Anti-Albanian rocker Bora Gjorgjevic "challenges" the state of Kosovo

The state institutions in Kosovo were not impressed by the performance of the Serbian nationalist band "Riblja Čorba" nor its anti-Albanian vocalist, Bora Gjorgjevic. The band from Belgrade performed on Thursday as part of "Rok Fest", an event funded by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Serbia, but the organizers don't seem to have worried much about permission. All this in the circumstances of the measures for the restriction of movements and public gatherings taken days ago by the Government of Kosovo. The 68-year-old musician, Bora Gjorgjević, in the 80s called Albanians "rabbits" and "lords" with whom peace cannot be made, just as he often used rhetoric against independent Kosovo even after being decorated with the "Order of the Star of Karagjorgjevic" by the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic. Not a few have been those who, in addition to opposing Gjorgjevic's performance, have pointed out that Serbia is polarizing the public in Kosovo and is contributing to the deterioration of inter-ethnic relations.

A considerable legacy of Serbian nationalist songs and anti-Albanian lyrics has not deterred the members of the rock group from Belgrade "Riblja Čorba" from learning about Kosovo. Led by their frontman, Bora Gjorgjevic, on Thursday evening, they held an unhindered concert at the cultural center "Sava Dečanac" in Leposavic.

This concert, as part of the "Rock Fest" in the northernmost municipality of the country, was announced a few days ago through an address by the controversial Serbian musician, Bora Gjorgjevic.

"We haven't seen each other for a long time, but we'll see each other in Leposavic on August 19, 'Riblja Čorba' is coming, Bora loves you," the 68-year-old Serbian vocalist is heard saying.

As an already traditional event, this year's edition of "Rock Fest Leposavic" was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Information of Serbia, while the organizers were the Municipality of Leposavic and the cultural center "Sava Dečanac".

In addition to the special guests at "Rock Fest", the bands "De Sade" and "Flood" from Rashka, the local band from Leposaviqi "Choo Choo Xtana" performed in the open air - between the Culture Center and the Municipality building. Lazy" from Mitrovica and the Dutch-Serbian band "The Unfuckable".

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Present at the concert were exponents from Belgrade, such as the director of the so-called Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, as well as representatives from the Serbian political entity in Kosovo, Lista Serbe.

And this is not the first time this band has performed in Kosovo: in August 2013, they held a concert in Graçanica.

Institutional silence

During the day, KOHA tried to contact the Information Office of the Kosovo Police, but it did not answer questions about whether the organizers received permission for such an activity and whether security protocols were followed. The North Regional Directorate, which is responsible for the Municipality of Leposaviq, has not given an answer either.

The performance of the controversial Serbian artist at "Rok Fest" has not been commented by any official of the Government of Kosovo. The only action by the ruling party, the Vetëvendosje Movement, was a symbolic action by its center in Albania, which, on Thursday during the day, placed a banner with the words "Bregović, Genocide" on the "Republika" boulevard in Korça.

While the last two weeks have been filled with controversy and criticism over the invitation that the Municipality of Korça extended to Bosnian-born musician Goran Bregović to perform at the Beer Festival, not much attention has been paid to his colleague, former rival, Borislav Gjorgjević-Bora (also known as Bora Čorba).

In February of this year, they were among those who were awarded the "Order of the Star of Karagjorgjevic" by the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić. But what, really, is the dark side of the vocalist who was part of the popular band in Yugoslavia in the 80s?

"Plunged into nationalist waters"

According to connoisseurs of the Yugoslav music scene of the time, the death of the Yugoslav ideology was also reflected in a number of bands, especially those that made a name for themselves in rock'n'roll.

It was at this time that a division began to be drawn between the audiences drawn to ethno-pop music with nationalist tendencies - the so-called "narodnjaci" - and a handful of musicians who maintained a more cosmopolitan attitude.

According to Petar Janjatović, some Serbian rockers, especially Bora Gjorgjević from "Riblja Čorba", "plunged headfirst into nationalist waters".

The American academic and journalist, Sabrina Petra Ramet, in her book "Balkan Babel: Politics, Culture, And Religion In Yugoslavia", published in 1992, has singled out several cases of how Gjorgjevic was always making the lyrics of the songs, from allusions and more explicit with their anti-Albanian content.

The anti-Albanian poems of "Bora Çorba"

In quite a few cases, "political problems" were opened to him precisely because of the provocative nature of the songs. Such was his first lyric about Kosovo, which, using a well-known Slavic children's song, was permeated with tacit anti-Albanian messages:
"Eci peci pec/ ia sam malji zec/ jedem malji dec/ Veljiki mi trb/ jedem malji Srb" (Translation: Eci peci pec/ I am a rabbit/ a small chicken eats it/ I have a big belly/ a Serb eats it small).

According to American researcher Ramet, this poem was dedicated to the Albanians. Just as he was alarmed by Belgrade's nationalistic policy at the time, the lyrics in it gave voice to the Yugoslav concern about the demographic growth of the Albanian population in Kosovo and Macedonia: thus the Serbian rocker compared the Albanian to a "rabbit" (malji zec), which also has cannibalistic characteristics vs. small serb (malji srb).

"There will be no peace with the Albanian"

But the Serbian singer-songwriter did not stop there. Anti-Albanian allusions and references, such as the pejorative expression "Shiptari" would also be found in the verses of another lyric: "I nikad neće biti mira/ mežiu mene i 'llira'/ zar srpsku krunu i skiptar/ da uzme neki Šiptar" (Translation: There will never be peace/ between me and 'Illyria'/ Is it possible for an Albanian/ to seize the Serbian crown and scepter).

Still according to Ramet, "these poems, which were out of favor in the days of Istanbul, became quite desirable for the political authorities as soon as Milosevic took power in Serbia".

"War for Kosovo"

Staying aloof from Belgrade's negationist attitude towards Kosovo's independence, the vocalist of "Riblja Čorba" has not hesitated to constantly overcome provocations.

In April 2019, this band participated in the rally called "Budućnost Srbije" (Future of Serbia), where support for Vučić and the Serbian government in the "war for Kosovo" was manifested.

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Two years ago, when one of the African states withdrew its recognition of Kosovo, Gjorgjevic congratulated Ivica Dacic, warning that he would dedicate a song to him.

Sheki Hoxha: "Gjorgjevic, this chauvinist"

The musician Shefqet Hoxha-Sheki has said that such a profile, like Bora Gjorgjević, should not be allowed to participate anywhere outside of Serbia.

In a statement for TIME, he said that he once had a friendship with him, but later he recognized his truth.

"I haven't seen him for 30 years and I would never want to see him again," said guitarist Hoxha.

On this occasion, he has shown that the band "Riblja Čorba" once had beautiful lyrics, was popular in the countries of former Yugoslavia, but, according to him, "things changed".

"For him and some others I knew from the music scene of that time, I regret to say that people can also be idiotic beings. I have never loved fascism and chauvinism", said Hoxha, who in the 80s was an instrumentalist and orchestrator in the Radio-Pristina Orchestra.

"Persona non grata"

Speaking about Gjorgjevic's creativity, he said that there were no explicit expressions in his texts, but when he got involved in politics, as an adviser in the Ministry of Culture, "he started to show his true face".

"There may have been such messages in the form of parody, but for me, in my house, he is persona non grata".

Regarding the concert held on Thursday evening, the musician Hoxha has assessed that Gjorgjevic's performance in front of Leposavic's Serbs is not so problematic, but added that "this should be the last time that such a thing is allowed".

"This issue belongs to the Government, because as long as it is impossible for Sesheli and Vulini to visit, the same should be done to chauvinist artists," he added.

Abdullahu: "Need for debates that examine the past"

The professor of anthropology and history at the University of Pristina, Durim Abdullahu, has said that such cases, on the social level, highlight the crucial need of society to open debates, regardless of whether they start from completely banal causes.

According to him, these debates are a kind of examination of the past from different identity prisms.

"Let's face it, in Kosovo, the cultural heritage of the time of the former Yugoslavia has been treated very little, be it material or that of collective memories", said Abdullahu. "The Kosovar society must find an authentic way to make room for its history under Yugoslavia, systematizing its heritage in museums, archives, books and films, without allowing it to fall into the trap of inadequate treatment of the remains of exceeded the Yugoslavs".

"Serbia is polarizing the public"

Further, Abdullahu stated that such concerts can impact the weakening of the loyalty of the Serbian population towards the state of Kosovo, but also the hardening of relations with the Albanians.

On this occasion, he recalled that in all security studies and reports, it appears that Serbia violates Kosovo's security even by using seemingly spontaneous means, "but through which the polarization of the public and especially of political groups is aimed".

"Let's not forget that while all these concerts are being held, in the background the Serbian government is trying to push forward the old idea of ​​a great Serbia, but repackaged as the Serbian world, through regional initiatives like 'Open Balkan'. All the more, that he has found a language of rapprochement with official Tirana, unparalleled in the history of these two countries", said Abdullahu.

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Furthermore, the history professor has assessed that Belgrade's efforts are not very different from those of Turkey, which maintains its cultural influence by inciting debates about the Ottoman heritage in the former countries of the Ottoman Empire.

"Even Serbia intends to play the role of a regional power in those less consolidated countries of the former Yugoslavia, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo", concluded Abdullahu.