An analysis of Aleksandar Vučić’s 2019 national assembly speech

Abstract

ABSTRACT Analysing the speech of Aleksandar Vučić delivered in the National Assembly on 28 May 2019, this paper argues that his aim is to re-establish nationalist discourse in Serbia. Vučić uses only the negative common features of Serbs as a foundation for the emotional continuity of the nation while ignoring existing attachments such as the territorialization of memory and sanctification of territory. Furthermore, since he believes that the question of Kosovo’s status (a central theme of both attachments), and political continuity have been lost because of the irresponsible politics of previous governments and severe pressure from the Western powers, Vučić links a compromise with the Kosovo Albanians to the question of Serbia’s survival. The paper leaves it to the reader to assess whether this change would be ideal for Serbia or morally permissible. In addition, the question of whether the existing attachments, built through education and collective memory for decades – even centuries – are sufficiently solidified to reject the change, remains largely unexplored.