Stojkovski: Polarization over May 9 shows the kind of world we live in today

Professor at the Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, Boris Stojkovski, stated that the polarization surrounding the celebration of May 9, which is simultaneously marked as both Europe Day and Victory Day, reflects the degree of polarization in today's international relations.

“This politicization is now gaining importance in the context of EU–Moscow relations, which are primarily tied to the conflict in Ukraine, but I would say not only to that, but to an entire major reshuffling within the Western world,” Stojkovski told Kosovo Online.

He added that the Cold War, which followed immediately after the end of World War II and in which the United States played an active role, plays an important part in this polarization.

“In the end, we have a US President, Donald Trump, who in his typical style says that it was actually the Americans who won World War II, which again is nothing new if we look at American public opinion and the whole 'American way of portraying' World War II through the lens of the Cold War and the subsequent polarization. And that is why I think the issue of May 9 is not entirely new, but it best illustrates the deeply polarized world and societies we live in today,” Stojkovski explained.

When asked how Europe Day and Victory Day should be distinguished, the professor insisted that “one cannot go without the other.”

“One cannot go without the other. Because May 9, Victory Day, the day when Germany capitulated, marks the end of World War II, which remains the bloodiest conflict in human history, as it was fought across all continents. It has also been called a ‘total war.’ As a consequence of that war, we can say that something like a ‘new world’ emerged in 1945, one of the foundations of which is the European Union. And May 9 was not chosen as Europe Day by accident,” Stojkovski concluded.