Radojkovic: March Pogrom can and should be compared to the persecution of the Serbs in Krajina in 1995

Historian Stefan Radojkovic, a researcher and associate at the Institute for Political Studies in Belgrade, assessed for Kosovo Online that the March Pogrom could be compared to the persecution experienced by the Serbs in Krajina in August 1995, adding that after March 17, 2004, the return of Serbs had almost been halted.

Radojkovic emphasized that March 17, 2004, had been one of the greatest crimes against Serbs in recent Serbian history.

"The pogrom of March 17 can and should be compared to the persecution experienced by the Serbs in Krajina in August 1995. Just ten years later, some of those displaced by Operation Storm were again displaced in June 1999, and then the same occurred again in March 2004. So, the connections between these two pogroms and the expulsion and ethnic cleansing of certain parts of Croatia at that time, and here parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, are arguably the greatest crimes in recent Serbian history," Radojkovic said.

"After the March Pogrom, the return of the Serbs was almost halted, and that is the first consequence of the events since March 17," Radojkovic assessed, adding that the second consequence was that since March 2004, regarding discussions and negotiations on status, independence of the Pristina administration had been implied, and the third was that urban areas, except for the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, had been emptied of Serbs, Roma people, and Ashkali.

"The return of the Serbs who were expelled from Kosovo or internally displaced within Kosovo was absolutely halted by the March pogrom. Until 2004, there was some initiative for Serbs who were either in central Serbia or in some parts of Kosovo to return to their places of residence, however, that was no longer the case after March. We still live with that consequence today, among others. Similarly, we live with the consequence today that the March Pogrom led to a change in the international community's opinion on the Kosovo issue, where until March 2004 there were discussions about some meaningful autonomy, and self-governance, which is absolutely appropriate and in line with international law. However, from March 2004, and especially from the fall of 2005, when negotiations on status were discussed, independence of the Pristina administration was actually implied, and those are the two most concrete consequences. The third consequence is what is specifically notable to me, that urban areas, except for the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, have been emptied not only of Serb presence but also of Roma people, Ashkali, and others who were perceived at the time as 'collaborators with Serbs,'" Radojkovic emphasized.