Professor Pettigrew: The 'Serbian World' ideology is a threat to BiH, the EU and NATO must respond

(Patria) - Professor of Philosophy and Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Dr. David Pettigrew, warned at a conference of the Association of Independent Intellectuals Krug 99 held today in Sarajevo that the "Serbian World" ideology is an "existential threat" to Bosnia and Herzegovina and stressed the need for a response from the European Union and NATO.

He pointed out that the guiding idea in the "Serbian World" ideology is the assumption that Bosnia and Herzegovina "does not exist as a unified multicultural sovereign state".

He explained that, according to the recently adopted Declaration of the 'All-Serbian Assembly', BiH is merely a collection of entities with three separate peoples or "nations", each with vital interests and veto rights, and that the Declaration privileges the BiH entity of Republika Srpska (RS) as a "unique and independent" sovereign entity.

"Hence, the 'Serbian World' has subjected Bosnia as a sovereign state to ideological denial. Such delegitimization and conceptual denial of Bosnia as a sovereign state represents an existential threat with terrible consequences," emphasizes Professor Pettigrew.

He compared it to Russia's denial of Ukraine as part of the "Russian World" ideology.

"For the proponents of the Russian World, Ukraine and its people do not exist. Putin's ideologues have stated that Ukraine does not exist, that it is 'soft tissue' between Russia and the West, and that Ukrainians have somehow forgotten they are Russians. In this sense, Russia has already erased the existence of Ukraine as a state with its own culture and history. The illegal invasion and its deadly atrocities are a brutal attempt to affirm this pathological worldview," he explained.

Pettigrew states that the "All-Serbian Assembly" declaration foresees exclusive ethno-territoriality for the Serbian people as a "unified whole", which is analogous to the irredentist plan for "Greater Serbia" from the 1990s, "which sought to incorporate Bosnia and other Balkan regions as if they had never existed as separate entities before".

The Declaration, as in the case of the SANU Memorandum, speaks of the alleged persecution of Serbs and proposes a response through cultural and political separatism. The proposed unity of all Serbs in one state clearly harms Bosnia and its citizens, he pointed out.

"It is as if the Serbian and Russian worlds have conspired to deny Bosnia in Vidrići in Republika Srpska, where an Orthodox church in the Russian style and a Russian Orthodox cross have been built. The plaque on the cross pays tribute to fallen fighters, including Russian mercenaries who died in the so-called 'Defense-Homeland War' (1992-1995). The phrase 'Defense-Homeland War' includes a revisionist narrative that glorifies perpetrators, denies genocide, and intends to erase Bosnia, as its territory is now described as a 'homeland' defended by Orthodox 'brothers'. It should not escape our attention that Putin's official foreign policy is the 'unification of Orthodoxy' while he seeks to provide full support to 'brotherly nations'," he stated.

The professor further states that High Representative Christian Schmidt and the Republic of Croatia have attempted to influence the Kovačević case by intervening in the proceedings as "third parties", and that this was done "to prevent democratic reforms in Bosnia".

"Such interventions can be seen as a coordinated effort to divide Bosnia to ensure it can never exist as a democratic society. The coincidental timing of the Republic of Croatia's 'voluntary contribution' of 100,000 euros to the European Court of Human Rights should not be overlooked," Pettigrew emphasizes.

He adds that Vučić's and Dodik's denial of genocide, and the prohibition of memorials to victims at sites of atrocities such as the Pilica Cultural Center and the Ammunition Depot in Kalinovik, are intended to "eliminate Bosniaks by suppressing the memory of their suffering".

"The 'Serbian World' ideology dehumanizes and renders invisible the victims of genocide and other war crimes. This is an ideology of elimination that we must confront because, as in the case of Ukraine, it indicates a state of mind that precedes violent persecution and inevitable genocide. And while Aleksandar Vulin has been identified as the main proponent of the Serbian World with his statements that the unification of all Serbs into one state has already begun and cannot be stopped, the entire leadership of Republika Srpska and Serbia is now taking systematic steps towards achieving the genocidal goals of the 90s," Pettigrew states.

He stressed that BiH's accession to the EU and NATO membership must be accelerated.

"Let 2025 be the year of condemnation of the Serbian World and the banning of 'Republika Srpska Day'. In 2025, steps must be taken to support democratic constitutional reforms in accordance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In 2025, as we commemorate the genocide in Srebrenica, survivors should be supported in their efforts to erect memorials and museums at crime sites such as the Cultural Center in Pilica and the Ammunition Depot in Kalinovik to truly honor the victims and prevent the recurrence of crimes.

In this way, the Serbian and Russian worlds and their efforts to undermine Bosnia as a democratic nation will be neutralized, and the existence of Bosnia as a democratic multicultural state under the rule of law will be affirmed," Pettigrew added.