Serbia Today Interview Aleksandar Cotric

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INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK
Interview, Oct. 08 2009
Aleksandar Cotric,
National Representative in the Serbian Parliament

By: Miodrag Stosic

Belgrade, Oct. 08, 2009 (Serbia Today) - These days, Serbia faces numerous challenges that may affect its European perspective but her internal situation also. Parliament, as body of legislative power, could be considered as place of intersection of all questions of Serbian democracy. The current state of Parliament was topic of our interview with Aleksandar Cotric, National Representative of Serbian Renewal Movement but also one of the best Serbian satirists.

SERBIATODAY: You have been a member of Parliament for very long time. When did you become a National Representative?

Aleksandar Čotrić: My career as a member of Parliament began in 1994. I was a national representative of Serbian Renewal Movement in two terms, since 1994 until 2001. During that time we were an opposition to regime of Slobodan Milosevic. It was a time of deliberatly marginalized Parliament and discriminated oppostion. Because of abolition of television transmission we were forced to leave the assembly for several times.

In 2004 I was again in Parliament but for very short time. Two months later I became Deputy Minister for Diaspora. My current presence in Parliament started in 2008. So, I had four verified representative terms.

SERBIATODAY: Could you compare today’s Parliament with the one from the time of your first representative term? Is today’s Parliament mirror of our society or maybe is our society mirror of Parliament?

Aleksandar Čotrić: In relation to time when Slobodan Milosevic was ruler of Serbia, today’s Parliament is much more important. Today’s Parliament adopts large number of laws that are consistent with European standards. After 2000, most of Parliament work is being done in its boards. Entire work of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Army and Security Service is completely controlled by Assembly’s Board. In the time of Milosevic that was impossible. Today, we have many international activities, unusual for a Parliament of our past. Also, we have very different treatment of opposition. During the regime of Serbian socialist party, YUL, and Serbian radical party we all were declared for traitors. Today’s opposition has equal rights to participate in a work of Parliament and all its boards.

I think that Parliament is a mirror of our society. I am especially pleased that since May 2009, when seat of Parliament was relocated into nice building of House of National Assembly on Nikola Pasic’s square, the work of that body is finally as decent as it should be. This institution was especially degraded by representatives of Serbian Radical Party. That started when Vojislav Seselj, president of SRS, was elected for a member of Parliament in 1991, and it lasted until few months ago. They cup microphone cables, threw a water into face of assembly’s president, they occupied other Parliament member’s benches, they used a language of hate, refused to leave the Assembly, they lied and they obstructed work of Parliament. It was impossible to work in that kind of situation. But today, thanks to the changes of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure we have conditions for normal work. And as a result of that we have adopted more then 200 laws in a period of only one year.

SERBIATODAY: Besides of your work in Parliament You were also Deputy Minister for Diaspora. How could you describe state of relations between Serbs in Serbia and those who live abroad?

Aleksandar Čotrić: Serbia has very large Diaspora. There are 6,5 millions Serbs living in their home land, and near 3 millions abroad. Today we finally have conditions for proper treatment of our citizens abroad as Serbian minority in surrounding countries.

Our future steps on that field will be based on adoption of Law of the Diaspora and the Serbs in the region. It will be the first law of that kind in our recent history and it is considered as some kind of Constitution of our Diaspora. Diaspora was mentioned for the first time in Serbian Constitution from 2007. And thanks to that today’s Law of the Diaspora is possible.

In the past decades, there was a big mistrust between Serbian government and Diaspora. During the regime of Slobodan Milosevic our men abroad were cheated in many ways. Their foreign currency bonds were stolen, they didn’t get back their loaned money, they were literary looted by the customs, police and State’s administration, they didn’t have right to vote... And during the nineties more than 300 thousands young and educated people left Serbia to avoid misery, wars and lack of perspective.

Task for today’s Serbian Government should be building new bridges of confidence. It is not easy but I think it has a good direction. Our citizens abroad now have right to vote, they are getting their money back, they have equal travel fees and because of them we adopted Military amnesty law.

SERBIATODAY: Serbia is awaiting to obtain “White Schengen”. Is that possible?

Aleksandar Čotrić: I am completely certain that, by the beginning of next year, our citizens won’t have to use visas any more for traveling into Schengen Agreement countries. And because we already don’t need visas for Russia, we could say that our citizens will be able to travel into whole Europe without visa regime.

Since a few days ago we can travel to Israel without visas. It is significant thing especially for young people who didn’t have opportunity to see other countries by now. One day, when the visa regime becomes totally abolished we will start with some new businesses, we will be able to import and export and low-budget airlines will fly to our airports.

SERBIATODAY: In a last few months we are witnesses of escalation of tensions between different social groups. Is that a current issue or long-term problem?

Aleksandar Čotrić: Those problems are being caused by marginal social groups and organizations. Their ideology is based on past, hate, chauvinism, xenophobia... They are manipulating with sincere patriotic feelings of the people who are real Serbian patriots and who suffer because of seizure of Kosovo.

But, nobody has the right to be stronger than the State, and because of that everyone who performs violence will be defeated. Police, Prosecution and Courts must be much more effective in stopping ragging hooligans who want to rule on the streets of our towns. However, tolerant, civil and European Serbia will show its determination to win.

SERBIATODAY: How could you describe current state of our nation?

Aleksandar Čotrić: We have many political and economic problems. Time of Milosevic’s governing destroyed all Serbian successes that we have achieved in period after First Serbian Uprising in 1804. We lost big parts of territory and allies. Our country is crowded by refugees and our economy is ruined.

I am especially worried by the fact that Serbia is losing over 30 thousand people every year. That number shows negative difference between mortality and birth rate. It is very tragic that when somebody is murdered everybody speak about that. But, nobody wants to think about our mortality and the fact that we are about to disappear as a nation.

SERBIATODAY: Apart from your political career, you are very famous in world of Serbian satire. What could we conclude from the fact that one of the best Serbian satirist is actually a politician?

Aleksandar Čotrić: In Serbia is very normal for politician to be criminal, but it is very rare and unusual that one politician is also a satirist. In our history you can find many other satirists who in some way, were in politics. Branislav Nušić was Serbian kingdom’s consul and Radoje Domanović has worked in State’s service. And our great writers like Andric, Crnjanski, Ducic and Rakic were Ambassadors and Consuls. And the world’s greatest satirist, Stanislav Jezi Lec, was a diplomat. Almost every best Serbian satirist was member of some political party. I have proved my consistency because since 1990 until now I am a member of the same party - Serbian Renewal Movement and I am one of its founders.