AGAINST THE RHETORIC OF HATRED AND THE THREAT TO PEACE IN THE BALKANS BY SERBIAN PRESIDENT ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ
The Writers’ and Artists’ Union of Albania expresses its profound concern regarding the recent statements made by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who, during the commissioning ceremony of newly appointed officers of the Serbian Armed Forces, declared that “Kosovo is part of Serbia,” while simultaneously announcing the further strengthening of his country’s military capabilities. Equally alarming were the remarks made by Serbian Minister Snežana Paunović, who publicly expressed support for the concept of the ethnic cleansing of the Albanians of Kosovo—a discourse that has been rightly condemned by the European Union as unacceptable and fundamentally incompatible with the core values of European civilization.
We issue this statement not as political actors, but as representatives of the cultural conscience of the Albanian nation. History has repeatedly demonstrated that wars do not begin with weapons; they begin with words. They arise from the manipulation of history, the denial of truth, and the transformation of nationalist myths into instruments of state doctrine. For this reason, intellectuals have neither the moral right nor the historical privilege to remain silent whenever political discourse begins to slide toward historical revisionism and the legitimization of new conflicts.
The assertion by the President of Serbia that Kosovo is part of Serbia constitutes a distortion of historical truth and a denial of the established realities of international law. Kosovo has never historically constituted an integral part of the Serbian state. From antiquity onward, it has been one of the central regions of the Illyrian-Arbërian and Albanian civilization. Its separation from the Albanian state was not the result of the will of its indigenous Albanian population, but rather the consequence of decisions imposed by the Great Powers, most notably the Conference of Ambassadors in London (1913), which, for well-known geopolitical reasons, left the greater part of the Albanian ethnic territories outside the borders of the newly established Albanian state.
The claim that “Kosovo is part of Serbia” is not merely a political statement intended for domestic consumption, driven by President Vučić’s political setbacks, the growing public dissatisfaction reflected in prolonged protests against his government, and the electoral pressures associated with Serbia’s forthcoming autumn elections. It also represents a denial of the legal, historical, and international realities established following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.
The Republic of Kosovo has been an independent and sovereign state since 17 February 2008. In its 2010 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice concluded that Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence did not violate international law. This constitutes a legal fact of fundamental significance within the contemporary architecture of international law and cannot be displaced by political declarations or unilateral constitutional interpretations.
The historical dimension is equally indisputable. Kosovo constitutes the heartland of ancient Dardania, one of the most significant centers of the Illyrian civilization in the Balkans. By the time Slavic tribes began to settle in the Balkan Peninsula during the sixth and seventh centuries, the Illyrian-Dardanian civilization had already enjoyed many centuries of historical continuity, possessing established political institutions, an advanced urban culture, a developed legal tradition, and a well-organized ecclesiastical life. It was from Dardania that some of the most distinguished figures of European civilization emerged, including Roman emperors such as Constantine the Great and Justinian the Great, as well as eminent personalities of early Christianity.
History cannot be reduced to an instrument of political propaganda. It is a scholarly discipline governed by evidence, primary sources, critical methodology, and intellectual integrity. Territorial claims in the twenty-first century cannot legitimately be founded upon political myths inherited from earlier centuries.
It is equally essential to recall that the contemporary political boundaries of the Balkans are not the product of an uninterrupted historical continuity but rather the outcome of complex international processes. Following the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, more than half of the Albanian ethnic territories remained outside the borders of the newly established Albanian state as a consequence of decisions taken by the Great Powers. This historical reality is well documented in European historiography and should serve as a reminder of the imperative to preserve peace and stability throughout the Balkan region.
Our concern becomes even greater when such political assertions are accompanied by militaristic rhetoric and an accelerated process of military rearmament. No sovereign state can be criticized for strengthening its legitimate defensive capabilities. However, when military expansion is coupled with territorial claims against a neighboring sovereign state, the political message inevitably acquires an entirely different significance. The history of twentieth-century Europe—and, in particular, the devastating wars that accompanied the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s—demonstrates that aggressive nationalism, historical revisionism, and the militarization of public discourse have repeatedly served as the most dangerous precursors to armed conflict.
We cannot forget that during the late 1980s and the early 1990s it was precisely the writers, scholars, and intellectuals of Kosovo who warned that the ideology of Greater Serbia would lead the former Yugoslavia toward catastrophe. Those warnings were not accorded the seriousness they deserved. The consequences are well known: devastating wars, hundreds of thousands of victims, millions of displaced persons, and wounds that continue to weigh heavily upon the moral conscience of Europe.
For this reason, every resurgence of the political vocabulary of the 1990s must be regarded as a serious warning signal.
Particularly unacceptable are statements that seek to relativize or justify ethnic cleansing. Crimes against humanity can never become objects of political nostalgia. They cannot be trivialized, justified, or presented as legitimate instruments of state policy. Such rhetoric constitutes a direct assault upon human dignity, the memory of the victims, and the moral foundations upon which post-war Europe has been built.
Accordingly, the Writers’ and Artists’ Union of Albania calls upon the European Union, the United States of America, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, and all democratic international institutions to adopt a clear, principled, and unequivocal position against every form of rhetoric that undermines the sovereignty of states, incites ethnic hatred, or creates a climate of insecurity and instability in the Balkans.
The process of European integration cannot be separated from historical responsibility. Serbia, which has yet to acknowledge its responsibility for the genocide and crimes committed against the Albanians of Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited territories of the former Yugoslavia, has once again adopted a political rhetoric that revives the memory of policies characterized by violence, aggression, and ethnic cleansing.
Every candidate state seeking membership in the European Union must demonstrate not only compliance with the technical requirements of accession but also a genuine commitment to democratic culture, the rule of international law, reconciliation, historical accountability, and the principles of good-neighborly relations.
A political discourse that denies the statehood of a neighboring country or rehabilitates concepts associated with ethnic cleansing stands in direct contradiction to the very spirit and values upon which the European project has been founded.
Writers and artists do not preserve history in order to incite hatred; they preserve it in order to safeguard memory. They do not defend borders with weapons, but rather defend civilization through the enduring power of words. It is precisely for this reason that we consider it our moral obligation to raise our voices before history is allowed to repeat itself.
Serbia, which has yet to accept its historical, political, and moral responsibility for the grave crimes committed against the Albanians of Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited territories of the former Yugoslavia—including genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the crimes perpetrated against Croats, Bosniaks, and Albanians during the wars of 1991–1999—is once again employing a revanchist rhetoric that evokes the destructive policies of state violence, military aggression, and ethnic persecution.
The Balkans do not need new myths of war. They need a culture of peace, sincere dialogue, mutual respect, and the acceptance of historical truth.
Only upon these foundations can a genuinely European future be built for all the peoples of the region. The Albanian people will stand united in responding to every challenge and every act of aggression, wherever it may originate.
THE WRITERS’ AND ARTISTS’ UNION OF ALBANIA
Dr. Mujë Buçpapaj
President
