From Memory Politics to Mnemonic Diplomacy: Serbia’s Strategic Use of the 1999 NATO Bombing to Challenge Kosovo’s Statehood before and after Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Journal: Comparative Southeast European Studies
Year: 2025

Abstract This article analyses Serbia’s memory politics surrounding the 1999 NATO intervention, focusing on how narratives of victimhood have been reactivated and strategically deployed prior to and since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to undermine Kosovo’s statehood. The author examines how the memory of the intervention has become a foreign policy tool. Drawing on the concept of mnemonic diplomacy, he shows how Serbia has leveraged historical grievance to position itself, as a hedging strat