The stardom of Vojislav Šešelj

Every year, the same scene: Teenagers taking photographs with Vojislav Šešelj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party, convicted of crimes against humanity before the ICTY, and Vučić’s former party boss, at the Belgrade Book Fair. Those three raised fingers are a Serbian nationalist salute.

Caption: “Everyone knows who the youngsters love”. It’s not just the youngsters. Average Serbian person: “I love listening to Šešelj when he’s on TV, he’s smart, fun, and makes a lot of sense” or, if they are feeling particularly patriotic, “Did you see what Šešelj did to them last night on TV? He f*cked ’em up good!”

Notice the ribbon of Saint George (also known as the Georgian ribbon), a Russian military symbol that Šešelj is wearing. Also notice the books displayed in front of this Thought Leader that appear as if they can be used as a blunt instrument.

He’s a prolific writer who graced us with such titles as:

• “The Hrtkovci Affair and the Ustasha Whore Natasha Kandić”
• “Political partnership of Hooker del Ponte and Hooker del Koštunica”
• “The European Union is a satanic creation”
• “One Banana for Kofi Annan”, “The Vatican, the main nest of Satan”
• “The Roman Curia Eternally Thirsty for Serbian Blood”

The list goes on – at least 260 of such magnificent additions to the collective human knowledge are attributed to this darling of the ever-so-clever Serbian media consumers. He was decorated by the Serbian Orthodox Church – three times.

His son Aleksandar was an MP candidate on this year’s Vučić’s “United Serbia” election ticket.

Serbia holds this guy in high regard. The only adverse consequence of the latest election results was that his party’s giant banner was taken down from the building in downtown Novi Sad.

The student movement is no different than Šešelj, many of their more vocal members and supporters used to be members of the Radical Party, most notably Ivan Ninić and Nemanja Šarović. They also hold many of the same values, like Student Ticket’s Nemanja Karović here:

The student movement also maintains the position that Kosovo is a part of Serbia, that it will not change Serbia’s foreign policy, they are also grateful to Russia and keep stating that it will not impose sanctions on the Russian Federation.

Mirjana Nikolić, an MP candidate of the Student List (AFP/BBC): New government of Serbia sees the country’s future in the European Union, but will continue the policy of not imposing sanctions on Russia.

Serbia takes much pride in the fact that it “rebelled” against what is perceived as the decadent West/Europe. Ideas of enlightenment and modernity are considered to be aimed against Serbian traditional values and interests. Hence our values-based policies that keep rebranding themselves ever since the 1980s, yet they stay the same at their core.

[CAPTION: Pharmacy with a graffiti underneath that says “Holds no cure” (Apoteka nema leka)]