chance of really pushing for it, lacking manpower and expertise.  Like an airplane, reform in Serbia must move faster if it is to take off; mere patience is not going to suffice.