The Balkans has always been place where conflicting interests meet. Great EU influence in the Balkans has narrowed the space and led to Russia finding its stronghold here. Russia won’t give up on those strongholds so easily, says president of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Mr Nenad Čanak.
“In that context, East-West combination , together with conflicting administrations in the Western Balkans and international dilettantism trend, leads to dangerous crime coordinates and anti-democratization of the entire region”, says Mr Čanak.
As he points out, undermining democracy becomes visible through the marginalization of state institutions.
“Young and educated people are leaving the region. The future of the regions will be the future of abandoned countries, if something isn’t done urgently”, warns Mr Čanak.
Asked if Serbia will recognize Kosovo reality, Mr Čanak says that it still remains an issue.
“When there’s no solution to a problem, then it’s not a problem anymore, it’s a circumstance. In that context, independence of Kosovo is a circumstance. But how could we explain that to those who haven’t gone through detoxification process and cleaned themselves from the 90s poison”, says Mr Čanak.
As far as the church issue is concerned, Mr Čanak thinks that Serbia is the country where it is almost impossible to understand anything.
“The Constitution of Serbia stipulates that church should be separated from the state. On the other side, we saw a Yule log being taken into the building of Serbian Presidency, Ministry of Interior celebrating “slava” and priests being part of the Armed Forces of Serbia. Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia lacks the power catholic church has in Croatia”, concludes Mr Čanak.
