Pavlovic: The Serbs and Albanians can live as they did centuries ago; sovereignty must be defended

Sovereignty and the state must be defended; otherwise, it is a violation of the Constitution, and ultimately treason, as defined by Serbia's highest legal document. The fight for the indivisibility of territory and independence would also be a message from the first Constitution of the Principality of Serbia, adopted in Kragujevac on Sretenje in 1835," a historian Momcilo Pavlovic emphasized.

On the occasion of Serbia's Statehood Day, Pavlovic points out that the Sretenje Constitution, in its first article, speaks of the "dignity" and space of Serbia, which is independent in terms of governing its own state, and that the territory is indivisible.

However, he says, today Serbia's sovereignty is once again being called into question.

"Today, we have a problem with sovereignty over the southern Serbian province. That sovereignty has been usurped by the sponsorship of international actors, especially the great powers. In this regard, Serbia is now repeating actions from a century ago and fighting for the sovereignty and indivisibility of the Serbian state," Pavlovic said for Kosovo Online.

According to him, today the key question is why Western countries think that the Serbs and Albanians cannot live together and why only independence articulates and satisfies the maximalist needs of the Albanians.

Isn't it logical, the historian asks, that – if the Serbs and Albanians have lived more or less together in these areas for centuries, they can continue to live together?

"However, sovereignty and the state must be defended; otherwise, it is a violation of the Constitution. Ultimately, it would be treason, as defined in the 2006 Constitution," Pavlovic pointed out.

Speaking about the messages that can be drawn today from the Sretenje Constitution, he says that above all, it would be a struggle for freedom and the preservation of the state because that is the struggle that continues even today.

"When you have a defined and established state, you should continue to fight to improve relations within it, to fight for democracy, for basic rights, property rights, and against all usurpations, arbitrariness, authoritarianism, and all those phenomena that still exist here, and throughout the entire Balkans," he pointed out.

He reminds us that two important events for Serbian statehood, state, and constitutionalism occurred on Sretenje - the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising and thirty years later the adoption of the first Constitution of Serbia, the Sretenje Constitution.

"In 1804, Serbia began its liberation and sought to create its own state, which it had lost in the Middle Ages. So, there was an awareness of the state. In 1835, Serbia was already an autonomous principality with the right to independently regulate its internal affairs, and its status was guaranteed by Sultan Mahmud II and Russian Tsar Nicholas. Two great powers guaranteed Serbia's autonomous status. In the conflict between a prince who ruled despotically and the Council, an institution that was supposed to control and share power with the prince, supported by both Russia and Turkey, the idea was born, or rather, under the threat of revolt, the demand for a Constitution - to legally regulate the situation in Serbia," the historian recalls.

Prince Milos, he says, agreed to this, and entrusted his advisor Dimitrije Davidovic to draft a Constitution with a group of people.

Davidovic, as a man who understood politics very well and edited Serbian newspapers, quickly drafted a Constitution modeled on the French and Belgian ones.

"That Constitution, the first in the Balkans, was modern and corresponded to and incorporated all the values ​​of Europe at that time. Serbia at that time had no problem accepting, even reluctantly, everything that was considered modern and efficient in order for Serbia to be one of the European states. That is the fundamental message of that Constitution," Pavlovic assesses.

Russia and Turkey, he emphasizes, quickly rebelled against such a revolutionary and progressive Constitution.

A Russian diplomat who visited Serbia spoke of Dimitrije Davidovic as a revolutionary and hothead, and that the Constitution was "French sapling in the Serbian forest and that it was inapplicable," Pavlovic notes.

Soon after, that Constitution was suspended, and three years later the Turks, together with the Russians, drafted a separate Constitution for Serbia, the so-called Turkish Constitution, which was read in 1838.

Pavlovic points out that Prince Milos disagreed with this, which is why he abdicated in 1839.

"The Sretenje Constitution, in its first article, speaks of the 'dignity' and space of Serbia, independent in terms of governing its own state, and that the territory is indivisible. So, sovereignty is over the entire territory. Today, we have a problem with sovereignty over the southern Serbian province. That sovereignty has been usurped by the sponsorship of international bodies, especially great powers," Pavlovic said.

Although Serbia is still fighting for sovereignty today, Pavlovic says that every era has its "heroes" who act in different circumstances and international relations.

"Karadjordje fought for the liberation of Serbia, to expel the Turks from Serbia. Milos negotiated and slowly seized powers and created a state. Slobodan Jovanovic considers Milos the greatest ruler of the 19th century. That almost illiterate man managed in one way or another to systematically secure the title of prince for himself, and later to establish an autonomous principality, while the independence of Serbia was only achieved by his relative, King Milan. In 1878, when Serbia was recognized as an independent state, it recognized Montenegro and other Balkan states. So from 1804 to 1878, for 74 years, Serbs and Serbia, the Serbian elite, fought for the creation and preservation of the state," the historian pointed out.

According to him, Serbia was an autonomous principality until 1878, recognizing the supreme authority of the sultan and having certain obligations, but it implemented its internal organization itself, taking what it considered to be the best at that time, mostly from the regions across the Sava and Danube, from Hungary and Austria.

These winds came to Serbia, and it accepted those values.

"It was involved in conflicts and wars between the Ottoman Empire and Russia on the international stage. In all international treaties, Serbia had the protection and support of Russia. Depending on how strong Russia was compared to Turkey and other countries, Serbia and other Christian peoples gained significance," Pavlovic emphasized.

He mentions that once Serbia entered into these international treaties and relationships, it gradually became recognized as a state on the international stage.

Of course, Serbia could not compare to wealthy countries, but it had the first Constitution, convened the first assembly, and had councils... In that sense, Serbia was and remains the leading country in the Balkans.