The "Borba" Verdict

If someone ever has the time and need to be reminded of Belgrade and Serbia at the end of 1994, I assume that they will also have reason enough, perhaps more than we now have, to ask themselves: didn't the current Serbian government shoot itself in the foot with the decision (executed by the federal government) to stifle the independent Belgrade daily "Borba"?

At first glance, such an assumption seems bewilderingly innocent. It is as if one has forgotten what and whom that same government has thus far moved out of its way without great resistance, either in the name of the "homeland war" against the Croats and Bosnian Muslims across the Drina River or in the name of peace after the "unquestionable victory" by Serb weapons. It could always count upon the massive, or at least sufficient, support of a people where the majority do not have a clue about what "Borba" or even any of the "dependent newspapers" have written.

What the state radio and television network says and shows has been and remains more than enough for the government and the majority which it counts upon. The ruling party (the Socialist Party of Serbia - SPS), i.e. the state administration which is subordinate to it, cannot be left without support as long as it directly or indirectly has sovereign control over the most important channels of public communication. In other words, it shapes the public, i.e. national and state, interest which it calls upon. It then directs support gained in this way toward its priorities, among which the most important is to not allow power to slip from its hands.

An opposition such as ours can sometimes prevent or postpone some of what the SPS imposes, but it cannot rally around and persevere with more serious alternatives. This is why it does not have the power or the motivation to pull itself and Serbia out of the crisis in the near future: it cannot break the ruling party's politically decisive monopoly on information.

But the sad performance with independent "Borba" playing the role of the sacrificial lamb nevertheless has another side. For, if the opposition must ask itself why the information darkness is becoming thicker, this does not necessarily mean that the government is confirming or strengthening its power by stifling a daily newspaper that does not support it.

The superiority of the ruling apparatus is certainly unquestionable. But is it possible that no one at the top is troubled by misgivings? At least enough to see the stifling of "Borba" and perhaps Independent TV "Studio B" and ask themselves whether power which leaves behind devastation may be counterproductive? Especially here and now, when Milosevic's team is doing everything possible to convince foreign partners (whom they are increasingly dependent upon) that Serbia has both the external and internal peacemaking and democratic qualifications for the lifting of the unbearable sanctions?

Looked at from outside, the political strangling of "Borba" in the name of legal protection of so-called social property appears both brutal and enigmatic. Brutal because, even if the court proceeding had been indisputable (it wasn't), the manner in which the entire operation was carried out barely has a precedent in the history of journalism and law. It is rare on this planet for ministers to so quickly and ruthlessly take into their own hands a newspaper which exists against the will of the government. It is ruthless because it is not clear who wants to push Serbia in the direction of authoritarian "affirmation" of power.