ESC and Politics

Although I think that the right song won this year’s ESC, there are nevertheless a few points that need to be addressed. Marija Serifovic’s performance was unprecedented and there is no doubt that Serbia deserved to win. However, I was appalled when I noticed the reaction of Serifovic after she had received the results of Bosnian voting. As is well known, Bosnia gave 12 points to Serbia. Shortly afterwards, Serifovic raised three fingers. This notorious sign is frequently used by Serb nationalists and extremists to incite hatred toward the non-Serb population in the region. Perceived as a sign of Serb supremacy, many non-Serbs were highly offended by this egregious gesture of Serifovic. This morally reprehensible gesture should once again serve as a reminder that a concept of reconciliation between Serbs and non-Serbs is merely a utopia.

The day after the show the Swedish media reported of this incident while the Bosnian media failed to mention a single word of the incident. To remain politically correct, the Bosnian press deliberately refuse to address any sensitive issues that might further exacerbate the already poor relations between Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia. This is certainly understandable to a certain extent but the people deserve to know the truth. Nationalism still plays a pivotal role in Serbia, which was evident from the aforementioned incident that took place during this year’s ESC. The Swedish media also pointed out that many survivors of the Bosnian carnage who reside in Sweden complained to the President of the ESC following the inappropriate gesture by Serifovic but to no avail. Why mix politics with the ESC and deliberately offend the survivors of the Bosnian war? Why further destabilize the situation between Serbs and non-Serbs in Bosnia?
I am deeply concerned about the situation in Bosnia and I am highly skeptical about the future of Bosnia. As long as there are three groups in Bosnia with completely different visions for Bosnia, there can never be any long term stability, let alone a reconciliation.