“Aside all the various Tudjmans, Miloševićs and Vučićs, the intellectual elite who have created an atmosphere of values in which tribal affiliation has become more important than the most basic humanity should be held responsible. That is what made us regress,” said journalist and columnist, Teofil Pančić, in his interview for the latest issue of Karakter magazine.
Pančić also said that in the past nine years, i.e. since the people who have blood on their hands all the way from the 1990s have been in power, they are now brainwashing everyone. “Some things are being mythologised, like the NATO bombings or the battle of Košare. The same happened after the Second World War with the communists,” Pančić added.
He went on to say that with the change of government in 2012, the republic created following the October 5th political upheaval, was effectively destroyed. “It wasn’t just a change of the political parties in power, which is natural, it was a paradigm shift. We live in a society that is literally in a kind of political apartheid at the lowest level. Since this party came to power, I have not, with two or three exceptions, been to a book promotion to talk about literature but there is always a talk about politics or Vučić. The very fact that you think freely segregates you – your name does not appear on promotional posters and you are not invited to speak by public institutions, libraries and cultural centres. If I were invited, the head of that particular institution would be grilled about inviting Teofil Pančić to speak.”
“When Tomislav Nikolić won in 2012 and when it became clear that he would form a government, Pančić recalls, he speculated in an article that their government would last at least ten years. “It simply seemed the minimum term then. I really wish that were true. But I’m not sure of anything anymore, despite all these reports that Vučić’s power is weakening, and is becoming increasingly fragile. This is not the case at all. If there had been no (NATO) bombing, Milošević would still be in power if he were alive. So, would Lukashenko. Vučić will rule for a long time, unless something unpredictable happens, something that turns things upside down. I However, I don’t know what that is. Why did Milošević fall after the NATO bombing? Because he broke his unspoken pact with the people – I will do all kinds of nefarious things, but I will do them outside Serbia, because nobody has the right to attack you here. The moment a stronger ‘guy’ appeared and started attacking us without Milošević being able to do anything to him, that’s when the pact broke down. I have no idea who or what will break Vučić’s corrupt agreement with the silent majority in Serbia,” Pančić said.
He added that Vučić had destroyed political life and broken the backbone of the opposition, the media and the civil sector, something that not even Milošević had managed to do. According to him, there are no conflicting opinions and no elementary and healthy exchange of ideas in public communication. “We live in two completely separate realities, where one occupies almost 95 per cent of the space and the other 5 per cent,” Pančić noted.
(Danas, 05.12.2021)
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