(De-)Constructing Serbian Russophilia In The Context Of The Crisis In Ukraine

On the background of the Ukrainian crisis, the relations between Russia and the Euro-Atlantic community reach a new critical point. The article aims to follow the way in which this tension unfolds in the Serbian society. It starts with identifying the types of discourses related to the idea of „friendship/ brotherhood” between Serbia and Russia. The selection of discourses is composed of statements belonging to officials from Belgrade, the political parties and the civil society. Using the poststructuralist approach, this study starts from the idea that international relations and a state’s foreign policy are strongly connected with the meanings attached to concepts or ideas. Such meanings are not given by a certain objective historical evolution, but can be constructed or deconstructed by the political, intellectual, social elites within a community. The discourses, collected from the November 2013 – April 2016 period, will be analysed with the Foucauldian Discourse Analysis method. Firstly, we will see how the idea of friendship between Serbia and Russia is constructed or deconstructed by several selected elite groups (how the different discourses are organized) and secondly, if the particular types of discourses imply certain specific foreign policy positions, justified by the elites as being directly linked. Conclusions indicate that Russophilia is a powerful legitimization tool, even in a context where this approach creates missed opportunities. On the contrary, emotional arguments prevail and strictly rational foreign policy decisions can be easily antagonized as breaking the norms of good international behaviour.