FLASH
Shkruar nga Gjergj Zefi
In Belgrade, on June 28, 2025, a day that coincides with the historical myth of Vidovdan, thousands of students and citizens took to the streets in the name of justice and democracy.
At first glance, it all seemed like a healthy civic outburst against corruption and authoritarianism. But under the national flags, slogans about “Serbian heritage,” and language filled with ethnic romanticism, the protest’s meaning slipped; from civic to ethno-patriotic.
This phenomenon is neither new nor isolated. Sociologist Aleksej Kišjuhas calls nationalism a “parasitic” ideology, taking root where modern narratives of equality, justice, and social solidarity are lacking. When society is in despair, nationalism offers easy answers, external blame, inherited pride, a false sense of belonging.
The problem?
Nationalism does not build democracy. It does not bring justice. It only covers their absence with flags.
The danger is even greater when it arises within movements that are supposed to be progressive, like student protests. When the younger generation, which was supposed to lead the way towards European integration and social emancipation, begins to reproduce the nationalist mythologies of the past, then we are witnessing a dangerous ideological subversion.
This situation in Serbia is a signal for the entire region. Even in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia, nationalism tends to return through the rhetoric of "danger from the other", dressed in the garb of national pride, but often undermining the essence of modern citizenship.
Balkan youth do not have the luxury of repeating the mistakes of previous generations. Because if the march begins with calls for equality, but ends with hymns about race, then we have no progress; we have regress./ Pamphlet
Lini një Përgjigje