Gudzic: The tendency of undemocratic regimes to 'disinfect political opponents'; in Kosovo, that means the 'Serbian question'

Historian Aleksandar Gudzic believes that the inflammatory rhetoric and hate speech during Kosovo's election campaign should be interpreted as an attempt at "disinfecting political opponents," which, in the case of Albanian parties, also includes the "Serbian question."

"The general tendency of undemocratic states in Southeast Europe, as well as worldwide, is for the ruling authorities to use all state resources and capabilities to carry out the disinfection of the opposition, the disinfection of the media space, and the disinfection of political opponents. In Kosovo, the situation is even worse because both the government and the opposition use every opportunity to highlight the Serbian threat, to emphasize the Serbian question, since Kosovo Albanian political elites have nothing else to offer their voters except a struggle against Serbia. This is how they gain political points and the trust of their electorate," Gudzic told Kosovo Online.

He believes that this kind of policy could, in the long run, lead to interethnic conflicts and violence, which could escalate at some point.

"So far, we have seen controlled conflicts. We don’t know what could happen that might trigger massive violence, potentially leading to a Serbian exodus similar to the pogrom of March 17 or, in the worst-case scenario, the fate of the Greeks of Constantinople or Anatolia, to simply disappear from these lands," Gudzic warned.