Serbian punk nationalists on the rampage
In response to Kosovo's recent declaration of independence, a mob of Serbian punk nationalists started a riot in Belgrade today. Egged on by Serbia's hard-right nationalist prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, a crowd of tens of thousands rampaged through Belgrade, attacking the embassies of the US, Croatia, Bosnia, and Turkey. The US Embassy was set on fire, but only after the US flag was lowered by the rabid mob and replaced with a Serbian flag. At least one person died in the fire.
If anyone in the West has any reservations about recognizing Kosovo's independence, today's actions of the mob in Belgrade should put those doubts to rest. Kostunica's rise to power was predicated on stirring up alarm and outrage over the fact that the historic Serbian homeland of Kosovo was dominated by Muslim Albanians instead of Serbs. His appeal to malignant, racist, xenophobic nationalism was borne of the same foul loins that spawned Gavrilo Princip (whom many Serbs still consider a national hero), Slobodan Milosevic, and Ratko Mladic (who is wanted for war crimes and remains at large). The West should not let Kostunica's actions today go unpunished; if they do, his rhetoric will only escalate, and the problem could easily spread.
The hooligans in today's riot are merely a symptom of the deeper rot infecting Serbia's right wing. Nationalism is a cancer in any country, but it has a particularly malignant past in Serbia. The West cannot afford to let yet another war spring up in the Balkans because of nationalism among thugs in a two-bit Balkan backwater. If the forces which caused the riots in Belgrade today aren't dealt with swiftly and decisively, yet another Balkan war may be in the making.
In 1897, Otto von Bismarck made his famous prediction, "If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans." His prophecy came depressingly true 17 years later, when the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip fired those fateful bullets in Sarajevo that started World War I. Sadly, Serbian nationalism is still a poison infecting Southeastern Europe, as today's mêlée demonstrates. If Western leaders want to avoid reliving Bismarck's prophecy, Serbia's chronic nationalism must be squelched once and for all.
The best way to do that for now is to support Kosovo in whatever manner it needs.
The mass hysteria of nationalism is not necessarily eternal; such tendencies have been tamped down in the past by persistent, relentless persuasion (see the taming of Germany as an example), and Serbia need not be seen as an exception. Western leaders should act quickly and authoritatively in response to today's events.