Serbian nationalist discourse and the “ethnic cleansing” of Serbs in Kosovo

In recent years, the government of Serbia has repeatedly claimed that the Serbian community in Kosovo is being ethnically cleansed by the government of Kosovo with the support of Western governments. In this article, I demonstrate that there is no objective evidence to support these allegations. I argue that these claims reflect the revival of a particular strain of Serbian nationalism which aims to frame the Kosovo Serbs as persecuted and to instrumentalize this framing for political ends. The claims form part of a broader ‘symbol system’ which necessitates that the Kosovo Serbs are portrayed as persecuted. Those making the claims today – as before – aim to convince the Serbian public that Serbia faces an existential threat. Once convinced, Serbs will – so the nationalists hope – mobilize behind their leader’s political agenda. This has ominous implications for the future of democracy in Serbia and regional peace.