D. Veselinov: "Vojvodina should be republic"

[Pejan]

No one can reach you the water.

this is me sausage.

 

[Lilith]

Hey guys, please don't spam and keep on topic!

 

[BenKafka]

Don't worry, that won't happen. There's no majority for full autonomy in Vojvodina not to mention independence.

Are you sure. Who thought 10 years ago that Montenegro splits apart
and all of a sudden it really happened.
I think there is a consistent trend towards small states esp. in the balkan region and apparently on the expense of Serbia.

 

[Sonny Black]

that brings them in devils kitchen, oh you green nine

 

[Serbian Eagle]

always the same shit with vojvodina

 

[Schiptar]

always the same shit with vojvodina

Always the same old story with paranoid centralistic Serbian nationalism creating internal enemies where there needn't be any...

 

[Schiptar]

Are you sure. Who thought 10 years ago that Montenegro splits apart and all of a sudden it really happened.

Okay, I suppose it isn't absolutely impossible.
I mean, what you obviously need is some sort of political class that believes it will benefit from independence since it will make them largest fish in a small pond. No problem there, Vojvodina can provide those.
You don't need the support of the vast majority of the population, as the example of Montenegro shows. There, gaining the support of roughly half the population plus ethnic minorities was enough to be able to press on towards independence.
In Montenegro, ethnic minorities (i.e. those who neither define themselves as ethnic Montengrins nor ethnic Serbs) seem to account for roughly a quarter of the population. In Vojvodina, approx. 35 per cent of the population apparently do not define themselves as Serbs. The question is, which of these ethnic minorities would come out in favour of independence. Maybe a lot of Hungarians and Croats but apart from that I'm not so sure. There are so many people living in Vojvodina who technically have a non-Serb background but are totally assimilated and more or less loyal towards the Serbian state.

I think there is a consistent trend towards small states esp. in the balkan region and apparently on the expense of Serbia.

No surprise there. One thing that has been consistently happening in Serbia for the last 20 to 30 years is creating internal enemies and focussing public hatred on them. First it was the Albanians, then the Slovenians, then Croatians, then Bosniaks, then Albanians again, then Montenegrins, and nowadays it seems to change monthly from Vojvodina to Sandzak Bosniaks to Albanians/Kosovo and back...

 

[Fitnesstrainer NRW]

I think what this boils down to is the fact that Vojvodina once had far-reaching autonomy, which it was stripped of under Milosevic, and that the democratic governments that have been in power for more than a decade have been unwilling to try and go back to the previous state of affairs. That's pretty much what Veselinov is trying to point out, that's why he exaggerates things by calling for full self-determination, which he knows full well is absolutely unrealistic.
It is a historical fact that Vojvodina is different, that it was ruled by the Habsburgs during Serbia's first generations of independent statehood, that it is strongly influenced by Central European traditions and is less Balkan in that sense, these are things that old Vojvodinians and also some newcomers will be happy to tell you. That's one reason why I believe it should get back all the rights it lost under Milosevic.
The other reason is that returning its old rights would demonstrate that democratic Serbia is willing to right certain wrongs from the days of Milosevic, that it is willing to draw a clear line between itself and the dictatorship that existed before.

In that sense Vojvodina is different from Dalmatia. A more likely example from the Croatian context would be Istria, which has a number of things in common with Vojvodina.

Well, I've got another opinion...

Vojvodina was given as a compensation for heavy war crimes from Austro-Hungary to SHS-state under the rule of Karadjordjevic. There is no historical right of autonomy or independence for vojvodina, just because Tito has given them once autonomy within his intention to build a strong Yugoslavia by a necessary weak Serbia, to prevent any hegemonial Leadership of Serbia inside Yugoslavia and create a balance between the republics.

Don't get me wrong....I'm not against a vojvodinian autonomy if the vojvodinian majority whishes to get it. I just want to point out that the autonomy in this case can't be demand by any "historical right".

What we have to differ is the history, the right of self-determination and the territorial integrity of state. If the argument to get autonomy in Vojvodina is "self-determination", than you can also compare it with Dalmatia (as a region).
If the argument is historical right, than Dubrovnik has more right to get independence (Ragusa), than Vojvondina to get autonomy.

never the less......I'm open for vojvondinian autonomy until the territorial integritiy of Serbia will be considered....this includes any way to get a seperation and as you know autonomy is often just the "first step". So it's a matter of intention.

 

[Šumadinko]

Ex-minister: Vojvodina should be republic

Dragan Veselinov...