The Serb people have always faced hardships in their centuries-old struggle for existence. A people who have survived genocides are now being portrayed as perpetrators of genocide, wrote Paul Antoine, a French political analyst, in an article.
We bring you Paul Antoine’s article for kompasinfo.rs in its entirety:
Alongside the new UN resolution attempting to portray the Serb people as a people who committed “genocide in Srebrenica,” the Serbian people are once again fighting for their right to freedom and existence.
Personally, I believe the UN resolution could serve as a wake-up call and a form of rebirth for the Serbian people in the geopolitical arena, as I explained in one of my recent articles “Serbs are the last savages.” Therefore, I will focus on the struggle that President Milorad Dodik is waging, defending Republika Srpska in BiH.
I have already addressed this issue in one of my previous articles—and to be honest, thinking about it (modestly) makes me feel prophetic.
In an article titled “Serb Biology,” I analyzed Serbia with Serbia representing its body, Kosovo and Metohija as its soul, Republika Srpska as Serbia’s strength, and the Drina River as its backbone.
A person born in lies dies in lies, and all they try to do in between is to stand up. To stand up, one needs a backbone and unity as both an individual and a nation.
The same applies to Serbia, which is trying to stand up. To stand up for the protection of the Serb people and Serb culture, heritage, and tradition. It is a struggle for the future and survival.
Serbia, whose soul (Kosovo and Metohija) is being torn away, how can it fight if it cannot stand up after losing its backbone and shield, that is, Republika Srpska?
This is precisely what President Dodik is trying to do in Bosnia. The Serb people of Republika Srpska, the Serb people of Belgrade (some of whom do not even wish to be Serbs) do not understand or see what their brothers on the other side of the Drina are doing—defending the right to exist. Serbs often (and rightly so) say that others in the world see them as peasants and second- or even third-class citizens, but that is exactly what they are doing to the Serbs in Republika Srpska. They see Milorad Dodik as a kind and fine, but honestly, a foolish old man from some remote village in Bosnia. They are much more intelligent than him, having studied at prestigious universities in Belgrade, spending a year abroad in France or, even better (or worse?), in London. They follow fashion, dress nicely, their Instagram profiles look great, they spend their holidays in Greece with friends from abroad, and of course, they don’t drink rakija because it’s so “cliché,” as the French say.
They simply forget one thing: if they can travel the world freely, if they can be proud (sometimes) of being Serbs, or if they speak their (not someone else’s) language, it is because their people fought for it in the past. I am not talking about the Battle of Kosovo, the First or Second Serb Uprising, or World War I, no, I am talking about the struggle of the Serbian people in Bosnia during the 1990s. That struggle never ended. The military operations ended, but the political struggle never did. President Dodik’s work is a clear example of that. The fight to defend Republika Srpska is not just a fight for Serbs in Bosnia but a fight for the entire Serb people. If Mr. Dodik gives up on Srpska, then the Serbs in Bosnia will live just as, at least they try to live, the Serbs in Kosovo, but I believe the Serbs from Belgrade cannot even imagine that because they have never visited Kosovo and Metohija.
The Serb people must understand that Republika Srpska represents the backbone that protects the rest of Serbia (the state) and the Serbian people. The existence of the Serb state and thus the Serb people rests on three pillars: the Serbian state, the Serbian Church, and the Serbian military.
I have traveled all over Serbia and the Balkans. I have been to Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, villages in Šumadija, Kosovo and Metohija, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Skadar, everywhere in the Balkans where the Serbian people live.
The only place where I saw all three pillars was in Banja Luka. In Banja Luka, I saw the Serb state protecting the Serb people and fighting for Serb interests. I saw those young red berets marching proudly on January 9th and Serbian monks praying for Serbia in monasteries hidden in the forests and mountains.
I have seen some of the pillars in other places, for example, the beauty and strength of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo, the beauty of monks in Kosovo who fight and stand against the entire world, as if they are solely protecting our Lord Jesus Christ, but, for example, I have not seen the Serb military or the Serbian state.
The only place where I saw all three pillars together was in Banja Luka. When I organized a meeting between President Cvijanović and Marine Le Pen in France, I saw the head of the Serb state fighting for Serb interests. When I organized an interview that President Dodik gave to French television “Omerta,” I saw another head of the Serbian state speaking the truth about the Serbian people and desperately trying to protect them.
If Republika Srpska falls, it is not just a political entity in Bosnia, this is not just another minor Serb diplomatic loss, no, this is the fall of the only place in the world where you can see all three Serb pillars together.
Serbs are fighting against the whole world, as much as they can to defend themselves. The West, attacking the political leadership of Srpska, is not foolish and agrees with me because they do not attack Srpska and Dodik by mistake or just because he is there. They primarily attack Republika Srpska and Dodik to destroy the three Serb pillars I spoke of. And whoever is in Dodik’s place will be the target of attacks because the real goal is the destruction of the Serbian people.
What you can do is prove that the West is wrong when it believes that Milorad Dodik is alone and unsupported. Serbs often say they are tired of war, but they should read history more carefully. Caesar said that whoever wants peace must prepare for war. The Serb people want peace and must therefore fully support and side with the political struggle for the survival of Republika Srpska and support anyone in that position because that is the only state-building stance. It does not mean they support him; it means they support the existence of Republika Srpska, the right of Serbs to live in Bosnia, and thereby the existence of the Serb people in the Balkans.
First, the West attacked the Serbs in Republika Srpska Krajina, then in Kosovo and Metohija, and now in Republika Srpska. If Republika Srpska falls tomorrow, then Belgrade will be next. When Constantinople fell, the entire Byzantine Empire fell. Today, Banja Luka is the Serb Constantinople, and every Serb must stand in its defense.
The West must see that Dodik is not alone and that the people stand behind him. A free people, a smart people, a pacifist people, a people made up of good and intelligent citizens, and that is a thorn in the side of the West. You don’t have to love any politician; love Republika Srpska and fight for it.
The Serb people now need to take their pen as I am doing now and write about their freedom, their history, and explain why they simply want to live on the land of their ancestors. They need to take their pen to support and stand behind the people of Republika Srpska and the political institutions of President Dodik. With their pen, they must write their history so that no one else can try to write a false Serb history, as some are currently trying to do at the UN. They can write for their children, they can write to the rest of the world about their struggles, desires, and fears. The desire for peace on the territory where all Serbs live, in peace and together, respecting others, but more importantly, being respected by others and the collective West.
Finally, Serbs must ask themselves the following question: if the pen is not enough, what is the next pen you are willing to take? This is the only question the Serb people must ask themselves. On the blade of every sword carried by a Serbian officer, it is written, “Do not draw me without reason, do not sheath me without honor.” It has been many years since the Serbian sword could be drawn, and long ago, unfortunately, the same sword was sheathed without honor. Without the honor of Kosovo, without the honor of handing over generals and officers of the VRS to the West. Now it is time for Serbia to explain to the West that they do not want peace, their current sword is the pen, but tomorrow’s pen can and will be a Zastava M70 if necessary.
We all know where our current pen is. We use it every day, it is called Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, the media we read, the article I am writing about, but the question is, where is my tomorrow’s pen, if needed, and will I be willing to take it?
I have long answered that question myself; my tomorrow’s pen awaits me, buried in the fields of Republika Srpska.
Do you want to remain alone and unknown, or do you want to fight for something that is good and for the future of your people to live in peace and happiness? Be fighters as your glorious ancestors were.
To be honest, the question was already answered for you the night before the Battle of Kosovo. The legend says that an angel came to Prince Lazar and told him, “You must choose.”
Either you will surrender to the Turks and have great wealth here on earth, but then you will be forgotten, or you will fight and die tomorrow, but you will enter eternity.
If you are truly the Serbian people (and having a passport or speaking the language is definitely not enough), then you know which option you must choose.
Glory to Prince Lazar and glory to every Serb who decided to walk his path defending the Serb people, yesterday, now, and tomorrow.
Source: RTRS
