The Helsinki Committee Communicates the News Reported by B92 News Service for
December 22, 2005

"KOSTUNICA CONTRIBUTED AN ARTICLE TO OBRAZ"

12/23/2005

Novi Sad - In 1996, incumbent Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica contributed an article to the "Obraz" magazine originating the "Obraz Fatherland Movement."

This is what the professor at the Social Sciences Department, Nottingham University, England, Jovan Byford said today at the forum titled "Racism, Fascism, Xenophobia." He said that Kostunica had written one nationalistic article for the "Obraz" and wondered what has prompted him to contribute to an almost unknown magazine, the more so since he must have been aware that the paper's ideological profile had often been anti-Semitic and racist.

Byford explained that the "Obraz" magazine had been set up in 1993, then issued irregularly and, later on, gradually turned into a movement.

"The 'Obraz' movement was founded by late Nebojsa Krstic, a man very close to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), a man whom the Patriarch awarded for a paper he had written as a student at the Theological College," said Byford. He added that the "Obraz's' tie-up with the SPC considerably abated in 2001 when Krstic was killed in a traffic accident.

" Mladen Obradovic, Krstic's successor, is less capable and has less links with the SPC than Krstic. However, today they establish this connection with the SPC through the Serbian Popular Movement 'Svetozar Miletic' close to Bishop of Backa Irinej. So, though no longer direct, the connection between 'Obraz' and the SPC exists for sure, while the SPC has never distanced itself from 'Obraz'," said Byford.

Byford said that what marked today's Serbian scene was overall convergence of the so-called patriotic political forces, including neo-Nazi groupings and movements belonging to the Christian Right such as "Obraz," "Dveri" and "St. Justin the Philosopher."

"They are coming closer, willing to wipe out mutual controversies, given that they now have a common enemy - the liberal public opinion and non-governmental organizations," said Byford. The forum "Racism, Fascism, Xenophobia." is a part of a larger project the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia has been implementing with the support of the Council of Europe.

HCHRS