Abstract

Incidents documented in recent reporting from Balkan Academia illustrate recurring patterns of dehumanization, historical revisionism, glorification of war criminals, and symbolic violence. These include activist Milena Stojanović’s Facebook post referring to massacred Kosovar Albanians as “slaughtered cattle” (pobijene stoke) accompanied by a heart emoji; her endorsement of narratives glorifying “neutralization” of Albanian civilians during the 1998–99 Kosovo conflict; public displays at the 2026 Drina Regatta in Bajna Bašta celebrating convicted war criminals such as Ratko Mladić; and instances of desecration of Croatian Catholic churches and statues (e.g., beheaded Virgin Mary figures, graffiti reading “SERBIA” on Christ statues).

While these examples represent vocal minorities rather than monolithic Serbian society, their persistence invites analysis through psychological, psychiatric, and psychoanalytical lenses.

Dehumanization and the Narcissism of Minor Differences

Freud’s concept of the “narcissism of minor differences” helps explain why proximate ethnic groups amplify small cultural/religious distinctions into existential threats. In the Balkans, shared South Slavic roots and Ottoman-era histories intensify this. Dehumanizing language (“cattle,” “Shiptars,” terrorists) serves as a psychological defense, reducing empathy and moral inhibition. Stojanović’s heart-emoji post exemplifies triumphalist necrophilia—a perverse fusion of sentimentality and aggression—where grief of the out-group is mocked while in-group violence is romanticized.

From a psychiatric viewpoint, such attitudes may reflect traits on the cluster B spectrum (narcissistic, antisocial, borderline), particularly in online amplification. Collective splitting—viewing the in-group as pure heroes and the out-group as subhuman—protects against cognitive dissonance when confronting documented atrocities (mass graves, ethnic cleansing campaigns by Serbs documented by Human Rights Watch, ICTY). Projection attributes one’s own aggressive impulses or historical grievances onto the Other, a classic Freudian defense.

Trauma, Victimhood, and Unresolved Mourning

The 1990s wars inflicted profound collective trauma on all Balkan peoples. For some Serbs, narratives of perpetual victimhood (Ottoman legacy and perceived NATO aggression) foster a siege mentality. Melanie Klein’s object relations theory and concepts of paranoid-schizoid position describe how unresolved loss leads to persecutory anxiety: the world is seen as eternally hostile, justifying preemptive or retaliatory aggression. Glorification of Serbian terrorist figures like Ratko Mladić at public events (Drina Regatta) functions as manic defense—denial of guilt through triumphant celebration.

Any discussion of Serbian atrocities, massacres, genocide, etc is rationalized, ignored and projected.

Psychoanalytically, this resembles melancholia (Freud) rather than healthy mourning: instead of working through loss, the lost object is incorporated into the group ego via irredentist myths (“Greater Serbia,” Svetosavci ideology blending Orthodoxy and nationalism). Desecration of Albanian and Bosnian mosques and Croatian Catholic symbols—beheading Madonnas, smashing altars—represents iconoclastic attack on the maternal object, symbolically erasing rival identities and asserting dominance.

Adlerian inferiority-superiority dynamics may also apply: historical defeats and economic challenges fuel compensatory chauvinism, where national “greatness” is asserted through revisionism.

Group Psychology and Authoritarian Dynamics

Wilfred Bion’s group dynamics and Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego highlight how regressive leadership and basic assumption groups (dependency, fight-flight) sustain extremism. In segments of society, war-criminal glorification and irredentism provide containment for anxiety, offering belonging and purpose. Social media acts as an echo chamber, lowering inhibitions via anonymity and reward (likes, hearts).

Psychiatrically, widespread exposure to propaganda can normalize malignant narcissism at a cultural level, where empathy deficits combine with grandiosity. This differs from isolated pathology; it becomes a shared folie à plusieurs.

Comparison to Healing Processes in Other Nations

Post-WWII Germany underwent Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past) via denazification, education, legal accountability (Nuremberg), and cultural shifts. This facilitated healthy mourning and reduced revanchism, though far-right fringes persist. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission emphasized restorative justice, allowing acknowledgment without total humiliation. Japan and Turkey show more mixed results with denialist elements persisting around wartime atrocities.

Serbia has engaged in some accountability (ICTY cooperation, EU accession talks) but faces criticism for incomplete reckoning: school curricula debates, political flirtations with revisionism, and public tolerance for extremist displays. Factors include:

Defeat without total capitulation: Unlike Germany’s unconditional surrender, the 1990s ended with negotiated settlements preserving narratives of victimhood.

Competing victimhoods: Mutual Balkan grievances hinder unilateral healing.

Orthodox religious nationalism: Svetosavlje can fuse faith with ethnicity more intensely than secularized Western Christianity, complicating separation of church and irredentist state.

Economic/political instability: Frustration fosters scapegoating, per frustration-aggression hypothesis.

In contrast, societies achieving broader healing prioritize inclusive education, prosecute glorification of crimes, and promote superordinate identities (e.g., European). Persistent Serbian examples suggest stronger repetition compulsion (Freud)—reenacting trauma through symbolic acts rather than transcending it.

Broader Implications and Therapeutic Perspectives

Jungian analysis might view Serbian chauvinism as shadow projection of unintegrated collective archetypes (warrior, victim). Existential psychology highlights meaning-making through mythologized history amid modernity’s dislocations. Cognitive-behavioral views stress distorted schemas reinforced by selective memory.

Serbian extremism thrives in pockets amplified by social media and opportunistic politicians. Psychiatric epidemiology would likely show no unique “Serbian pathology” but context-specific expressions of universal human tendencies (tribalism, trauma response) intensified by history.

Phenomena differ from more reconciled nations due to slower institutional confrontation, intertwined religious-ethnic identity, and regional feedback loops of grievance. Sustainable progress requires working through (Freud): truthful education, memorialization honoring all victims, economic opportunity reducing resentment, and civic narratives emphasizing shared future over mythic past.

Bibliography

Balkan Academia. “Serbian Activist Milena Stojanovic Calls Massacred Albanians for ‘Cattle’ and Adds a Heart Emoji.” July 21, 2026. https://balkanacademia.com/2026/07/21/serbian-activist-milena-stojanovic-calls-massacred-albanians-for-cattle-and-adds-a-heart-emoji/.

“Serbian Extremist Milena Stojanović’s Shameful Glorification of Serbian War Crimes and Ethnic Hatred.” July 22, 2026. https://balkanacademia.com/2026/07/22/serbian-extremist-milena-stojanovics-shameful-glorification-of-serbian-war-crimes-and-ethnic-hatred/.

“Partying Serbs Glorify Convicted War Criminals In Bajna Bašta in Drina Regatta (VIDEO).” July 21, 2026. https://balkanacademia.com/2026/07/21/partying-serbs-glorify-convicted-war-riminals-in-bajna-basta-in-drina-regatta-video/.

“Why Do Orthodox Serbian Irredentists Desecrate Croatian Catholic Churches?” July 20, 2026. https://balkanacademia.com/2026/07/20/why-do-orthodox-serbian-irredentists-desecrate-croatian-catholic-churches/.

Freud, Sigmund. Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. 1921.
Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia.” 1917.
Additional sources on Balkan wars drawn from established international reports (HRW, ICTY) for contextual balance.

Balkan Insight. “Enmity and Neglect Take Toll on Serb Churches in Kosovo.” July 26, 2021. https://balkaninsight.com/2021/07/26/enmity-and-neglect-take-toll-on-serb-churches-in-kosovo/btj/.

Civil Rights Defenders. “Serbia Must Confront Glorification of War Criminals and Respect Freedom of Assembly.” November 8, 2021. https://crd.org/2021/11/08/serbia-must-respect-freedom-of-assembly-and-not-prevent-efforts-to-deal-with-the-past/.

European Western Balkans. “The Case of Mladić Mural Shows That Authorities in Serbia Have No Intention to Deal with War Crimes.” November 12, 2021. http://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2021/11/12/the-case-of-mladic-mural-shows-that-authorities-in-serbia-have-no-intention-to-deal-with-war-crimes/.

Genocide Watch. “Bosnian-Serb Candidate Fined for Glorifying Ratko Mladic.” October 1, 2024. https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/bosnian-serb-candidate-fined-for-glorifying-ratko-mladic.

Pravmir. “Vandals Attack Serbian Church in Croatia.” June 18, 2021. https://www.pravmir.com/vandals-attack-serbian-church-in-croatia/.

Reporting Diversity. “Quo Vadis, Serbia?” November 24, 2021. https://www.reportingdiversity.org/quo-vadis-serbia/.

These sources provide independent reporting on glorification of war criminals, murals, public events, and inter-ethnic religious vandalism incidents. They can be integrated into the relevant sections of the analysis for further support.