{"id":20444,"date":"2025-08-20T07:41:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T06:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/?p=20444"},"modified":"2025-08-20T07:43:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T06:43:42","slug":"no-this-is-not-a-civil-war-in-serbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/no-this-is-not-a-civil-war-in-serbia\/","title":{"rendered":"No, This Is Not a Civil War In Serbia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Amid accusations that the police have sided with the ruling party and its supporters, protests erupted across Serbia, leading to an escalation of violence, clashes between demonstrators and the police, numerous arrests, and cases of police brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While citizens have been taking to the streets daily to express anger and dissatisfaction, and the authorities respond with violence and threats, the media increasingly reach for the term \u201ccivil war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This term, which has been used so casually in the media and on social networks over the past week, has become a popular buzzword and a generator of sensation. Who is provoking it, who is threatening it, who will prevent it \u2013 these are the questions posed in order to drive higher traffic to websites, television channels, and newsstands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet experts caution that the label does more harm than good. Not only does it fail to capture the reality on the ground, they argue, but it also deepens divisions, fuels further conflict, and signals the government\u2019s refusal to resolve the crisis democratically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane\" title=\"Play video &quot;Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g\" title=\"Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane\">Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Asymmetrical Conflict<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Milan Igrutinovi\u0107, research associate at the Institute for European Studies, stresses that he would avoid using the term \u201ccivil war,\u201d for both formal and conceptual reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe level of conflict is asymmetrical, between groups of citizens, protesters, on the one hand, and more or less organized party-affiliated, privately hired, and in some sense paid groups, which are increasingly, and more evidently, supported by the police. On that other side, there isn\u2019t really a comparable \u2018group of citizens\u2019 \u2013 not that they aren\u2019t citizens, but rather that the SNS [ruling Serbian Progressive Party] cannot or does not manage to mobilize its broader membership and sympathizers, who would be an adequate opposing side,\u201d Dr. Igrutinovi\u0107 told <em>Ma\u0161ina<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to him, the ruling party relies on part of the repressive apparatus and relatively small groups of young men (compared to the citizen protests), likely drawn, as he believes, from a criminal milieu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDespite growing clashes and increasingly arrogant and illegal behaviour by the police, I believe that the level of violence does not reach the level of war, and I hope it never will,\u201d Dr. Igrutinovi\u0107 concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Marina Kosti\u0107 \u0160uleji\u0107, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Politics and Economics, makes the same point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA civil war would require organized armed groups fighting each other for control of the state. That is not the case here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Political scientist Aleksandar Ivkovi\u0107 agrees. \u201cUnfortunately, our region has lived through civil wars. And in countries like Syria and Libya we see what they look like today. What is happening in Serbia is not comparable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/q_ZxtI7eR1M\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Demolirano Tu\u017eila\u0161tvo u Valjevu\" title=\"Play video &quot;Demolirano Tu\u017eila\u0161tvo u Valjevu&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/q_ZxtI7eR1M<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/q_ZxtI7eR1M\" title=\"Demolirano Tu\u017eila\u0161tvo u Valjevu\">Demolirano Tu\u017eila\u0161tvo u Valjevu (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/q_ZxtI7eR1M)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What We\u2019re Really Seeing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Dr. Igrutinovi\u0107, we are currently witnessing an almost complete mutualism between the actions of the police and private groups linked to the ruling party\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe latest wave of clashes began when it became blatantly clear that the police were protecting such groups, located in SNS party offices, who attacked previously peaceful protesters with fireworks,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first such incident, as <em>Ma\u0161ina<\/em> reported, was recorded in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/mup-u-vrbasu-gradani-gadali-sns-pristalice-snimci-pokazuju-suprotno\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vrbas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat we are seeing is the expression of public dissatisfaction with the state of the country, the rule of a narrow circle of corrupt individuals, widespread corruption and institutional collapse, unprofessionalism, but also a weak and compromised opposition,\u201d says Dr. Kosti\u0107 \u0160uleji\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivkovi\u0107 also argues that these are manifestations of social unrest, adding that the violence by protesters was intended to express anger and put pressure on the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn essence, these are individuals expressing anger at the behaviour of the police and \u2018loyalists\u2019 by causing property damage. We have seen such scenes in France, Greece, and other European countries \u2013 so this is not a phenomenon unfamiliar to the rest of the continent. For this to escalate into civil war, there would need to be an armed group whose goal is to overthrow the government by force or secede part of the territory \u2013 that does not exist, and it will not exist. The violence we\u2019ve seen was intended to express anger and possibly exert pressure on the authorities, but that\u2019s all,\u201d Ivkovi\u0107 concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Behind the Police Crackdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly a week of violent protests has been marked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/uhapseno-najmanje-37-osoba-povredeno-bezbroj-sta-se-juce-dogodilo-na-ulicama-u-srbiji\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vandalized<\/a> SNS and SRS party offices in several Serbian cities, but also by the beating of demonstrators \u2013 some of the most brutal incidents recorded in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/valjevo-zove-protest-u-subotu-zbog-policijske-brutalnosti\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Valjevo<\/a> \u2013 as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/grubo-krsenje-osnovnih-ljudskih-prava-neprofesionalna-hapsenja-i-prekomerna-upotreba-sile-organa-reda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrests<\/a>, and even an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/u-teoriji-borba-protiv-patrijarhata-u-praksi-koriscenje-intimnih-sadrzaja-protiv-studentkinje\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleged threat of rape<\/a> against a female student by a JZO commander, as <em>Ma\u0161ina<\/em> previously reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police brutality and widespread violations of the law have become an everyday occurrence, emphasizes Dr. Igrutinovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI believe that behind this lies the government\u2019s understanding that polls show it risks losing power in potential parliamentary elections, and the unravelling of a network built over ten years between state administration, private influence, money flows, and systematic law-breaking. To avoid this, the government resorts to increasingly violent means, buys time, and hopes for new, more favourable circumstances. The heavier the repression, the heavier the authoritarianism,\u201d he stresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/6cnOsW9LhDQ\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Novi Beograd- Ba\u010dena velika koli\u010dina suzavca\" title=\"Play video &quot;Novi Beograd- Ba\u010dena velika koli\u010dina suzavca&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/6cnOsW9LhDQ<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/6cnOsW9LhDQ\" title=\"Novi Beograd- Ba\u010dena velika koli\u010dina suzavca\">Novi Beograd- Ba\u010dena velika koli\u010dina suzavca (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/6cnOsW9LhDQ)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cCivil war\u201d: between fear, sensationalism, and polarization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Ivkovi\u0107, the term \u201ccivil war\u201d is now most often deployed by pro-government media to paint demonstrators as dangerous instigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnyone using that term is trying to polarize their side against the other,\u201d he says. \u201cSadly, the spiral of polarization will likely continue, because neither side is backing down. But the government bears the greatest responsibility, since it refuses democratic solutions such as elections, which the opposition has already proposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Milan Igrutinovi\u0107 reminds us that Serbia\u2019s society is now in a dramatic moment: in it that it has not had a comparable experience since the final years of Milo\u0161evi\u0107\u2019s rule \u2013 not even during several waves of protests (\u201c1 of 5 million,\u201d \u201cSerbia Without Violence\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we set aside the term \u2018civil war\u2019 as partly media sensationalism, partly genuine concern and shock at the violence, and partly the mobilizing power of such words spoken by political actors \u2013 and especially by an irresponsible government \u2013 its frequent use is not surprising. But when used by those in formal positions of power, it signals their unwillingness to open space for, first, a judicial resolution of the \u2018Canopy\u2019 case and related high-level corruption, and second, for a democratic resolution to the political crisis. Let us not forget, their decade-long rule has dramatically narrowed that space,\u201d Dr. Igrutinovi\u0107 emphasizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">A.G.A; Translated from Serbian by M.J.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent protests across Serbia have often been described in the media and on social networks as a \u201ccivil war.\u201d But political scientists, security experts, and historians interviewed by Ma\u0161ina explain why the current state in Serbia cannot be described as a civil war, as they address what we are actually witnessing, and what is lies beneath the escalated repression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[355,354,127],"form":[71],"concept":[188],"contents":[],"coauthors":[5],"class_list":["post-20444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-civil-war","tag-protests","tag-serbia","form-news","concept-society","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-25"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>No, This Is Not a Civil War In Serbia - Ma\u0161ina English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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