New Hope for Vojvodina?
Serbia's elections results bring a new sense of hope to the region's ethnic minorities
Throughout the capitals of Europe, with the exception of Moscow, the results of Serbia's general election was welcomed as a positive outcome. The victory of Boris Tadic promises an era of better and closer ties between Serbia and the rest of the European community. Nevertheless, there were some mixed reactions within EU member states of how to proceed further with Serbia. Some feel that Serbia should be integrated within the rest of Europe as soon as possible and put on the road to EU membership, while others prefer to still keep Serbia at a relatively safe distance feeling that it's still much too early to even consider the prospect of EU membership.
Yet for those expecting a radical shift in Serbian politics, the victory of Tadic doesn't mean that change is imminent or will be quick. Kosovo remains an enigma, and even Tadic publicly acclaimed that Serbia will not give up its claims to the province. Likewise, it's far from certain that relations between Serbia and the EU will suddenly become more cordial. Prime Minister Kostunica already criticized the EU for tacitly trying to undermine Serbia's national interests.
Despite the uncertainties ahead, especially with Kosovo independence looming on the horizon, in many parts of Serbia there is hope for the future. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the northern province of Vojvodina.
Vojvodina is like Kosovo in many ways. It's an area with a large non-Serb minority, albeit the minority mix in Vojvodina is less homogenous and no group is overly dominant as in Kosovo. Also, under Tito's Yugoslavia it was a province that enjoyed the status of autonomy, at least in name. Like Kosovo, this status was revoked during the crisis of the early 1990s and the ultimate breakup of the Tito's Yugoslavia.
Sadly, the residents of Vojvodina suffered greatly under Milosevic. Many young men, especially from the Hungarian minority, fled northward to Hungary in order to escape military service, not wishing to fight Serbia's ethnic war against the Croats and Bosnians. As a result, many have found themselves in a dilemma: many are spurned by Hungarians as simple economic refugees and they feel they have no real place in Hungarian society despite their supposedly close ethnic ties. Feeling unwanted in Hungary, many would like to return home but are to because they feel there is nothing left for them there. Not only is there the threat of prosecution for desertion, but some have already lost their homes as Serb families who had fled from Kosovo were resettled in the houses abandoned by the refugees from Vojvodina. The tragedy of the internal displacement of people from both Kosovo and Vojvodina as a result of the civil war and the war against NATO is a history that is yet to be written; indubitably it's a history that will be hard reading for EU and NATO leaders as they are one the main instigators of this tragedy.
Low-level form of ethnic cleansing
Indeed, the war by NATO to try and topple Milosevic was disproportionately felt by those living in Vojvodina. Inexplicably, key bridges over the Danube were bombed and destroyed by NATO forces, and several villages and town were also targeted. The irony is that the province of Kosovo, over which the war was being fought, came through the conflict unscathed.
The final years of Milosevic's rule and the post-Milosevic era have also not been an easy one for the residents of Vojvodina. Attacks against minorities are a common occurrence as Serbs displaced from their homes in Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia all have been resettled foremost in Vojvodina. The Serb newcomers often take a radical and violent attitude toward the minorities in the area as many end up transferring the humiliation and injustices they had gone through onto non-Serbs -- especially ethnic Hungarians, which happens to be the largest minority group. Roving gangs of youth often beat up young Hungarians if they hear them talking in the streets. Subsequently, the police rarely ever go after the perpetrators and often blame the victims.
One reason for this has to do with the lessons of Kosovo: some Serbs believe that if it is acceptable for the Albanians to drive out Serbs from Kosovo, then Serbs should have the right to drive out Hungarians and others from Vojvodina. Likewise, if Vojvodina is allowed to carry on with its multi-cultural past, then Serbia might end up losing the province in the same it is now about to lose Kosovo. Hence, what is presently going on in Vojvodina is a low-level form of ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, Europe looks the other way. Apparently the only solution that paralyzed EU leaders can see to the enigma of the Yugoslavia mosaic is a tacit acceptance of ethnic cleansed areas brought about with a minimal amount of violence, Kosovo being is a case in point.
Given this tragic and painful past, many in Vojvodina looked to Tadic as the best hope for their future. Indeed, with such a tight race it was actually the votes of the Hungarian minority which helped sweep Tadic to power. Realizing this, Tadic expressed his gratitude for the support he received from the ethnic Hungarian minority during his victory speech on Sunday evening.
As a result, the Hungarians and other minorities within the province of Vojvodina now expect an improvement in their situation in terms of both political support and increased security. There is a certain amount of foreboding, however. Given that the results were so close and that the Hungarian minority helped Tadic defeat the Radical party, some now fear some sort of reprisals from the radical Serbs in the area. Nonetheless, if a wave of anti-Hungarian violence does ensue, this will be the first big test for Tadic domestically. Considering that his party still doesn?t hold absolute control in parliament, navigating Serbia through these especially difficult times will be a challenge indeed.