This year’s 14th Sretenje address, to be held this evening at the Banski Dvor in Banja Luka starting at 7 p.m., will host Academician Prof. Dr. Darko Tanasković, a man who for decades has selflessly shared knowledge and defended state interests on the most demanding diplomatic fronts, from the Vatican to UNESCO. At a time when many fear even the mention of Serb unity, Professor Tanasković brings an analysis on the intriguing topic “The specter of the Serbian world is haunting the Balkans.”
My wish is to speak openly about the Serb world, because this term is the complete opposite of what is often claimed — that it represents Serb hegemonism, which it in fact does not, Professor Tanasković said while appearing on the RTRS Morning Program.
“We must speak about the Serb world freely, without any complexes, regardless of whether someone will listen to us. We must explain that the Serb world is actually the opposite of what those permanent self-appointed fighters against Serbian national interests claim it to be, and that we must never give in or bow our heads for the sake of ‘peace in the house’ or for any other reasons. Giving up talking about the Serb world would represent defeat even before we are actually defeated, because we cannot be defeated in this, as history has shown — only the sacrifices and damage are great until what is, in my view, the only possible outcome arrives, and that is the triumph of good, not evil,” Tanasković emphasized.
Tanasković believes that the Serb world is a spiritual and cultural space of identity of the Serbian people, and that it is not primarily territorial or political — something that should also be explained to many Serbs who either do not want to or cannot understand this.
“Freedom is what characterizes the Serb national being to the greatest extent, and it is precisely because of this that it achieved its greatest victories throughout history, rising to the highest moral and social heights, but on the other hand also suffering the greatest defeats and the greatest tragedies. Why? Because at the moment when it is existentially threatened, when the territorial space that ensures the free life of the Serb people is endangered, an inevitable struggle begins to defend that space, so that precisely there the Serb world can be created — above all the spiritual and cultural values that form the matrix of our identity,” Tanasković stressed.
He warned that the term “Serb world” should not be abused, that is, used for petty political purposes.
“By doing so, we hand arguments to our opponents, to those who hate us, for their completely distorted view of everything Serb — namely, that behind the Serb world lies the idea of Greater Serbian hegemonism. I think that we should not, in a simplistic or overly simplified and, in my view, unrealistic way, especially in politics, connect the idea of the Serb world today with any near-term prospect of achieving Serbian political unity at the state level, because that is unrealistic,” Tanasković added.
Tanasković also noted that the role of the Serb Orthodox Church is extremely important for the Serb nation and always has been, as it represents the pillar of Serb unity.
“The Serb Orthodox Church is the institution that throughout history has had that pivotal role for the Serbian people — to ensure that, when everything gives way, when everything breaks down, when everything is called into question, it provides that ground of the Serb world reduced precisely to freedom and to the desire to preserve that freedom,” Tanasković concluded.
Source: RTRS
