Rakocevic: Life without Serbian language press - a hole in our culture

Shelves of Serbian newspapers that arrived from Belgrade to shops and kiosks in Serbian areas in Kosovo are empty due to the Kosovo Government's decision to ban the import of Serbian goods, and journalist and writer Zivojin Rakocevic tells Kosovo Online that there is a gaping hole in the place where there were newspapers, actually a hole in the lives, in the culture and the hope that you at least see the newspapers in your language. Something like this, he says, did not happen even during the time of Ottoman control.

"I think this is the only European area where newspapers are not printed and where any group that wants to read is forbidden to get what they want to read. There is now a moment when you enter a shop and realize - in the place where the newspapers used to be, there is a gaping hole and that hole is actually a hole in your life, in your culture, in your hope to at least see the newspapers in your language and that for a moment you think, `yes, I have a normal ritual, I will at least look at the front pages, I will buy it'. As long as this blockade lasts, I notice that everything that was in the windows has been taken and there is nothing left, not a single printed copy is available in the local shops," Rakocevic points out.

In the last ten years, he adds, there has been a continuum of interference when it comes to the press.

"As for all those cases, they are simply trying to throw us out of life by stopping one civilizational achievement, one segment of our life, which is natural. Can you imagine life without newspapers? The newspaper is a symbol of your language, your culture, your need to be informed, your need to learn, and your need to have fine daily rituals. If there are dozens of people who get up in the morning, go, buy a newspaper, sit down and drink coffee, that is something that is an attitude of life," Rakocevic says.

The Serbs, he reminds, have been discriminated against at all levels for years, however, he points out that something like this did not happen even during Ottoman control.

"At this moment, it seems incredible to me that in the era of the darkest Ottoman control, we had a Constantinople Gazette that was published, and today we see from that Constantinople Gazette how we lived, how we wrote, what kind of culture we had, what we wrote down, what kind of poetry we had, and today, in the third decade of the 21st century, they tell us `you can't have your own newspapers'. It's a civilizational paradox, it's pain, it's a problem, it's a ban on the way of life you had until then," Rakocevic says.

He indicates that there are people who say, `Bring me the newspapers', it is more important than bread, it is my way of life.

"There are people who simply cannot live without it, and then you get in a position where someone tells you, you can't read what you want, you can't have a relationship with your script, which in this case is most often Cyrillic, you can't have a relationship with an entire segment of culture and habits from life that you have had until now. This is the essential democracy that Pristina, together with the international community, offers," our interlocutor states ironically.

The Cyrillic script, he adds, is almost banned in Kosovo, so even the books that try to find their way to their readers, usually end up in a basket at one of the crossings.

"Our experience says that somewhere in Pristina there is a censor, a postman, an institution, a person unknown to me, who, when he sees Cyrillic books that arrive by mail, in most cases end up in the basket. Cyrillic almost doesn't pass, I can't remember when we got a book. Sometimes something passes, but we have long since acquired the habit of telling those who send us books, `Please don't, we will find a way for them to cross these crossings, the iron curtains, these things that watch what you read, but don't do it institutionally, because the books will end up in the trash,'' Rakocevic said.

He recalled that during 1997 and 1998 there were 18 daily and weekly printed publications in the Albanian language, but today there are none.

"Despite everything and above all, we have newspapers that are published in the Serbian language in Kosovo and Metohija and that come to us. The break that took place among Kosovo Albanians means that there are no more printed publications in the Albanian language. In the times of 1998 and 1997, there were 18 daily, weekly, printed publications in the Albanian language, today there are none. Everything has moved to the Internet, but I am not sure that portals, Internet publications, will be able to replace the beauty of the relationship with the text, with the newspaper, with the book, with life, with culture," Rakocevic said.

Journalists’ Associations of Serbia, Kosovo Journalists Association, people who belong to the journalist's guild in every place have been warning for several years that it is impossible to remain without the press, they appeal to all international representatives to enable freedom of movement of the press and that reading newspapers is a basic human right, to be informed and that there is freedom of choice of the press.