Emerging fundamentalist trends in the Former Yugoslavia

Staša Zajović holds a degree in Romanic Languages from the University of Belgrade, and was employed as a professor and translator, being fluent in Spanish, Italian and English. Staša founded Women in Black (WIB), Belgrade (1991) and is active in the Network of Women's Solidarity Against War.

WHRnet: Has religious fundamentalism been a significant political force in national politics the former Yugoslavia in recent years?

Staša Zajović: This has been increasingly the case since 2000. Milošević had used nationalism as a means of maintaining his power. The interests of the nation and 'fatherland' were not only a means, but also a cover up for the criminal character of the former regime, marked by pillage, abductions, murders, and death squads. After 5th October 2000, an 'authentic nationalist' came to power - Vojislav Koštunica. One of the major objections against Milošević was that his nationalism was "communist and atheist" in nature. Koštunica and his supporters worked to develop strong links between church and state - a kind of clerical nationalism - as they sought to create a spiritual and cultural climate of a normalized, anti-Communist, nationalism.

Koštunica's approach included:

• Various steps towards the 'theocratization' of the state and the de-secularization of the society. For example, as of the 2001/2002, religious education, focusing only on one denomination -- the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) -- was reintroduced into schools.
• Clericalization of public life, evidenced, for example in the consecration of, or the display of religious icons in, public/government buildings.
• Promoting the SPC's brand of religion as the only form of spiritual culture. This tendency is a particular cause for concern given the SPC's primary concern with the 'chastity' and 'morality' of the entire nation, and of the young in particular.

WHRnet:What are some of the more effective strategies of the fundamentalist forces in the Former Yugoslavia?

Staša Zajović Their efforts to target children and young people have been particularly destructive. The education reform framework that is being conducted by the Ministry of Education and Sport includes participatory summer camps. One of these camps was organized in Sremska Mitrovica in the summer of 2002. Some of the teachers/guardians incessantly accused other educators of being "sectarian", asking that the workshops on sexually transmitted diseases be discontinued and that the facilitators of JAZAS (Yugoslav Anti-AIDS Association) be sent away. However, the majority the 132 students who were attending the camp in Sremska Mitrovica, signed a petition threatening to leave the camp if the JAZAS educators were removed.

Such 'shadow fundamentalists' were joined by open fundamentalists and religious leaders in the SPC. On the occasion of "shameless scandals" in this and other summer camps, the Synod (the SPC ruling body) made a public announcement in September 2002: "The modern education and the development of a new consciousness that is taking place in educational workshops is submitting the children to perfidious brainwashing… We are witnessing, unfortunately, a marriage of post-communist atheism and western capitalist hedonism… such a monstrous marriage can only foster monsters…." The Synod asked the Ministry of Education... "not to allow anyone...to pervert the children's innocent souls, and therefore to bury the legendary dignity of the Serbian people [as if there had not been students of other religious and ethnic affiliations in the camps]… etc.

The case of the "Mobile Cultural Container" in Novi Pazar serves as an example of the practices of Islamic fundamentalists. The Mobile Cultural Container is a European Union project that supports interculturalism and establishes links among the young, especially in multi-ethnic communities. The project consists of acquiring knowledge in various areas: film direction, photography, journalism, creative activities, etc. It usually remains in one place for several weeks. It was installed in Novi Pazar on 12th October 2002, and the problems began as of 15th October, when condoms were being distributed following a panel discussion on AIDS, facilitated by the JAZAS educators. The Muslim Youth Club (MOK) which works under the auspices of the Meshihat of the Islamic Community of Sandzak, argued that:

"The Mobile Cultural Container injects harmful ideologies into the subconscious of the youth in this area, while the distribution of condoms represents the legalization of debauchery". MOK further argued that what the Container had to offer was "contrary to the morals, religious principles and tradition of this people", asking "what Bosnian or Islamic elements can be found there?" MOK also claimed that such programs and projects encourage "lesbianism, homosexuality, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, [and] pornography…" In their opinion, the workshops teach the young "disrespect for their parents and repudiation of faith".

Continuing in this vein, MOK mobilized the young against the project, so that some workshops that had started with 70 participants ended up with no more than three. MOK also organized the stoning of the Container on 12th November. After that incident, the Cultural Mobile Container was closed down in Novi Pazar. MOK's campaign was successful primarily owing to the fact that the mufti of the Islamic community of Sandzak, Muamer Zukorlić, was a declared enemy of this cultural project, which he announced publicly. Mufti Zukorlić has a longstanding reputation as the head of the campaign against interculturalism, inter-ethnic solidarity, and sexual education.

WHRnet: In what ways do these rising fundamentalist trends affect women's lives?

Staša Zajović As fundamentalist forces gather strength, increasingly, women's lives are being targeted as the main frontier for enforcing the new religious-based moralities. The fundamentalists, not only the Orthodox ones, but all the others as well, prefer to conduct their activities in the sphere of intimacy, morals, the family, sexuality and reproductive rights with serious implications for women. Over the past two years, one of the spokesmen for the SPC, Ljubivoje Stojanović (professor of Pastoral Theology and editor-in-chief of the patriarchal publication Pravoslavlje/Orthodoxy) has been relentlessly appearing in all the media, both printed and electronic. He promotes strictly prescribed roles for women (mothers and wives), preaches pre-marital sexual abstinence, defines adultery as the greatest sin, and argues that the equality of men and women is a form of "ideological obstruction," etc.

The representatives of the Islamic community are waging a similar battle in which they expect religious mores to play an ever-growing role. According to Mufti of the Islamic community in Sandzak: "[Secular] society is increasingly confronting its own impotence to solve the problems of marriage, family, morals, drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, sects and other deviations through its secular mechanisms. This is bound to open up space for religion" (statement for the newspaper Danas, 7th -8th July 2002).

For more information and analysis on emerging fundamentalist trends in the Former Yugoslavia, see Staša Zajović, Religious Fundamentalisms and Repression over Reproductive and Sexual Rights, in Warning Signs of WHRnet: Papers from a meeting held by the International Solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) (November 2002)