In Jul 2020, the British singer Dua Lipa first went on the Internet and then opened Pandora’s box, confusing many and reminding some of the old war wounds.
“au•toch•tho•nous,” the “Don’t Start Now” artist explained on Twitter. “adjective (of an inhabitant of a place) indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists.”
Attached was also the picture of the ‘Greater Albania’ map. The map shows portions of Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, and North Macedonia as parts of Albania.
The responses below Dua Lipa’s tweet presented a culture war in a nutshell. “Using her fame to educate y’all is a queen move xx,” someone replied to Lipa. “She’s not educating anyone,” the other person responded. “She is delusional just like you. Do your due diligence and research the history.”
What happened? What is behind the idea of ‘Greater Albania?’ How come a pop artist can stir such heat by posting just one tweet?
“You Will Not Be Beaten Again”
In Apr 1987, another culture was starting to stir up, but IRL. In Kosovo, ethnic tensions between Serbs and Albanians began escalating.
Slobodan Milošević, then President of the League of Communists of Serbia, went to Kosovo to talk to “both sides” and supposedly try to regulate the conflict. Instead, tensions escalated right in front of the building, where Milošević was figuring things out.
In response to the Serbian protesters’ chants, Milošević went out into the crowd and started talking to an old man. An old man told Milošević (and, of course, the TV camera) that Albanian police officers had been brutally beating up Serbian women and children who came to the demonstration.
“You will not be beaten again,” Milošević responded.
Long story short, Milošević’s statement led to Serbian nationalists trying to take Yugoslavia under their control. The nationalists’ actions started the Yugoslavian war with its cities’ destruction, ethnic cleansing, and many other horrific events.
Kosovo Internet War
Back in Kosovo, things also began to stir up. In 1989, the region lost its autonomy and came under Serbia’s direct control. The ethnic tensions between Serbs and Albanians rose for around a decade. By 1998 the military conflict started. Eventually, NATO sided with Kosovo and launched a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.
Many horrific events occurred in Serbia and Kosovo, including bombings of cities’ living districts. However, history also claimed the conflict “First Internet War.”
By the end of the 1990s, Worldwide Web had entered the era of mass internet communications. It included the former Yugoslavia, also providing ZaMir prehistoric social media platform. It allowed friends and relatives to stay connected during the earlier Yugoslavian wars.
By the beginning of the Kosovo conflict, its internet version was also launched. The prehistoric trolls posted memes online, joking about NATO playing with its toys. They also were raising awareness of what’s actually happening in Serbia.
Meanwhile, many common Serbs would also go online and fight. They came in chat rooms and forums, trying to prove that NATO propaganda is just a subtler version of Serbian propaganda. Milošević and Serb media would support their citizens’ efforts while informing them that NATO only represents one side of the story.
Other supporters of the Serbian side (Russian hackers) broke into NATO’s website. The anti-imperialist computer fighters posted such messages on the web page as “Asses out of Serbia” or “Russian hackers demand to stop terrorist aggression against Yugoslavia.” Together with inspirational messages came jokes about Bill Clinton and Monika Lewinsky.
The war ended with Milošević’s overthrow in 2000. He died in jail during his UN war crimes tribunal. Yugoslavia also completely separated and turned into multiple independent countries.
Written by Nikita Serdiuk
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