Career
Deretić is an engineer by training, but is mainly noted for his historical theories. He is the proponent of an alternative history of the Serbs that asserts a larger role in history than described by historians. He is sometimes confused with distinguished literary historian Jovan Deretić.
Ancient peoples such as ancient Greeks and Celts are therefore claimed to be Serbian.
Deretić asserts that existing historical research is evidence for these theories but his interpretations have been criticized by other historians. Deretić organized a petition drive of Kosovo Serbs requesting Russian citizenship: "Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo would feel more protected, if Russia granted them citizenship." According to Deretić, Kosovo Serbs felt abandoned by the Serbian government after the Kumanovo Treaty ended the Kosovo War and they were attacked by the Kosovo Force: "North Atlantic Treaty Organization peacekeepers attacked unarmed Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica, and ethnic cleansing is taking place in Kosovo where many Serbs were killed, disappeared or exiled." Deretić said he gathered 72,500 signatures from Kosovo Serbs who wanted to adopt Russia as "a second Serbia" that would protect them against anti-Serb violence.