This week, the Assembly passed the Law on the Use of the Serbian Language in Public Life and the Protection and Preservation of the Cyrillic Script. On the same day, the same law was passed in Republika Srpska, and the Minister of Culture, Maja Gojković, did not hide that the law was passed because of the expression of unity, and also because the President Aleksandar Vučić promised so. Although almost all MPs belong to the ruling majority, at this session we found out that they did not perceive every topic in the same way. Or perhaps they were on a different mission.
“Let me start by quoting Isidora Sekulić who said that “Language protects nations, not science. Science is the servant, language is the master.”
“Karadžić claims and I quote “All Shtokavians are Serbs, and all Serbs are Shtokavians.” End of quote. This thesis about the Serbian ethno-linguistic identity was confirmed by many Serb Catholics, as well as Serb Muslims, among them by two great Serbian writers, Ivo Andrić and Meša Selimović.”
“My colleague mentioned Meša Selimović, about whom many are arguing, and I know of a situation when Alija Isaković replied to the remark that he was one of the greatest Serbian writers by saying – if so, then the greatest Serbian novel begins with: “Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim”, “in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate”, therefore, a Quranic quote. I want to say that everything is permeated in the Balkans.”
“The famous Irish writer George Bernard Shaw, the only person in history to win both the Nobel Prize and the Oscar, considered Serbian Cyrillic the most perfect alphabet in the world.”
“Today, the Cyrillic alphabet, calm, quiet, as it is in its essence, lithe, tender as a flower, playful as a kolo [dance], warbling as a song, sad as music, endearing as a doe, but above all persistent, has opened the door to its better and more beautiful future.”
“It is difficult, ladies and gentlemen, to assess exactly where the stronger attacks and heavier accusations come from, whether from Podgorica, where Milo Đukanović compares Vučić with, believe it or not, Hitler, and says that Metropolitan Joanikije is a bloody metropolitan or, on the other hand, from Sarajevo, Zagreb, Priština”.
“Let's not forget that all our neighbours, who keep blowing their own trumpets and make these anti-Serbian statements, are in fact descendants of those who were faithful servants of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, especially excelling in keeping the hygiene of Austro-Hungarian barns.”
“President Aleksandar Vučić and we, members of the SNS, are the heirs of that glorious Serbian army, the only army in the world whose war flag did not fall into the hands of the enemy during the great war.”
If you have not understood what this Law is about, you only have yourselves to blame.
For the Open Parliament, Mirjana Nikolić.