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      Dealing with COVID-19 in the European periphery: between securitization and “gaslighting”

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      Journal of Global Faultlines
      Pluto Journals
      COVID-19, Western Balkans, EU, disaster capitalism
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            Abstract

            The objective of this paper is to outline and analyse the manner in which governments on the EU's south-eastern periphery (i.e. the Western Balkans) responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and its possible after-effects. The author seeks to shed light on three particular aspects of the crisis: the (de)securitization process of COVID-19, the geopolitics of the EU enlargement process in the post-corona world, and the Balkan way of dealing with the pandemic. Following a prologue that tries to decipher what is behind the façade of this dramatic episode, the article proceeds to characterize both the securitization of COVID-19 and the “gaslighting turnaround”. It then looks at the Balkan version of the so-called “COVID-1984”, i.e. the autocratic tendencies that have blossomed amid (and thanks to) strong security concerns.

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            Contributors
            Journal
            10.2307/j50018794
            jglobfaul
            Journal of Global Faultlines
            Pluto Journals
            2397-7825
            2054-2089
            1 June 2020
            : 7
            : 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/jglobfaul.7.issue-1 )
            : 71-88
            Affiliations
            Prof. Biljana Vankovska is a political scientist and peace researcher who teaches at the Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia. She is also editor to the scholarly journal Security Dialogues. Email: biljanav@ 123456fzf.ukim.edu.mk .
            Article
            jglobfaul.7.1.0071
            10.13169/jglobfaul.7.1.0071
            e5cffb76-2d5a-4f78-bfd2-e67d182d4ad7
            This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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            eng

            Social & Behavioral Sciences
            disaster capitalism,Western Balkans,COVID-19,EU

            Notes

            1. Prof. Biljana Vankovska is a political scientist and peace researcher who teaches at the Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia. She is also editor to the scholarly journal Security Dialogues. Email: biljanav@123456fzf.ukim.edu.mk.

            2. Arundhati Roy, “The pandemic is a portal”, Financial Times, 3 April 2020, available at https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            3. Vassilis K. Fouskas and Bulent Gokay, “COVID-19 and the bankruptcy of neoliberalism in the context of Global Shift”, Open Democracy, 5 May 2020, available at https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/covid-19-and-bankruptcy-neoliberalism-context-global-shift/ (accessed on 17 May 2020). Also, Vassilis K. Fouskas, Bulent Gokay, and Biljana Vankovska, “Crisis in the eastern Mediterranean and COVID-19”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22(3), May-June 2020.

            4. The Oxford scholar Sunetra Gupta put it this way: “… the truth is that lockdown is a luxury, and it's a luxury that the middle classes are enjoying and higher income countries are enjoying at the expense of the poor, the vulnerable and less developed countries”. (Freddie Sayers interview with Sunetra Gupta, “COVID-19 is on the way out”, UnHerd, 21 May 2020, available at https://unherd.com/2020/05/oxford-doubles-down-sunetra-gupta-interview/ (accessed on 22 May 2020).

            5. For an overview of a very interesting polemic, see: M. Foucault, G. Agamben, J.L. Nancy, R. Esposito, S. Benvenuto, D. Dwivedi, S. Mohan, R. Ronchi, and M. de Carolis, “Coronavirus and philosophers”, European Journal of Psychoanalysis, April 2020, available at https://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/coronavirus-and-philosophers/ (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            6. Kenneth Burke (1984), Permanence and change: an anatomy of purpose. University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 49.

            7. In his recent text entitled “Medicine as Religion”, Giorgio Agamben argues that science has become the religion of our time, especially in the West where it leads ahead of the other two religions (Christianity and capitalism). In his view, “It is not surprising that the protagonist of this new war of religions should be that part of science where the dogmatic is less rigorous and the pragmatic aspect stronger: medicine, whose immediate object is the living body of human beings.” (An English translation by Adam Kotsko is available at https://itself.blog/2020/05/02/giorgio-agamben-medicine-as-religion/ (accessed on 17 May 2020). However, Agamben speaks of Medicine as if it were one coherent entity (vs. its competitors). Medical doctors and researchers have never been so exposed to media as in the last months; yet, their findings and medical advice differ enormously so the general public is often indeed in a situation to try to “believe” one or another medical strategy. The academic fast-track publishing in the most respectable journals (where usually it takes months if not years to get an article published) is another aspect of the problem of (mis)use of academia and medicine by the State officials.

            8. M. Foucault, G. Agamben, J.L. Nancy, R. Esposito, S. Benvenuto, D. Dwivedi, S. Mohan, R. Ronchi, and M. de Carolis, ibidem.

            9. Unfortunately, in the face of death itself (as if it had not been with us before) the tolerance for critical thinking has gone down even in academic and intellectual circles in the West, and even more so in its periphery. Respected Balkan intellectuals, such as Teofil Pančić or Boris Dežulović, to mention just a few, who dared criticize the government's measures and the general paranoia over COVID-19, have been immediately crucified and labelled “conspiracy theorists”.

            10. Michel Foucault (2003), “Society Must Be Defended”: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975-1976, trans. David Macey, New York: Picador.

            11. The scandal of Romanian workers exported to Germany to harvest the population's favorite vegetables speaks for itself, but pales in comparison with the even more scandalous treatment of Italy at the hands of its fellow EU-partners. See: Costi Rogozanu and Daniela Gabor, “Are western Europe's food supplies worth more than East European workers' health?”, The Guardian, 16 April 2020, available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/apr/16/western-europe-food-east-european-workers-coronavirus (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            12. Lately there has been harsh criticism of this theory that went so far as to blame its academic fathers for being racist. According to these critics, the theory is not only inapplicable outside of the Western democratic context, and thus exposed to a racist worldview. See: Alison Howell and Melanie Richter-Montpetit, “Is Securitization Theory Racist? Civilizationism, Methodological Whiteness, and Anti-black Thought in the Copenhagen School”, Security Dialogue, 51(1), 2020. For a response, see: “Peace researcher Ole Wæver accused of racism: ‘I've never felt so bad about my life as an academic‘”, University Post, University of Copenhagen, 15 May 2020, available at https://uniavisen.dk/en/prominent-peace-researcher-accused-of-racism-ive-never-felt-so-bad-about-my-life-as-an-academic/?fbclid=IwAR0Cvh5-rxdpRMIavCvrdH3iB1zYc_f_sDaizU-RSFTx92kNtEl5v4aaASo (accessed on 24 May 2020). Disregarding this unfounded criticism (and even the personal lynching that followed), one needs to be aware that this is not an isolated case, and that academic freedom is being seriously undermined from within - not only by power centres, as usual.

            13. Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde (1998), Security: A New Framework for Analysis, London, Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 23-24.

            14. Ole Wæver, “Securitization and De-securitization”. In Ronnie D. Lipschutz (ed.) (1998), On Security, New York, Columbia University Press, p. 45.

            15. Sears, N.A., “The Securitization of Covid-19: Three Political Dilemmas”, Global Policy Journal, 25 March 2020, available at https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/25/03/2020/securitization-covid-19-three-political-dilemmas (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            16. WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19, 11 March 2020, available at https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19—11-march-2020 (accessed on 17 May 2020). Also, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros, said that COVID-19 represents a “common enemy, an enemy of humanity”, while UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, referred on his Twitter account to a common threat that no country can address alone.

            17. Maureen N. McLane, “From A Book of Hours”, August 2019, available at https://poets.org/poem/book-hours?fbclid=IwAR3Kl75M __8IrYDf7zDKACOpTarkzkYjexsN4PUbOyQVv9kmbXSNITEj-6g (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            18. Clive Archer (2015), International Organizations, 4th edition, New York, Routledge.

            19. Ronnie Olesker, “The Securitization Dilemma: Legitimacy in Securitization Studies”, Critical Studies on Security, 6(3), 2018, p. 312.

            20. Julio Vincent Gambuto, “Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting”, Forge, 10 April 2020, available at https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0 (accessed on 21 May 2020). The follow-up article by the same author appeared on 1 May 2020 entitled “The Gaslighting of America Has Begun”. The key message of his second article read: “Understand your power, my friends. Businesses and government do”, available at https://forge.medium.com/the-gaslighting-has-begun-resist-aac3658813d4.

            21. Robert Cox, “Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory”, Millennium 10(2), 1981, p. 128.

            22. David Chandler (2006), Empire in Denial: The Politics of State-Building, London, Pluto Press. Also see Chandler's excellent description of Dayton Bosnia that equally applies to post-conflict Macedonia in light of the outcomes of its power-sharing system (Bosnia: Faking Democracy after Dayton, 2nd edition, London, Pluto Press, 2000.)

            23. Srećko Horvat and Igor Štiks (2014), Welcome to the Desert of Post-Socialism. Radical Politics after Yugoslavia, London, Verso.

            24. Michael Pugh, “Transformation in the political economy of Bosnia since Dayton”, International Peacekeeping, 12(3), 2005, p. 449.

            25. Genc Ruli, “Albania: The Weakness of the State”, in Wim van Meurs (ed.) (2003), Prospects and Risks Beyond EU Enlargement: Southeastern Europe: Weak States and Strong International Support, Opladen, Leske & Budrich.

            26. Michael Pugh (ed.) (2000), Regeneration of War-Torn Societies, Macmillan, London.

            27. On a special ceremony the caretaker Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski expressed the deepest gratitude to EU's assistance and expressed his assurance that coronavirus would be defeated if we all joined forces. See: “Republika Severna Makedonija pripaga na evropskoto semejstvo, EU vo ovaa zdravstveno-ekonomska kriza ja spodeli grizata i pomosta so nasata zemja kako da sme veke clenka” [Republic of North Macedonia belongs to the European family; in this health-economic crisis EU has shared concerns and assistance with our country as if we were already a member-state], Official statement, 9 May 2020, available at https://vlada.mk/node/21349?ln=en-gb (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            28. Bender Kristof, Adnan Čerimagić, and Gerald Knaus, “EU Has Turned Enlargement into a Hamster Wheel”, Balkan Insight, 15 January 2020, available at https://balkaninsight.com/2020/01/21/eu-has-turned-enlargement-into-a-hamster-wheel/ (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            29. Biljana Vankovska, “Geopolitics of the Prespa Agreement: Background and After-Effects”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, April 2020, 22(3), pp. 343–371.

            30. Press release, “Commission welcomes the green light to opening of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia”, 25 March 2020, available at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_519 (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            31. Dimitar Bechev, “Despite good news, the Western Balkans are in trouble”, Al Jazeera, 1 April 2020, available at https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/good-news-western-balkans-trouble-200401155854613.html (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            32. Aleksandar Ivković, “Perception of EU aid amidst the pandemic faces challenges across the Western Balkans”, European Western Balkans, 17 April 2020, available at https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2020/04/17/perception-of-eu-aid-amidst-the-pandemic-faces-challenges-across-the-western-balkans/ (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            33. Jacopo Barigazzi, “North Macedonia, Albania get green light for EU membership talks”, Politico, 25 March 2020, available at https://www.politico.eu/article/north-macedonia-albania-eu-membership-talks/ (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            34. The full text of the Bulgarian demands was kept hidden from the Macedonian public until the Austrian parliament published the document on its website, available at https://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/EU/XXVII/EU/01/66/EU_16606/imfname_10969905.pdf (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            35. According to the concept of “turbulent frontier”, the best defence is an offensive strategy. This view asserts that cumulative gains in the imperial periphery can be reaped through aggressive action, whereas passivity will bring cumulative defeats. Galbraith explains that the solution to security problems at the “turbulent frontier” of the empire is to conquer still more territory in order to punish or prevent harassment by contiguous barbarians. (See: Galbraith S. John, “The ‘Turbulent Frontier’ as a Factor in British Expansion,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2(2), 1960. This position was paraphrased by the US State Secretary John Kerry in February 2015. He told the Senate foreign affairs committee that “Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia are the new frontline between Russia and the West” (Jean-Arnault Dérens and Laurent Geslin, “No holds barred in revived cold war. Balkans are the new frontline”, published in Le Monde Diplomatique, July 2015, available at https://mondediplo.com/2015/07/04balkans (accessed on 3 May 2020)).

            36. “In the fight against COVID-19, the European Union and the Western Balkans are united”, available at https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2020/05/06/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            37. In this section, the analytical focus is primarily on Serbia and Macedonia, with a few references to Croatia and Albania.

            38. “Posle kampanje ‘Ovo je smešni virus’, dolazi kampanja 'Pobedili smo smrtonosni Covid-19'” [After the campaign 'This is a funny virus' a new campaign is coming 'We conquered lethal covid-19], OzonPress, 20 April 2020, available at https://www.ozonpress.net/politika/posle-kampanje-ovo-je-smesni-virus-dolazikampanja-pobedili-smo-smrtonosni-covid-19/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            39. Juha A. Vuori, “Illocutionary Logic and Strands of Securitization: Applying the Theory of Securitization to the Study of Non-Democratic Political Orders”, European Journal of International Relations, 14(1), 2008, p. 80.

            40. Milica Vojiović, “Serbia COVID-19 Lockdown Takes an Authoritarian Turn”, OCCRP, 25 March 2020, available online at: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/11992-serbia-s-covid-19-lockdown-takes-an-authoritarian-turn (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            41. Eves Lewis and James Thedham, “Applying Securitization's Second Generation to COVID-19”, E-International relations, 14 May 2020, available at https://www.e-ir.info/2020/05/14/applying-securitizations-second-generation-to-covid-19/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            42. The same observation is shared by some intellectuals over the Albanian Prime Minister's role. In a video talk, which is a part of a series “COVID-19 Western Balkan Dialogue” run by BiEPAG and the Centre for Southeast European Studies, Genthiola Madhi (Research Associate at Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso – Transeuropa) expressed the dilemma in Albania's public seeing daily press conferences of Edi Rama: “Are there any experts? Is he the sole actor who makes decisions and knows everything?” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwVYASdTBSE (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            43. The elections are supposed to take place on 21 June 2020, and the opposition is strongly opposed and threatens the government with a boycott.

            44. The Pržino agreement (2 June–15 July 2015) mediated by EU ended the first stage of the 2014–15 political crisis that resulted in the ousting of strongman Nikola Gruevski from power. The consequent amendments to the Electoral Code are still in force. Former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called for early elections after the EU Summit held in October 2019 because of its failure to keep the promise of starting accession process after the heavy price the country had paid in exchange for it – the name/constitution change in 2018/19. Zaev resigned in early January, and parliament was dissolved in mid-February 2020. The elections were planned for 12 April, but COVID-19 affected the plans.

            45. Decree on State of Emergency – Addressing remarks by President Pendarovski, Press Release, 18 March 2020, available at https://pretsedatel.mk/en/decree-for-state-of-emergency-addressing-remarks-by-president-pendarovski/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            46. President Pendarovski: Self-isolation is the best prevention against COVID-19, Press Release, 24 March 2020, available at https://pretsedatel.mk/en/president-pendarovski-self-isolation-is-the-best-prevention-against-covid-19/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            47. Venko Filipče used to be close to today's opposition (i.e. he was a special adviser to the Minister of Health in strongman Nikola Gruevski's Cabinet). As an acting minister in the government of Zoran Zaev, he is remembered for a few scandals and mostly for his proposal for further privatization of the health system (i.e. emergency care, city hospital, and clinical labs) through public–private partnerships and/or outsourcing. See: “Vladata saka vo GOB ‘8 septemvri’, itnata pomoš i PET centarot da vleze privaten partner” [The Government wants a private partner to get involved in the City General Hospital ‘8 September’ and PET Center], SDK, 28 May 2018. “Privatizacija na brzata pomoš ima logika, veli fizibiliti studijata, Filipče najavi javna rasprava” [Privatization of emergency care system is logical, finds a feasibility study; Filipče announced public debate], 365.com.mk, 13 September 2020, available at https://365.com.mk/302264/privatizatsija-na-brzata-pomosh-ima-logika-veli-fizibiliti-studijata-filipche-najavi-javna-debata (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            48. “Anketa na “Detektor”: Ostanuva visokata doverba na gragjanite vo ministerot Filipče” [Opinion Poll on “Detector”: The trust of citizens in minister Filipče remains high], 360 Degrees, available at https://360stepeni.mk/anketa-za-detektor-ostanuva-visokata-doverba-na-graganite-vo-ministerot-filipche/ (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            49. See, for instance: Katerina Kolozova, “Demokratijata na zadno sedište vo vreme na pandemija” [Democracy takes a backseat in time of pandemic], Res Publica, 11 May 2020, available at https://respublica.edu.mk/blog/2020-05-11-08-17-27 (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            50. See: “A day after Islamic Community head threatens to ‘turn Macedonia into Bangladesh’, the Government caves in, pays him off”, Republika, 10 April 2020, available at https://english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/a-day-after-islamic-community-head-threatens-to-turn-macedonia-into-bangladesh-the-government-caves-pays-him-off/ (accessed on 26 May 2020). Also: “Reis Rexhepi declares victory over the coronavirus even as fears grow that the Ramadan celebrations will lead to a new spike”, Republika, 24 May 2020, available at https://english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/reis-rexhepi-declares-victory-over-the-coronavirus-as-fears-grow-that-the-ramadan-celebrations-will-lead-to-a-new-spike/ (accessed on 26 May 2020)

            51. Gentiola Madhi, “Albania: The end of a theatre”, OBCT, 18 May 2020, available at https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Albania/Albania-the-end-of-a-theatre-202034 (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            52. See: Donka Bardzieva Trajkovska, “Nova stara čaršija” [New Old Charshia], 24 April 2020, Deutsche Welle in Macedonian, available online at https://www.dw.com/mk/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0-%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%88%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0/a-53215280 (accessed on 20 May 2020).

            53. Inhabitants and activists of the southern Ilovica region had been fighting against the opening of a mine (dubbed “the Mine of Death” due to its harmful effects for the environment and human health) by the Canadian firm Euromax Resources. After a series of successful local referenda and collective actions on the ground, the Government decided to cancel the deal. What was seen as a great victory in October 2019, appeared to be a farce: the Administrative court ruled in favor of the company on 31 March 2020, during the state of emergency, but failed to make it public. See: “Macedonian Government still hasn't received the ruling of the Administrative Court about Ilovica Mine”, Meta News Agency, 20 May 2020, available at https://meta.mk/en/the-macedonian-government-still-hasnt-received-the-decision-of-the-administrative-court-about-the-ilovica-mine/ (accessed on 25 May 2020).

            54. For instance, there was lot of securitization of the “name dispute” between Athens and Skopje as long as the issue had not been “resolved” through imposition of the highly controversial Prespa agreement. In reality, the agreement did not resolve anything but worsened the societal security dilemma within Macedonia and increased internal inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic divisions.

            55. See, for instance: Max Brändle et al., Democracy and the State of Emergency. Political Battles Emerging out of the Corona Crisis in the Western Balkans, Croatia and Slovenia, Report Two, Belgrade: FES Office, 18 May 2020; The Western Balkans in Times of the Global Pandemic, BiEPAG Policy Brief, April 2020. Frederico Caruso, “Not just apps: privacy, personal data and COVID-19 in the western Balkans”, available at https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Balkans/Not-just-apps-privacy-personal-data-and-COVID-19-in-the-western-Balkans-201814 (accessed on 26 May 2020); Katerina Kolozova et al., The State of Democracy in North Macedonia in the Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Skopje, ISSHS, 2020, available at http://www.isshs.edu.mk/the-state-of-democracy-in-north-macedonia-in-the-times-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/ (accessed on 25 May 2020).

            56. For instance, the Macedonian caretaker Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski (a policeman by vocation) who hardly speaks any foreign language, suddenly started using the phrase in his regular press conferences. See the press conference held on 12 May 2020, available at https://vlada.mk/node/21366 (accessed on 17 May 2020). Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić uses the same phrase. Also: “Brnabić: Ovo je naša nova normalnost”, Novosti, 7 May 2020, available at https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/drustvo/aktuelno.290.html:863499-Brnabic-objasnila-sta-je-nasa-nova-normalnost-Mere-ce-se-menjati-iz-nedelje-u-nedelju (accessed on 17 May 2020).

            57. Dominique Moisi, “The Déjà-Vu Virus?”, Project Syndicate, 4 May 2020, available online at https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/covid19-policymakers-must-not-repeat-past-mistakes-by-dominique-moisi-2020-05 (accessed on 26 May 2020).

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