Žižek: With its cowardly silence on student protests in Serbia, the European Union has reached a new low

(Patria) - The European Union is cowardly silent and is the biggest hypocrite regarding the mass demonstrations of students and citizens in Serbia who are against violence and simply demand that the institutions of power in Serbia work in the interest of citizens, assesses Slovenian philosopher and academic Slavoj Žižek.

In an analysis on the international portal "Project Syndicate", Žižek emphasizes that "Serbs are demanding the rule of law without all the unwritten rules that open the door to corruption and authoritarianism," Beta reported.

He believes that the non-violent demonstrations in Serbia are unique because the protests say: "We have no political demands, we keep away from opposition parties and demand that the institutions of power in Serbia work in the interest of citizens."

"The demonstrators want to cause a break in the process that has allowed the ruling party to hold the state hostage through influence and control over all institutions," Žižek points out.

Students and citizens in Serbia reject dialogue with the authorities and violence, have no leaders, says Žižek, and points out that this may be some new kind of political activism.
He believes that "at some point, of course, organized politics will have to enter the game."

But for now, as he concludes, this supposedly apolitical stance of the protesting students and citizens "creates conditions for a new politics, not another version of the same old game; to achieve law and order, the tables must be cleared."

Žižek stresses that "this is sufficient reason for the rest of the world to unconditionally support the protests."

These protests prove, he points out, that "a simple, direct call for law and order can have a greater change effect than anarchic violence. Serbs want the rule of law without all the unwritten rules that open the door to corruption and authoritarianism."
The Slovenian philosopher concludes that "the biggest hypocrite in this story is the European Union, which refrains from any pressure on Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić for fear that he will gravitate towards Russia."

"While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for the Georgian people fighting for democracy, she remained extremely silent about the uprising in Serbia - a country that has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2012."
And, as he adds, "the EU leaves Vučić alone because he promised stability and lithium exports, a key resource for electric vehicles."

Žižek points out that "the lack of criticism from the EU, even in the case of allegations of election fraud, has left Serbian civil society without support."

He adds that there are no EU flags at the demonstrations in Serbia and suggests that "the idea of a color revolution, like the one carried out in Ukraine 20 years ago to join the democratic West, no longer has any foundation - the EU has reached yet another political low."