UNMIK on AIR

No to Violence

April 6^th 2004

(By Andrea Saula)

“ We won’t give our Albanians” – Vojvodinians and “Viva la Serbian-Albanian friendship” –was the graffiti scrawled on the Municipality building in the town of Pancevo, located outside of Belgrade on March 18^th.

The graffiti was written miles away from Kosovo, where at that moment violence had escalated where churches and houses were on fire… but close to Serbian and Vojvodinian cities where young Serbs reacted violently to the situation in Kosovo- in two cases burning down mosques.

Even as demonstrations in and out of Kosovo were taking place, two people in the multi-ethnic Vojvodinian town of Pancevo made a decision to say no to violence and urge tolerance.

Hello and welcome. This is UNMIK on AIR.

After seeing on TV numerous pictures of riots, burned houses and churches, Nenad Zivkovic Editor in Chief and Dunja Shassic, an Art Director of one of the local newspapers, Pancevac, took matters into their own hands. Zivkovic says the two grabbed a few cans of spray paint and set out for one of the most visible buildings in town– the Municipality building.

Nenad Zivkovic: Above all, we’ve decided to react as citizens of Pancevo. Our aim was to point out to problems happening throughout whole of Serbia and to appeal on citizens of Pancevo not to abuse the current situation in Kosovo nor to create tensions and fights in Pancevo”.

His colleague and collaborator Dunja Shashic told UNMIK on AIR that she couldn’t stay numb in front of the TV footage showing burned Mosques in Serbia. Although she was urged by those around her to not interfere- saying “it’s none of her business” – Shashic says she was not deterred:

Dunja Shasic: “Of course it is my business. Violence that is happening in some 20 km away or anywhere else on this plain, bothers me”

But as Zivkovic and Shashic were writing their graffiti, policeman had spotted them and took their IDs. To date, no charges have been brought against either of them. But the graffiti act soon generated public debate in Pancevo-- Citizens were divided over the graffiti and Zivkovic was threatened with removal from his job as editor in chief of the ‘Pancevac’ newspaper.

The mayor of Pancevo, Borka Kruska publicly accused Zivkovic of editing –quote- “anti-Serbian” newspapers and for not understanding – quote – ‘the substance of the Serbian entity’. Zivkovic says politicians in Pancevo, like Kruska, are opportunistically using the graffiti incident:

Nenad Zivkovic: For the mayor Kruska this isn’t the first time to criticize local media without having any ground for that. This time she had abused civil action, in which I’ve participated, to start a political fight against free, independent and professional journalism in town.

Zivkovic says his graffiti was worth the effort… and is no stranger to action. Zivkovic was active in a range of civil actions for 15 war torn years in former Yugoslavia as a member of a number of peace movements. Zivkovic firmly believes that no matter what happens civil society has to react.

Nenad Zivkovic: “For 15 years we’ve been calling on peace and non-violence, but I’m afraid that the atmosphere in the air reminds on 1987 – 1991, on times when regime Slobodan Milosevic-Mira Markovic was preparing wars in former Yugoslavia”.

Zivkovic says in his work as Editor and Chief, he has noticed that civil society has not been as active as it once was under Milosevic’s regime.

But the graffiti became a matter of public debate. In the days following the graffiti incident, headlines were dedicated to discussing the message. People in Pancevo with whom UNMIK on AIR encountered had a range of responses. Some thought that there was no need to do vandalize with graffiti or that Zivkovic and Shashic further aggravated the situation. Others thought that Serbia would be able to join the EU in a week if every town in Serbia had similar messages in graffiti.

But, as Zivkovic claims, civil society in this recent case could do more.

Nenad Zivkovic: I think that after three years that we spent under relatively lessened unstable circumstances, civil society became a bit sleepy but also I believe that the civil sector is a vital one and that soon it will reorganize its self and will be again ready to react on current events in the society, just as it was during Milosevic-Markovic regime.

The graffiti “ We won’t give our Albanians” – Vojvodinians and “Viva la Serbian-Albanian friendship”, disappeared soon after it was painted onto the side of the Municipality building in Pancevo. The attempt to replace Zivkovic failed and he is still working as editor in chief of “Pancevac” newspaper-- advocating for freedom of speech and tolerance.