"Ten Years Without Zoran Djindjic": Serbia Honors Slain Politician

Global Voices Online
Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Zoran Djindjic, the first democratically elected Serbian Prime Minister, was shot to death on March 12, 2003. On the tenth anniversary of Djindjic's assassination, thousands of people marched in Belgrade to honor his memory.

Author and political activist Jasmina Tešanović paid tribute to Djindjic on the Huffington Post blog:

[...] He was the most important Serbian politician of the 20 century, who managed to step into the 21st, who toppled Milosevic, who was eventually killed by state mafia resisting his progressive steps toward a modern Serbia.

[...]

Djindic was a very popular man. Even people who didn't agree with him liked him. His enemies thought well of him. His murderers, too.

Where are these people now, what are they thinking, what about their future and conscience? I don't think it is a matter of a democratic party, his family. Not even of politicians and philosophers who are swearing on his grave using his words. It is a matter of all of us who gained a part of our civil identity in Serbia thanks to his political courage.

We can say all we want to say, in favor or against his politics, but thanks to him, history advanced in big steps forward -- and without him, history limps and crawls back into the dark.

On the German Marshall Fund's blog, Djindjic's former Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Ivan Vejvoda wrote this:

Ten years ago today, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated by a sniper at the entrance of the cabinet office in Belgrade, marking a tremendous blow to the fledgling process of democratization in Serbia. While the conspirators, including the sniper, were condemned in a court of law and are serving long prison sentences, the identity of those who ordered his killing remains unknown.

[...]

Vehemently opposed to Slobodan Milosevic’s regime during the period of Yugoslavia’s bloody civil war, he eventually won a peaceful election in 2000. He was the chief architect of a victory in which political parties, civil society, a democratic media, and — notably — the student movement Otpor all played key roles.

[...]

A decade later, Serbia finds itself exactly where Djindjic wanted it to be at the end of 2003, showing the extent to which his assassination slowed Serbia’s democratic reforms. [...]

Kiran Mohandas Menon wrote this on OpenDemocracy.com:

In the two years in which he led Serbia, Zoran Djindjic strengthened its democratic and economic structure, cracked down on organized crime and ended its international isolation, with his pro western policies aimed at European integration.

An often controversial figure, Djindjic also initiated and strengthened cooperation with the International Crime Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and handed them Slobodan Milosevic. It was brave acts such as that which cemented Djindjic’s status as arguably the most important and respected figure in modern Serbian politics. It would also cost him his life.

[...]

In February 2003, Djindjic escaped an attempt on his life when a truck tried to crash into his car on a Belgrade highway. However a month later, on the March 12, 2003, Djindjic was fatally shot by a member of the Zemun clan, one of Serbia’s most notorious mafia groups, while standing outside the Serbian government building. Zoran Djindjic was 50 years old at the time of his death. His funeral drew tens of thousands of mourners, bringing the nation to a standstill.

[...]

A decade since his tragic death, Zoran Djindjic’s vision and memory have inspired and guided the people of a nation.

Below is a short documentary [sr, with English subtitles] directed by Aleksandar Mandić - "Ako Srbija Stane" ("If Serbia Stops") which features "a collection of edited speeches given by Djindjic on a speaking tour in Serbia shortly before his death":



A photo from Djindjic's funeral was posted [sr] on March 12 on the Facebook page devoted to the slain politician, with this caption:

March 12, 2003. The day when Serbia stopped! - Zoran, thank you for the vision!

Nearly 6,000 people 'liked' this post, nearly 1,400 shared it, and over 330 commented on it. User Petar Stantic wrote [sr]:

12.03.2003. Everything stopped... and began to slowly move backwards... Zoran, thank you for that little bit of a hope, and for a vision...

On Twitter, @AnjaKosanovic shared this photo [sr] from the memorial march, #SetnjaZaZorana ("A Walk for Zoran"):

#SetnjaZaZorana :-( <3 twitter.com/AnjaKosanovic/…

— Anja Kosanovic (@AnjaKosanovic) March 12, 2013

@Ketyly91 (Katarina Pavlovic) re-tweeted @AnjaKosanovic's photo and wrote [sr]:

Zoran Djindjic lives through all the people in this column [#WalkForZoran] [...]

@MajaVidenovic wrote [sr]:

Today I am walking for Zoran. For the land he wanted and created. For what I deeply believe in! [#ZoranDjindjicLives] [#WalkForZoran]

@mali_uli (Ana Milovanovic) wrote [sr]:

[#WalkForZoran] According to my quick estimate, some 30,000 people are taking part in today's walk.

More photos from the Walk For Zoran were posted by @milosdjajic (Milos Djajic) and @DankoRunic (Danko Runić): here, here, here and here.

Not everyone was as enthusiastic about the event.

In his tweet, @BorisTrivan alluded [sr] to the economic situation in Serbia, whose unemployment rate was 22.4 percent in October 2012:

Djindjic would have been especially happy that thousands of people do not have jobs, so they have time to go for a walk...

Predrag Azdejković [sr], a Serbian LGBT rights activist and editor of GayEcho.com [sr], addressed his post [sr] on his B92 blog to the Serbian politicians who walked at the head of the column on March 12, ex-President Boris Tadić among them:

After the Walk For Zoran, I have just one question. Do you have no shame? I'm posing this question to the individuals in the front row of this fashion show.

Many people are saying that Serbia would have been better if Zoran Djindjic had not been murdered. I'm asking the charlatans from the front row whether they feel any responsibility for the fact that Serbia is no better ten years after his murder? Do you have no shame because of that? You are incompetent, and I think Djindjic is turning in his grave! Are you ashamed because, while you were in power, those behind the murder were not found and the political background was not brought to light? No. You're only ashamed because you're not in power.

But it is important that everyone today is having fun as [the first deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić], who once attached the sign for [a boulevard named after Ratko Mladić, accused of committing war crimes and on trial in the Hague], today lay the wreath for Zoran Djindjic. Nice, have fun, but I cannot. I am frustrated by the so-called Djindjic's successors, who are not even a pale copy of him, but a bunch of political losers! How can you not be ashamed!

The Balkans: Remembering the Bosnian War, 20 Years On

Global Voices Online
Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A red plastic chair for each person killed in Sarajevo in the war that began 20 years ago. A whole street lined up with red chairs, all empty but for some flowers on some of them. Those who could have sat in these chairs - 11,541 people - are long gone.

On April 6, thousands of people came to this stunning makeshift memorial stretching along Sarajevo's main street, in order to honor the memory of the victims of the Siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from April 5, 1992, to February 29, 1996 (some of the photos of the memorial are here, here, and here).


Red chairs are displayed along Sarajevo's main street as the city marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian War. 11541 red chairs represent the 11,541 Sarajevans who were killed in the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo. Photo by SULEJMAN OMERBASIC, copyright © Demotix (04/06/12)

Online, numerous texts have appeared around the time of the sad anniversary; memories, photos and thoughts on the meaning of what went on in Bosnia in the 1990s abound (e.g., here, here, here, here, and here).

On April 5, Damir Šagolj, a Bosnian photojournalist and a survivor of the siege - who, in October 2011, posted a powerful photo report on his visit to the detention facility for war criminals in the Hague, aka "the Hague Hilton - wrote this about his wartime memories and work:

[...] I don’t have any of my pictures from the 92-95 anymore. I shot many – mostly of dead people, of destruction. Very few had any life in them. Then, just as killings stopped and a different war continued in November 1995 I abandoned my photos; I didn’t want to have them anymore.

Not a smart move, but it was what I wanted at the moment – to forget, to put behind. To move forward.

All I have now are the cracks in my memory to peek through and imagine lives before we became just numbers. Only the weed grows around ruins, just like nails and hair on the dead bodies – the reminder.

I had all my photos in one room, at my former army unit in Vrazova street. I would walk past that building every day and all I had to do is to use the key I kept for many years after and pick up my films. I didn’t. Then a rich man bought the building and my archive went where I wanted it to go – into trash.

No matter how hard I try to explain what I did, it doesn’t work. Then, just a moment after, it all makes perfect sense again.

Soon after, it all became very abstract – the faces faded into shapes, names into numbers, lives into bones… I don’t trust my memory any more, it is selective and dazed.

That’s why it was important in Sarajevo to have people from outside who were stronger and more sober. They meet these days in Sarajevo for the big anniversary re-union. Probably only very few really understand how important was what they were doing 92-95.

Without them, the history would be written by same those who killed the man.

Thank you.

A Facebook page - Sarajevo 2012: A Meeting of War Reporters & Sarajevo Friends - was set up for the journalists' reunion; it contains the schedule of events, photos and notes from some of those who were able to attend. Edward Serotta, journalist, photographer and the director of Centropa.org, wrote this:

[...] Last weekend was one long emotional charge--it was like holding on to an electrical current and as soon as I let go of it, I felt everything drain away. Being together with so many people I respect, and who gave their all to bring this story to the world twenty years ago, was, at least for me, ennobling. [...]

We all shared the same cause back then (those who came to Sarajevo for the reunion and those who didn't): to bear witness--photograph, record, document the events that proved the so-called civilized world was eating itself alive. We risked life and limb to do it, and lived very much on the edge--and we lived very intensely. [...]

All that intensity we put into our work and all that commitment to document the horrors and the bravery, the big stories and the small, are way behind us now. [...] But for one blustery April weekend in 2012, a few of us gathered together and remembered what we shared, what we covered, how we lived, and how we tried to help--in that limited way that each of us could.

Photojournalist Gary Knight posted this note:

Sitting in my studio in Boston reflecting on the last four days in Sarajevo - one of the most emotional experiences I think I have ever had. A bitter sweet embrace with a city and cherished friends with whom I shared so many defining experiences during the utter despair of the siege. As wonderful as it was to see you all I left wondering how peace could have gone so badly wrong. Bosnia deserved a better peace than the one Dayton gave it. I have travelled far and wide since the war in Bosnia ended but rarely to a place as utterly depressing. There is much we can still do there...........

Zdenka Pregelj (@CountessBezuhov), a Sarajevo native who has been photographing the city since 2005, posted Nic Robertson's CNN report from the journalists' reunion and wrote:

This is very emotional for me. At that time I worked for Television in Sarajevo and was meeting Nic and Chris day in day out. Thank you Nic for coming back after 20 years.

A Bosnian woman, Berina Hodzic, lays a flower on one of the red chairs that were installed along Sarajevo's main street to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian War. Photo by SULEJMAN OMERBASIC, copyright © Demotix (04/06/12)

For the past few weeks, YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett and Sarajevo Seyahatname have been posting links to media and blog coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Bosnian War. The latter posted a link to this short item from Pictures of War, a Tumblr blog, about "some unsung heroes of the Sarajevo Siege" - James Mason's 1992 photo of Sarajevo's garbage collectors, accompanied by this note:

“Being a trashman in Sarajevo was probably as dangerous as being a frontline soldier. A lot of them died in the course of their work, either shot dead by snipers or killed by artillery. Without trash pickup the city would have descended into a middle-ages like morass of filth and disease.”

Another photo by James Mason has been used to illustrate an article about the anniversary [sr] that appeared in the Serbian online newspaper e-novine.com. The links to this and several other related articles (including the one [sr] on the memorial rally organized by Žene u crnom ("Women in Black") in Belgrade) were provided by Belgrade-based Pedja Popovic, in a comment to the BalkanInsight report stating that "[n]o one from the Serbian government will attend the April 6 commemoration of the start of the Bosnian Serb siege [of Sarajevo]. Popovic wrote:

Not all of media in Serbia ignored sad anniversary. [...]

James Mason's photo, taken in winter 1993, is of a girl holding a few loaves of bread, with a breadline in the background - and here is the photographer's description:

Distribution of bread
Sarajevo

This girl had just received her family's bread ration. I had hooked up with a kid about 11 and he was guiding me around the city, showing me where it was safe to walk. The girl was a friend of his from school and was glad to see him. It's amazing how fast the kids in Sarajevo adapted to the war.

Reader lalos posted this comment [sr] about the photo in the comments section at e-novine.com:

Rasplaka me ona slika sa devojčicom koja je puna sreće jer drži nekoliko vekni hleba u naručju.

Prokleti ratovi i oni koji su bombardovali Sarajevo.

This photo of the girl who is very happy because she's got a few loaves of bread in her hands has made me cry.

Damn wars and those who bombed Sarajevo.

Central & Eastern Europe: Trademark on ;-) and Other Internet News

Global Voices Online
Thursday, December 18, 2008

Below is a selection of recent posts by bloggers from around Central and Eastern Europe on social networking, participatory media, online activism and other related issues.

Eternal Remont writes about Russian businessman Oleg Teterin, who claims to have trademarked the ;-) emoticon:

[...] Seeing that the Russian patent agency will grant a trademark for just about anything these days, Eternal Remont is attempting to trademark "Oleg Teterin," (trademark pending) and will expect payment whenever anyone speaks, writes, prints, or otherwise uses this phrase in all media known to humanity, existing or future. [...]

Streetwise Professor has chosen a different approach:

[...] To Mr. Teterin, I say: ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)

So sue me.

Russian Blog writes about the Russian Facebook look-alike, vkontakte.ru - which, among other things, appears to be a good language learning tool:

When learning a foreign language communication is crucial. [...] I tell my Russian students of Swedish to join Swedish online communities, and the same advice goes for you who are studying Russian - join a Russian online community! Not only will you find lots of interesting (or uninteresting) clubs as well as people, or be able write to strangers from one sixth of the Earth’s ground (that’s just how big a country this is), but for those of you who are only beginning to study Russian joining in itself will be a challenge. After all - one must join in Russian. [...] There’s a Russian version of Facebook, though it’s completely independent, and in no way connected to Facebook, except for one thing - it is an almost exact copy of the way Facebook used to look before (the old Facebook), translated into Russian. [...]

Siberian Light interviews Dmitry, the owner and manager of Expatriates.ru, a new social networking site with fast-growing membership:

[...] What inspired you to develop expatriates.ru?

During my studies abroad many people asked me a lot of questions about Russia. I decided to create a community where all people will find the answers to their questions about Russia and where they can talk and discuss issues related to Russia. [...]

Siberian Light also discusses some of the challenges that a blogger writing on sensitive geopolitical issues - in this case, Russia - often has to deal with:

[...] Over the past few months, I’ve written posts that have both criticised and praised Russia. I write them because I think that Russia is often right, although it’s also far too often wrong.

And, far too often, I take crap from people. Usually because of what they think I have said, in the context of their tiny little world views, rather than what I have actually said, in the context of an entire blog post, or a series of posts. [...]

Gray Falcon, a blogger focusing on the Balkans, seems to share Siberian Light's frustration:

It has been almost ten years since I started publishing commentary on-line, and it never ceases to amaze me that people seem to possess a remarkable capacity of completely missing the point of entire articles to zero in on one particular sentence or phrase and make a huge deal of it.

[...]

Look, I'm routinely attacked by Albanians because I'm a Serb (it doesn't matter what I say, really - unless I endorse the KLA somehow; then I'm a poster child for what needs to be done). I get grief from Greeks, because I dare say "Macedonia" instead of FYROM or what have you (look, Alexander was a barbarian, OK? Just because he embraced the culture of Hellas and spread it around the known world doesn't make him any more Greek than my Orthodox faith makes me one).

And now I'm marked for malice by Macedonians for daring to point out that hey, today's Macedonia exists within the boundaries of the territory liberated from the Ottoman Empire by the Kingdom of Serbia. [...]

Belgraded writes about the Facebook group celebrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre (the group is now closed; an earlier GV text on it by Sinisa Boljanovic is here):

[...] What struck me as interesting is that the vast majority of members were not even born when the Yugoslavia breakup wars started and were still in pre-school when it all ended. So where do they get their ‘knowledge’ and information about the past from? Who makes the biggest influence on how they see the past – their parents, media, their friends, the whole society?

[...]

There are no similar hate groups in English, presumably because the facebook admins can react swiftly if they can understand what some group is all about without waiting for numerous people to hit the ‘report’ button and translate ‘Ubij [insert nationality here]’ for them. I know also some would like to blame facebook and other social media for making hate speech so available, but remember – it’s not guns that kill people.

I guess that facebook is still not considered to be so influential or important by mainstream media, at least not in the Balkans. All this despite the fact that both Serbia and Croatia have around 170.ooo members on facebook each, a respectable number which is only going to grow in the future, with Bosnia lagging behind with about 50.000 members. Despite the fact that it’s mostly teenagers. Despite the fact that members post things under their full names with their photos attached – without having any fear or feeling no responsibility that the things they are posting could be dangerous and are wrong. [...]

In another post, Belgraded welcomes a new arrival on Serbia's online magazine scene:

White City magazine is "Belgrade’s first English-language domestic urban magazine. It is written entirely in English, entirely by local Serbian writers for a Serbian readership." Check it out - it looks good, the articles are very well written, hopefully it will survive in this tough competition.

Scraps of Moscow reviews some of the new arrivals in "Moldovasphere":

Moldovaphiles should check out this new website, Moldovarious, which has been set up by a couple of Austrians. Curiously, the guys behind another interesting project related to Moldova (well, related to the PMR) profiled here are also Austrian.

[...]

And, via barabanch, I learned of another newly launched project, this one initiated by Moldovans and called ThinkMoldova (also available in English) [...].

One of the people involved in the project is Barabanov's wife and fellow New Times journalist Natalia Morari. [...]

Hungarian Spectrum writes about the blog of the Hungarian PM Ferenc Gyurcsány:

[...] Quite a few Hungarian politicians decided at one time or another to write a blog but after a few days, or at most after a few weeks, they gave up the ghost. Ferenc Gyurcsány is an exception. He began writing a blog about two and a half years ago, just before the 2006 elections. [...] Even in the midst of a grueling campaign the Hungarian prime minister wrote his blog practically every weekday. Moreover, he didn't stop after the election that he managed to win practically single-handedly. [...] I think one reason that he didn't stop is that the readers of the blog were so enthusiastic and so supportive that he felt it his duty not to disappoint the team that supported him with words and deeds. Eventually Gyurcsány and his readers organized personal meetings where people revealed their pseudonyms, where they met each other as well as the prime minister. The fact is that he is a good blog writer. His notes are interesting. Very often he reveals government plans that the readers of the blog are the first to know. By now the members of the media visit the blog every morning to see what's going on in Gyurcsány's head. [...]

Meglena Kuneva - a Bulgarian politician, the European consumer affairs commissioner, and a blogger - writes this about "the realities of cross-border e-commerce for consumers in Europe":

Some of you have complained through this blog that you cannot buy over the internet from certain stores located in other EU countries. I share your frustration. The Internet has the potential to bring the single European market to a whole new level, and to provide consumers with the chance to buy the very best that is on offer within the EU in terms of choice, price and quality.

But the fact is that although a third of EU citizens already shop on the internet, only 7% shop online from other Member States than their own. [...]

Cyrus Farivar writes this about Estonia's advanced voting practices:

The Estonian parliament [...] has just approved a bill to let Estonian citizens vote via their mobile phone. This makes the country the first country in the world to do so, and comes about 20 months after Estonia held its first nation-wide election where the electorate could cast their ballots online.

[...]

Update (Dec 17.): I spoke with Silver Meikar, an Estonian MP, who told me that this actually isn’t quite mobile phone voting. In fact, this is using Estonia’s digital ID card infrastructure to use your phone as an ID tool instead of your ID card and reader. You still need a computer and an Internet connection to vote online, but you now can just have your phone instead of your ID card. So, not as sexy. [...]

Window on Eurasia reports on what appears to be a move in the opposite direction for Russia:

In the name of fighting extremism, a group of United Russia Duma deputies has proposed new legislation that would allow the government to impose sanctions on those who distribute what Moscow believes are “extremist” materials via the Internet and to close down the sites they post them on.

[...]

And even though the nature of the world wide web is such that Russian government efforts in this area are unlikely to be fully effective, such moves against what many consider to be the last free media space in Russia represent a further act of intimidation by Vladimir Putin and his associates against the embattled members of civil society in that country. [...]

In Latvia, too, the state seems to be taking a proactive approach in its dealings with the online world. Free Speech Emergency in Latvia wrote this last week:

According to unconfirmed reports, the Latvian Security Police have detained Valdis Rošāns, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who has been writing his views extensively on the internet (in Latvian) using the nickname FENIKSS.

[...]

By harassing a young neo-Nazi crackpot, the Security Police may be trying to restore their image after their detention of economist Dmitrijs Smirnovs and questioning of musician Valters Frīdenbergs. This caused an international uproar.

I don't think too many people will rally around Valdis Rošāns, but his case should be put on the record. [...]

Earlier this month, Aleks Tapinsh of All About Latvia wrote on GV about Dmitrijs Smirnovs' case and the economic crisis dimension of the freedom of speech situation in Latvia. On his blog, he posted a picture of a t-shirt featuring a mock message to the Latvian security police:

Notice to the security police: I admit that yesterday I withdrew money from my bank. Please don’t arrest me. I did it to buy milk and bread, and not to destabilize Latvia’s financial system.

Central & Eastern Europe: A Travel Roundup

Global Voices Online
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Olive harvesting in Albania, John Paul II monuments in Poland, a Soviet military hardware "cemetery" in Moscow, and more: Central and Eastern Europe-based bloggers share their recent travel observations and photos.

Albania

- Stepping Stones has posted photos of two elderly Albanian village women: the first one is harvesting olives in "the old-fashioned way"; the second one has her black apron filled with "tiny daisies," which she is picking for a local company and gets paid less than $1 per kilo.

Also, Stepping Stones has spent some time at the ancient city of Apollonia and visited the Ardenice Orthodox Christian monastery:

[...] Ardenice is an old Orthodox monastery which was saved from destruction during the times of totalitarianism. 4 monks still live and work there but they were away at the seminary today so we didn't get to see them. The site has been 'reclaimed' in recent years and is being well maintained and lovingly restored after being used for everything from a restaurant to a small hotel. [...]

- Kolin of Living in Shkodër has been jogging around the city lately - "seeing 'normal' Albanian life," getting "LOTS of really strange looks" and taking pictures of the old doors to private houses:

[...] There are many of these and one street could have about 20 different kinds of doors. It is the old wooden doors that I really like.

I think to myself, what kind of story could these doors tell us if only they could speak. [...]

Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia

Balkanology Blog has posted some photos of Croatia and, following a tip from a fellow blogger (Stuart Pinfold), wrote about "the eccentricities of Google Maps in giving driving directions between certain points in Southeast Europe."

First, there is Google's Dubrovnik-Mostar route:

[...] Instead of the conventional 150-kilometre drive that less creative mapping software might recommend, Google suggests a more adventurous approach: a ferry to Italy, some driving, another ferry to Greece, and more driving through Greece, the entire length of Albania, Montenegro, and finally Bosnia. At 1541 kilometres it's a mere 10 times longer than the usual route - and so much more interesting. [...]

Then, there is the Split-Dubrovnik route:

[...] Sure enough, Google's answer does involve a drive along the Adriatic Coast - unfortunately it is on the other side of the Adriatic, between Bari and Pescara [in Italy]. [...]

And there is also the Split-Zagreb route:

[...] The result was even more surprising: "We could not calculate directions between split, croatia and zagreb, croatia." [...]

And the Belgrade-Podgorica route:

[...] Closer inspection of the driving directions reveals the problem: Google wants us to head southeast for 150km, turn around, and drive back to the outskirts of Belgrade on the same road before finally taking the correct road towards Montenegro. [...]

The author of Balkanology Blog gave up at this point, but Stuart Pinfold - the blogger who first discovered the confusion - shared some more results of Google Maps destination searches in the comment section to this post.

The Czech Republic

The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks writes about the town of Svitavy - which, among other things, is the birthplace of Oscar Schindler, the man "credited with saving the lives of over 1000 Jewish people towards the end of World War II":

[...] The Schindler home is at Poličská Ul. 24 but is still a family residence and therefore inaccessible to the public. It’s marked only by a small stone memorial in the park across the street.

[...]

One block south of the main square, the Svitavy city museum dedicates an entire wing to the story of Schindler and his Jews. Most of the displays take the form of documents and photographs and are neatly displayed in white on black panels. There are also several items exhibited in glass cases - prisoners’ uniforms, identity cards, food stamps and so on [...].

In another post, Captain Oddsocks writes about his "love/hate relationship" with "tourist information offices in the Czech Republic" and offers some tips on how "to make sure their visitors, however few or many, have such a wonderful stay that they want to go away and spread the word without being asked":

[...] I say that because I think, even though foreign tourists have been coming here freely for almost 20 years, the Czech Republic remains drastically underrated and underappreciated. Most people only go to Prague. [...]

Latvia

Latvian photographer Arnis Balcus posts photos of Latvia's oldest movie theater, Rīga, founded in 1923:

[...] It is probably also the only cinema in the country that still hires an artist to paint film ads.

Poland

- Polandian writes about the fast-growing population of Pope John Paul II statues in Poland:

[...] There are now 228 known public statues of Jan Pawel in Poland (this guy keeps a record). The Pope only died three years ago. According to a calculation I just pretended to do, if the production of Pope statues continues at this rate there will be more marble John Pauls than actual Polish people by about 2025. [...]

[...]

Kitsch is the word that springs, unfortunately, to mind. You have to wonder what John Paul would have thought of all this idolatry, and you have to conclude that it wouldn’t have been positive. [...]

- 20 east explores Warsaw landmarks connected to Heinrich, count von Brühl - the palace at Saski Square and the palace in Młociny:

[...] We’ve walked past it many times but not ventured over the fence. The other weekend, I went out for a walk alone into the wilder parts of the neighbouring land and after working my way around a small lake and then up a steep slope I found myself standing face to face with the palace without having to deliberately break any boundaries. I imagined the place would be deserted but I think there’s a caretaker living in the north wing because I saw a tricycle parked there (visible in the next picture) and curtains in the windows. There’s a weird looking guy, about 45 years old, rides around the neighbourhood on a tricycle made for a 6 year old. I thought he was just the local mutant but it seems he might be the palace caretaker. [...]

Russia

- Eagle and the Bear writes about "a strange assemblage of Soviet military hardware" at Khodynka Field in Moscow - here and here:

[...] Listen up, kids — this kind of thing doesn’t happen in America or Europe: A completely unsupervised collection of Soviet air power, Hinds and MIGs, relics that once hunted down Afghani goat-herders now at your disposal for war games and stupid pictures. [...]

LJ user akry has also devoted several posts (RUS) to Khodynka military hardware "cemetery" and has posted over a hundred photos taken there:

[...] We were shocked by what we saw there. The once mighty, beautiful machines have been left to rot under the rain, their blister windows broken, their insides sticking out... And these are the helicopters and aircrafts that used to protect us... [...]

Serbia

- A Yankee-in-Belgrade writes about the "long and tumultuous history" of Serbia's capital:

[...] When the Scordisci (a Celtic tribe) set uptheir stronghold Singidunum at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers in the third century, the city at the "crossroads of the worlds" had been already been conquered by the Byzantines, the Gepidae, the Sarmatians, the Eastern Goths, the Slavs, the Avars, the Francs, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Ottomans, the Austrians, the Germans... each of whom gave the city their respective names: Singedon, Nandor, Fehervar, Nandor Alba, Alba Graeca, Grieschisch Weisenburg, Alba Bulgarica, Taurunum... However, its Slavic name Belgrade, meaning White City, has lasted the longest. [...]

- At the Balkan Crew, GV author Danica Radovanovic writes about places she loves best in Belgrade:

[...] 2. Markets, open lively markets with food and other goods. Someone said that you have to go first to the open market when you visit some city in order to know better the soul of the city and its habitants, people who live there. [...]

- Viktor Markovic of Belgraded.com writes that the travel tips he shared in The Guardian last week "are a good sneak preview of what's coming soon at Belgraded - a series of articles entitled 'Hundred things to do in Belgrade'." Viktor invites readers to contribute their own "top secret Belgrade tips."

Central & Eastern Europe: Financial Crisis

Global Voices Online
Thursday, October 16, 2008

Below is a roundup of reactions from the Anglophone blogosphere on the ongoing financial crisis in some of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Hungary

Antal Dániel of Central Europe Activ wrote this on Oct. 13:

After major banks and insurance corporations were bailed out by European government, Hungary has become the first member state of the EU the receive a bailout offer from IMF with the support of EU’s Ecofin. Hungary looks to be the most fragile member of the Union in the global financial crisis. [...]

The Hungarian blogger believes that "the current economic situation is a result of a political crisis":

[...] In the 2002 election campaign, both the then-ruling centre-right and the centre-left campaigned with the promise to give back more to the people from Hungary’s economic success between 1989 and 2002. The two major parties, right-wing Fidesz and the Socialist Party have outbid each other with spending promises and tax-cut promises. [...] The Socialist Party has kept much of its incredible promises, driving up budget deficit to a 10% record. Sadly, a similar bidding came in the 2006 elections that the Socialists won narrowly. The Socialist Partly leader, Mr. Gyurcsány has admitted afterwards that his party lied to the voters, which made his later austerity measures rather unwelcome by the Hungarian people. [...]

To overcome the crisis, Dániel concludes, "Hungarian voters [...] will have to force their major parties into more rational public finance promises and policies."

Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum wrote this about the Hungarian opposition's inadequate response to the crisis:

[...] Let's start with the leaders of SZDSZ. Once again, they seem to be out of touch. [...] They talk as if the Hungarian government's most important task would be "reforms." Reforms that ended, according to them. And therefore, isn't it wonderful that they left the coalition? As if today, mid-October 2008, when the whole financial world is teetering on the brink of collapse these so-called reforms will make or break Hungary. [...] Meanwhile, these petty squabbles weaken the government's efforts to keep the country's economy in balance and avoid panic. It's important to pass the budget and move on. Because there's going to be a lot of hard work ahead.

Then there is Fidesz's chief, [Viktor Orbán]. He tried to explain to a group of important business leaders yesterday that Hungary's economic problems would be solved within three months if there were early elections and he became prime minister. He would turn the economy around. Alone, in Hungary. Of course, the problem is that in a global economy no country is an island. One way or another Hungary will be affected. Less so on the front lines than some other European countries because Hungary's banks are not awash in toxic paper and Hungary was not the favorite destination of currency traders and hedge funds. But the first signs are already here. Opel's sales are down, so the Hungarian Opel factory will be closed "for a while." However, Orbán claims that his economic team is ready with all the answers: drastic tax cuts, less bureaucratic handling of tax collection, decrease of bureaucracy and corruption, a smaller parliament, well organized public administration, and better handling of finances. Laughable? No, under the current circumstances this small-mindedness shows a lack of vision.

What is even more worrisome is that Viktor Orbán thinks in black and white when it comes to the root of the current crisis. He is certain that "liberal economic policy" is the cause of the problem and he spoke enthusiastically about those countries where democracy is not exactly in full bloom: China, Russia, some of the Islamic countries. Those are the successful ones, not the liberal democracies in the West. [...]

In a follow-up post on the Hungarian politicians' response to the financial crisis, Eva Balogh wrote about "a seven-point list of demands" put forward by Fidesz - and PM Ferenc Gyurcsány's "twelve-point plan":

[...] The fact that this twelve-point plan has the blessing of the president of the Hungarian National Bank will certainly give it weight. And it includes most of Fidesz's demands. [...]

Will the plan help ease the fallout of the global financial crisis? Who knows? Real damage has been done to the credit markets, and there will undoubtedly be a spillover into the global economy. How deep, how long is anybody's guess.

Edward Hugh of Hungary Economy Watch explained "why Hungary is not the next Iceland":

[...] The longer term financial and economic future of Iceland is rosy, once they weather the present storm, and learn some belated lessons. I wish I could say the same about Hungary. [...]

[...] Iceland is a young country, almost reproducing itself in terms of children, and with a rapidly expanding population of working age. Hungary on the other hand is a comparatively old country, with a rapidly ageing population, where each generation is about two thirds of the size of the previous one, and where the potential workforce and total population are now in long term decline.

This is why Iceland - even though it has gone to a huge excess - can sustain a much higher level of "leveraging" into the future than Hungary can, and why in the longer term Iceland is certainly no Hungary. I do not say any of this to criticise Hungary, or its citizens, but really out of a deep seated concern about the future of a country that I do care about. [...]

At A Fistful of Euros, Edward Hugh wrote about the International Monetary Fund's "readiness to offer financial and technical help to Hungary":

[...] The EU has said it welcomes the intervention. Under the circumstances there really was little else it could do. This would now appear to set a precedent, and the Hungarian case may well be followed by the Baltics, Bulgaria and Romania in pretty short order I would say, looking at the speed with which things are happening. [...]

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

One day later, Edward Hugh continued his "IMF receivership" roll call at A Fistful of Euros:

[...] Meantime a growing number of countries now seem to be at risk of following Iceland and Hungary into the arms of the IMF, with the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania now looking particularly vulnerable, according to a warning from the International Monetary Fund itself yesterday.

[...]

In my view the threat to the Baltic financial systems is real, as is the threat to the Bulgarian and Romanian ones. Action, of some form or another needs to be taken, and soon. Latvia and Estonia are now in deep recessions, and Lithuania, while still clinging on to growth, can’t be far behind. Basically it is hard to see any revival in domestic demand in the immediate future, which means these countries now need to live from exports. But with the very high inflation they have had it is hard to see how they can restore competitiveness while retaining their currency pegs to the euro. [...] So better get it over and done with now I would say, and take advantage of the shelter offered in the arms of the IMF. [...]

At Latvia Economy Watch, Claus Vistesen provided a thorough analysis of the situation in the Baltic states:

[...] But while the current crisis is pretty much a generalised global one, if there is one region where the crisis is making its presence more acutely than elsewhere, that place is Eastern Europe, and among the ranks of the regional casualties high on the list come the three Baltics countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. That this is the case should not really strike us as so strange. On many occasions since the credit crisis went global back in the summer of 2007 many analysts (including yours truly) have been flagging the risk of a hard landing in Eastern Europe. This unfortunate situation has now by and large materialised and the only question which really arises is how hard is "hard" going to be? A couple of recent tentative signs suggest that the big eye of the credit crunch, not unlike Sauron with his glance toward Frodo et al., is fixing Eastern Europe fast in its gaze.

[...]

Ultimately however the immediate challenge for the Baltics at this point in time is damage control and more specifically how to wriggle themselves out of the current vice of dependence on credit inflows at the same time as the economy needs to restore competitiveness. [...]

[...] What is critical for the Baltics at this point is consequently that the current economic downturn is managed in such a way to minimize the risk of a collapse of the financial system as foreign banks shut down operations. Whether this entails the maintaining of the Euro peg is a difficult question to answer. One thing is pretty certain however and this is that the kind of wage and price deflation needed to correct the imbalance would be a disaster for any political leadership.

Of the three economies Latvia clearly seems to be the most vulnerable to a rout, and given the proximity of the economies sudden unexpected events in one country could easily spread to the others. Here is to hoping that it does not come to that. [...]

Ukraine

Next on the "growing list of Eastern European countries" lining up for IMF's support is Ukraine (see this Oct. 14 post at A Fistful of Euros).

As Edward Hugh pointed out in his earlier in-depth review of the political, social and economic situation in the country, Ukraine "is far from being alone in having banking, stock market and credit crunch problems at this point in time (but here, of course, there is no strength or consolation to be found in company)." Below are some of the more general points from Hugh's post:

[...] The current events in Ukraine may well take some observers by surprise, since the general impression has been that the economic performance has been solid and GDP growth has been strong in recent years, and this has given the impression that the underlying reality was sound, which it basically hasn’t been. The country has been bedevilled by constant infighting, while at the same time a combination of strong migration of Ukraine workers to external destinations and very long term low fertility has meant that the country endemically suffers from acute labour shortages as the population both ages and declines comparatively rapidly. Hence, in my view, the absurdly high levels of inflation we have been seeing.

Nevertheless, real GDP has grown by 7.5 percent a year on average since 2000, in line with other CIS countries, and indeed that rate has been higher than in most other transition economies: whether or not this growth was built on sand is what we are now all about to find out. [...]

Peter Byrne of Abdymok began his post on the current "banking mess" in Ukraine with this piece of street wisdom (RUS): "Decent people in Kyiv always have cash on them." He continued:

[...] [National Bank of Ukraine] chief vololdymyr stelmakh said on oct. 10 that it will take at least two weeks to calm the situation in ukraine’s finance and banking sectors.

fat chance. [...]

Serbia

Finally, there is Serbia on the list of "those in the IMF sick ward." Here's yet another one of Edward Hugh's explanations at A Fistful of Euros:

[...] So, to be clear, Serbia is not an “emergency case”, like Hungary for example - although it should be noted that the Hungarian government are stating that they are not an emergency case like Iceland, who are themselves not an emergency case, like Ukraine, for example, who are in no way to be considered as being in need of support in the way in which, let us say, Latvia is. And Latvia according to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis is not any kind of case at all, and certainly not one to be compared with Serbia.

Well, make of all that what you will, but one thing is for sure, and that is that experts from the International Monetary Fund are going to have a role in drafting Serbia’s 2009 budget. [...]

The Balkans: Macedonia and Montenegro Recognize Kosovo

Global Voices Online
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

On Oct. 9, Montenegro and Macedonia recognized Kosovo's independence.

Douglas Muir of A Fistful of Euros noted that "coincidentally, this raises the number of countries recognizing to exactly 50." He described the significance of the event in general terms:

[...] Macedonia and Montenegro are small countries, but they have outsized importance because (1) they’re neighbors of both Serbia and Kosovo, (2) they’re EU-members-to-be, and (3) they’re former Yugoslav Republics. So while this is no surprise, it’s still interesting. [...]

Viktor Markovic of Belgraded (a blog formerly known as Belgrade 2.0) presented a humorous "short version of what happened and what could happen":

[...] Now, both Montenegro and Macedonia decided to recognize Kosovo. Kosovo will probably return the favour by recognizing them back. While they’re at it, they could decide to recognize South Ossetia and Abhazia, provinces who decided to declare independence from Georgia (not the American one, but the one next to Russia) this year. That way Kosovo would support Russia in helping South Ossetia and Abhazia break away, but it would upset the United States and the rest of the world who oppose Russia, but support Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia in their independence efforts. Serbia should support Georgia because we know what it’s like to be deprived of territory, right, but that way we would upset Russia, our best friend when it comes to not recognizing Kosovo. Georgia, US already recognized Kosovo, but Georgia (the country) should definitely not recognize it, because they clearly do mind provinces breaking away from countries. But if they don’t recognize it, they could upset the US and the other countries who recognized it.

Russia first said that it’s not ok for a province to break away, but now says it’s ok. USA first said that it’s ok for a province to break away, but now says that’s a bad thing and a big no-no. [...]

One of the readers, Owen, posted this comment to Viktor's post:

I think you’ve over-simplified.

Viktor responded by proposing a way "to make things even more confusing and interesting" - which would be for Serbia to "un-recognize Montenegro and Macedonia":

[...] I don’t know if that’s even possible, to un-recognize a state, but that’s what we are trying to persuade other countries that recognized Kosovo to do, right? So we should set an example and un-recognize Macedonia and Montenegro. [...]

Vitaly of The 8th Circle mentioned some of the consequences of Serbia's neighbors' decision to recognize Kosovo - clashes in Montenegro and the expulsion of the two states' ambassadors from Belgrade - but ended his post on a rather positive note:

[...] My guess is that the protests are an immediate expression of rage, and should not become a problem in the long-run, but that may change depending on whether the animosity is permitted to crystalize and become imprinted in people’s memory. Or, will the parties choose to look to the future where borders, under the auspices of the EU, matter little?

Jonathan Davis of LimbicNutrition Weblog wrote that he is "for an independent Kosovo," wants "Serbia in the EU as soon as possible" - but is "sickened by lies, foul play, hypocrisy and bullying" of "the EU/US/Kosovo bloc." To him, the prospects of Macedonia and Montenegro did not seem too bright:

[...] Now, however, they will also have to live with the anger of their largest trading partner and the destabilising effect that their recognition will have on their internal political situations. [...]

Writing about "the massive vote in favour of allowing Serbia’s challenge to Kosovo’s legality at the International Court of Justice" that preceded the recognition of Kosovo by Macedonia and Montenegro, Jonathan suggested that "the pre-prepared plan to force Serbia’s two tiny neighbours [...] to recognise Kosovo within a day of the vote" was "designed for psychological and propaganda effect":

[...] (1) To ruin the party for the Serbs and (2) to reset the frame by getting the global media’s focus away from Serbia’s UN victory and focussed on Serbia supposedly by being “stunned” by Montenegro and Macedonia’s “betrayal”. [...]

He also wrote about "the follow-up insult-to-injury gambit":

[...] the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Martti Ahtisaari, a loathed figure in Serbia, widely considered to be blatantly pro-Albanian and the man who handed Kosovo its (illegal) independence. The prize was expected to be awarded to imprisoned Chinese dissident Gao Zhisheng, but the committee decided instead to continue its tradition of politically motivated awards, almost certainly in my opinion as part of the co-ordinated response to Serbia’s UN victory. [...]

South Ossetia: A Photojournalist's Musings On the War

Global Voices Online
Monday, September 15, 2008

See Global Voices special coverage page on the South Ossetia crisis.

Firsthand reports from the conflict zone in the Caucasus continue to appear here and there in the Russophone blogosphere. On Sept. 8, one month since the beginning of the war in South Ossetia and Georgia, Russian photojournalist Oleg Klimov posted his musings (RUS) on what the war looks like and what it smells like, on the media and propaganda, and on what seems like a universal nature of wartime looting.

[Oleg Klimov's photo of peacekeepers "between Tskhinvali and Gori"]

[Oleg Klimov's photo of a post-funereal "wake amidst the ruins in Tskhinvali"]

[Oleg Klimov's photo of "a village between Tskhinvali and Gori"]

Worst of all I dislike the smell of war. Its stench. A combination of burned damp wood, plastic and the smell of dead bodies. "A parfume." A sense of war smell is one of the five important senses, an ability to perceive and recognize the smell of the events of the past. I've always regretted that photos, like money, do not smell... If they smelled, we'd definitely be all sick now. At the beginning, at least, more than from the graphic pictures of dismembered bodies and other horrors...

Tonight, I watched a "documentary" from Vesti-24 [on a Russian state-owned channel]. Turns out Georgians have been "genociding" Ossetians and the Abkhaz throughout centuries. I really don't understand where the law on "inciting ethnic hatreds" is. This hatred is being imposed not just on the level of "politicians and journalists," but on the level of peoples. And the peoples hate each other. And "the smartest politicians" say that on a human level, it is possible to understand the people... Expect that it is exactly on a human level that it's impossible to understand this.

Georgian houses are being burned and looted. The same is happening to the Ossetian houses. And they'll continue to burn and loot them. Perhaps, this is human nature. It always happens this way during "ethnic wars." It was there in Bosnia and Kosovo. In Pala (close to Sarajevo), in the [neutral zone], detachments of "Russian Cossacks" and [mercenaries] were among those who did the looting. There was a whole "system" to it: risking their lives, they were delivering carpets, TV sets, etc., to the Serbian zone and selling them wholesale to the middlemen, who, in their turn, were selling the "trophy goods" at civilian markets. I witnessed this in person and heard attempts at justification: "freelance mercenaries" have nothing left to do because no one is paying them for "heroism at someone else's war."

Outside Tskhinval (and inside the city, too) any car near a deserted house means one thing: looters. If you ask them, "What are you doing?", they'll respond: "Oh, nothing, our relatives used to live here..." There've been instances of murder, however, as well. Of women, too, not just men. And there is blackmail. For example, at one village the local police rounded up the residents and issued an ultimatum to them: "If you don't pay $10,000, we'll burn the whole village!" (This is almost official info from the Dutch embassy.)

[...]

Serbia: Anglophone Bloggers Continue Discussion of Karadžić's Arrest

Global Voices Online
Saturday, July 26, 2008

From one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, Radovan Karadžić - aka Dr. Dragan David Dabić - has turned into one of the world's most talked about detainees. Below are snippets of some of the discussions that have taken place in Anglophone blogs in the past few days.

Serbian author and activist Jasmina Tešanović was not surprised to find out that Karadžić had been living his life on the run in Belgrade. On BoingBoing, she wrote:

[...] To judge by the chatter on my B92 blog and the phone messages I get from my friends: as I long suspected, "Europe's Osama bin Laden" and I have been neighbors. We shared the same food, saw the same beggars in downtown Belgrade where he had been hiding all these years, a genocidal butcher disguised as a New Age quack.

[...] As we all suspected, or as some of us surely knew: Karadzic was hiding from justice behind our names and our daily lives, using the Serbian population as his living shields. [...]

In another post on BoingBoing, Tešanović wrote more about "the street of war criminals":

[...] We lived with Dabic for 13 years, he was one of us, among us, in the shadow half-life of Serbia.

Two war criminals lived in my own street. Biljana Plavsic, the former leader of Republika Srpska, took power after Radovan Karadzic left in 1996. She pled guilty in the Hague and is now serving her sentence in Sweden. General Pavkovic was in charge during the pogrom of Albanians in Kosovo. He is sick of cancer.

[...]

Dabic spent his time in one of the coolest cafes in Belgrade, where you have free Internet and free books. I go there often. He also used to eat in a very good and cheap restaurant where I went often with my friends. We all spent long nights drinking and talking; us, about his crimes and our suffering; him, about selling alternative medicine and how to improve his website. [...]

Viktor Marković of Belgrade 2.0 reviewed some of the most immediate questions about Karadžić's resurfacing. Owen, a UK-based reader, noted in the comments section that the focus of the discussion should instead be on the crimes that Karadžić was being charged with:

[...] We’ve had extraordinary coverage in UK reminding us of what Karadzic actually did. Of course we occasionally wonder how he got away with it that long but I think we got the message that he had a friend or two. Is it really still that impossible for people to look at the elephant instead of the coffee table?

Victor responded:

You might get that impression as we all forgot what this man is charged of, but I don’t think that is the case.

For us here it’s not so important to cover what he did, because everyone knows what he did, and those who do not know it, simply refuse to accept it, and there’s no help with that.

Sorry, but right now I’m more occupied about how he managed to live right next to me so to say without any trouble in the world. This turns the whole idea about Mladic hiding in-some-woods-god-knows-where upside down.

Another Belgrade resident and Karadžić's former neighbor, Jelena Marković, wrote this on her blog, Invisible Sights:

[...] The idea of Karadzic enjoying his time in my city quarter, Vracar, was giving me creeps all night, wouldn’t let me sleep: the monster was just by my side, in a way, doesn’t even metter for how long! And I, his enemy, who have made large efforts to denounce him to local nationalists, to moderate democrats, and to the world, as my obligation by simply being a Serbian citizen, I who have been publicly requesting Karadzic’s capture and delivery to the Hague, I still cannot celebrate. Yes, I shead a tear of joy on the big news. Yes, a little bit of justice has just taken place by the arrest. Yes, I think of a piece of relief most probably felt by Karadzic’s victims, and some I met in person, and I share their feeling. Yet, celebrate - I cannot! For, what has changed in the minds of my neighbours, of my parents, of most Serbian citizens, same ones I named just some lines above? I would say, by protests all around town, and outside the Special court (again the place I put trust in, again place I am familiar with), nothing changed in their minds! They are just furious, feeling betrayed! [...]

Samaha - "Bosnian American Muslim in the Chicago Area" - examined the media and public reactions to Karadžić's arrest in Serbia and elsewhere:

[...] This past weeks news of Karadzic’s arrest in Serbia has news stories full of reactions of Bosnian Muslims along with the contrasting reactions of Bosnian Serbs (and yes there are few exceptions). [...]

A few stories have come out of Serbia regarding Serbian reaction which range from a couple of hundred to several hundred protestors outside of the Belgrade court where Karadzic is being held and their violence against the press. It would so seem that Serbs in Serbia are more enamored of Karadzic’s transformation into a health guru hiding out in the open, writting articles, public appearances and speeches at conferences, his frequenting a local pub with his picture on the wall and his alleged mistress than they are about the arrest.

It still struck me as strange that Serbs weren’t a little more elated about the capture of Karadzic, after all, this is a significant step towards EU integration and this is what they wanted (so be it that it was a slim majority) they did afterall vote in the government that made this all possible. I decided today that I wanted to see the Serbian reaction to the news that Mladic handed over Karadzic.

Talk about denial. The overwhelming comments to the article referencing the Telegraph were full of conspiracy theories and anti-American sentiment is rather scary - I think I’d be safer traveling through RS or Serbia with a Bosnian passport. Get passed all the conspiracy theories though and one begins to realize that these men are really heros to many Serbs and one has to ask where is the debate? [...]

On Srebrenica Genocide Blog, a reader calling him/herself "Dr Dragan Dabic" posted this comment on the post about Karadžić's capture:

I want to draw your attention to the fact that Dr Radovan Karadzic has only been ACCUSED of crimes.

Everyone has the right to be considered innocent until they are found guilty by a proper court of law. [...]

Another reader, Vincent Jappi, responded:

The presumption of innocence is a rule which only applies to criminal courts.

Others who know the truth have the right, and indeed the duty, to call a mass murderer a mass murderer whether he has been convicted or not.

U.S.-based Nebojsa Malic of Gray Falcon wrote that Karadžić's arrest has "occasioned an orgy of Serbophobia in the Western press":

[...] I've actually survived the war in Bosnia, inside Sarajevo no less. It was terrible enough without presstitutes, pseudo-diplomats and NGO scum making up preposterous stories, as they have for the past 16 years. Everyone claims to be championing the "victims," but they don't; they use the victims to achieve their own ends, be that greater circulation/ratings/awards, conquest and domination, or simply money. [...]

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia caught a media mention of the "good things Karadžić has done":

Ummm .... made Dutch people feel less guilty?

The link in this laconic item is to an article in International Justice, an online publication of Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Guy La Roche of A Fistful of Euros wrote more on the subject:

It seems self-proclaimed guru Dragan Dabic aka Radovan Karadzic may possess some healing powers after all. At least, that is what some Dutch Srebrenica veterans hope [...]:

Former Dutchbat soldier Johan de Jonge is elated about Mr Karadzic’ arrest. He hopes there will be less focus on the former Dutchbat soldiers now that one of the lead actors of the period has been brought to justice.
“I hope that people’s eyes will be opened now. That they will know we were not to blame. But that there are people who had preconceived plans to exterminate certain population groups”.

As we all know the Dutch government at the time resigned over the Dutch peacekeeping troops’ failure to prevent the massacre of Srebrenica and both Dutchbat, the Dutch military in charge of protecting the Bosnian muslims in the enclave, and the UN were dealt a heavy public relations blow. To say the least. [...]

Kirk Johnson of Americans For Bosnia noted that "Russian Foreign Ministry needs better maps":

Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the Karadzic arrest is an internal Serbian matter. Considering that ALL of the indictments against Karadzic concern events in Bosnia, which--despite the best efforts of Greater Serb nationalists--is not part of Serbia, this is a very strange position to take.

Of course, I know why the Russian Government is saying such a thing, I just wonder if they have even bothered working out the tortured logic it would take to justify this assertion.

Fedja of Rants of a Hyphenated Researcher linked to a YouTube video of Karadžić giving a guided tour to one of Russia's opposition leaders Eduard Limonov during the siege of Sarajevo:

[...] In fact, he seemed to reach almost orgasmic levels of pleasure in boasting about the horror his troops were visiting upon the city of Sarajevo. In this Youtube clip, Karadzics hosts the Russian ultra-nationalist poet Limonov on the hills above Sarajevo, recites his "Sarajevo" poem from the 1980s in which he had "predicted" the massacre, and even invites the poet to shoot the sniper at the civilians in the city. [...]

Limonov (who is known better for his prose, not poetry) said in a recent interview (RUS) that he "wasn't sure Karadžić would have been safer in Moscow than in his motherland" and that "he had all the reasons" to fear the current Russian regime.

Serbia: Anglophone Bloggers on Belgrade Rally, Riots, Kosovo

Global Voices Online
Monday, February 25, 2008

Below is a selection of the English-language posts about last week's events in Serbia and Kosovo, which appeared on Feb. 21-23. For additional coverage, please visit Global Voices' Serbia page.

Viktor Marković of Belgrade 2.0 summed up what happened in Belgrade on Thursday, Feb. 21, following the Kosovo is Serbia! rally:

Belgrade was pretty much devastated tonight. Well organized groups of hooligans trashed at least ten locations almost simultaniously – American and Croatian embassy were demolished the most, Turkish embassy stoned, two MacDonald’s restaurants trashed completely again, couple of ambulance cars got smashed for some reaseon, together with several other cars, several shops in Terazije smashed and robbed, several shops in Knez Mihajlova, particularly those that did not have the sign “Kosovo is Serbia” in their windows and one bank in Resavska street. And there were attempts to trash the buildings of B92 and Mercator on New Belgrade side.

Around one hundred injured and one dead, burned alive in American embassy. [...]

He blamed the government for failing to prevent the chaos:

[...] Riots that happened tonight were directly provoked, encouraged and fueled by the government. The government also did almost nothing to stop this obvious madness from happening – on the contrary. In comparison to an average number of policemen we had on protests during Milosevic regime, you could practically say that the streets of Belgrade were policeless today. [...]

Viktor's co-blogger bganon shared a firsthand account of the riots in the comments section, and noted, too, that the police could have done a better job:

[...] The conclusion is that this could have been prevented, without any question – that the police were deliberately moved out of harms way. On top of this senior police officers (upon instruction from their ministry) had deliberately left their policemen unprotected by not calling in reserves. Riot police were hugely outnumbered and could have quite easily been overwhelmed. We pitied the police, which in Serbia, is not a natural instinct, after all in the 1990’s the police had a habit of beating the living daylights out of protesting students. (who did not indulge in crime) They were under strict orders this time. [...]

He concluded:

Its a pity that this is the main story and its not a story of a legitimate, dignified and well organised protest.

In another post, Viktor drew attention to a virtual protest by seven Serbian bloggers, who had placed a "picture of darkness on their blogs." Here is how Viktor explained some of their possible motivations to a reader and fellow-blogger who questioned the validity of this approach to blogging:

[...] Some have it because they are afraid of another war, some because they are simply sick of it all, some cause they are tired, and some maybe even because they are sorry for Kosovo loss. [...]

Nicholas Comrie wrote on his B92 blog that the Feb. 21 rioting in Belgrade has "succeeded in setting Serbia back five years":

[...] After all the progress that Serbia has achieved over the last ten years to move towards the international club of nations, one night of state ‘green-lighted’ violence has recreated what should have now been, tired, negative stereotypes of Serbs. After all the positivity created by the likes of Djokovic, Ivanovic and Serifovic, Serbs are once more at the centre of violence which has been internationally reported and condemned. [...]

Another B92 blogger, Rosemary Bailey Brown, wrote about a "completely one-sided and simple-minded" Washington Post piece (Serbia's Thugs, Feb. 22) - and called to "Serbs or Friends of Serbs" to become more outspoken in order to counter the negative publicity that the country and its people were getting:

[...] My question is, why are almost no Serbs or Friends of Serbs posting comments or editorial replies on the vast majority of these stories??? Almost all the major US, UK and Canadian press now allow online readers to post comments. You may have to register to do so, but it's free. It's your chance to fight a the PR battle, and no one on the Serb side seems to be taking advantage of it - AT ALL! It's like an entire nation is laying down and saying, "Oh poor me, what nasty things they are saying about me again, I am far too victimized to defend myself at the moment."

A word of advice - if you do decide to fight the good fight and bring the other side (or at least more relevant information) to these media, then to be taken as a credible writer, you must write in a manner that Western readers find, well, credible.

That means no polemics. No emotion. No long rants. Calm-sounding facts and a few bullet points poking a hole in the editorial's argument will be 1,000 times more powerful. You are not a poor victim, you are an intellectual politely explaining facts and background to a not-so-bright student. [...]

Three bloggers - Eric Gordy of East Ethnia, Jasmina Tesanovic at Boing Boing, and Marko of Reluctant Dragon - concluded their posts noting that a state of emergency was not unlikely.

Gordy wrote:

[...] My fear was that perhaps a decision had been made to allow a public outrage that would provide a pretext for declaring a state of emergency. [...]

Tesanovic wrote:

[...] The country may be on the verge of a state of emergency.

Marko wrote:

[...] I am afraid of what this crystal night will bring. I am afraid for the lives of people who are still voices of reason. I expect that the aforementioned villains will use the chaos to introduce a state of emergency and take control officially as a government of “national unity”. This is the end.

Writing about the issue of international recognition of Kosovo, Kosmopolit offered this scenario:

And finally the idea of partition: diplomatically this could become a solution in a few years. The deal could be: Serbia takes control over the north of Kosovo, in return it recognises Kosovo as a state (which also means Russia drops the veto in the UN). At the same time the EU could offer Serbia some sort of fast track EU membership (again).

Gray Falcon wrote this about the rioting in Belgrade and the subsequent statement by the State Department's spokesman Sean McCormack:

[...] Neither the U.S. nor the EU are interested in "political dialogue"; they demonstrated that by organizing and recognizing the secession of occupied Kosovo. "Differences"? Is that how we're calling it now? Well, Mr. McCormack, I have a feeling that the angry young men who threw a Molotov cocktail at your embassy thought they were engaging in political dialogue over their differences and disagreements with the U.S. government, in a fashion that very government taught them was the right and proper way of doing things. I mean, when Washington has differences and disagreements with people, there's usually blockade, bombing and occupation in those people's near future. [...]

Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame wrote at length about the volatile history of the Balkan region and explained why certain people in the West should think twice before giving their governments the authority to recognize Kosovo's independence:

[...] But is it really necessary for them to try to influence things that they obviously cannot understand? Shouldn't the citizens of those Western countries that want to recognize the Kosovo Republic admit that they have problems to remember the location of the countries that exist today and the situation only becomes worse when new countries are created? [...]

Ruslanas of Lituanica reported on the sighting of a "Kosovo is Serbia" banner at a recent Lietuvos Rytas basketball club's game in Vilnius:

[...] We have one or two ex-Yugoslav basketball players here and our Lietuvos Rytas team is trained by a Serb Trifunovic. As we know the sports could be very political. A great manifestation of that was a match in Vilnius when some of the Lietuvos Rytas’ supporters raised a banner with a slogan ‘Kosovo is Serbia!’ The Serbian coach refused to comment on it.

I am not convinced that the supports thought about the politics, more likely they thought about a moral support for their coach. Same as the Kaunas’ Žalgiris suporters raised the Palestinian flag during a game with the Tel Aviv Maccabi team. I am quite convinced that when the Lietuvos Rytas will change the coach to not a Serbian, we will see the Kosovo flags flying during a match against a Serbian team. The Lithuanian sports fans are notorious of their Political Incorrectness. [...]

In the comments section to this post at A Fistful of Euros, a reader named Geoff reported that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was "now considering moving the Eurovision song contest to another country":

[...] I know that may seem like a very minor point considering everything that’s gone on, but if this is true then Serbia could well lose what should have been a golden opportunity to present a positive image of themselves to the rest of Europe.

South East Europe Online reported that "Kosovo has been added to the list of independent countries on the U.S.. Department of State website, and assigned the KV code, by which countries are identified."

***

Two "bonus" links, from earlier dates.

- Dr Sean's Diary wrote this about Kosovo's new flag:

The new state in the making/EU protectorate of Kosova/o has a new flag [...], selected through a competition, but designed to have no associations with any ethnic group or historical tradition. It comes out a rather anodyne blue and yellow creation with a star design vaguely resembling that of the EU. Very similar colour scheme and design to that adopted, for similar reasons, by Bosnia-Herzegovina (below)and, I suspect, likely to be no more successful in bridging ethnic divisions.

Also noted in the post were the EU's new member states' positions on Kosovo's independence:

[...] Romania and Slovakia are firmly against (large Hungarian minorities), those without national minorities and eager to stress their Atlanticism (Poland) are edging towards recognition, while near neighbours and EU President Slovenia seems to have a position of studied neutrality/indecision expressing understanding for just about everyone’s point of view. [...]

- Corina Murafa, a Romanian blogger, summed up Romania's position on the situation in Kosovo and Serbia:

Kosovo has never really been on the public agenda in Romania, except for today. In addition to this, Romania’s foreign policy has been everything but coherent with respect to Kosovo and to the former Yugoslavia in general. Starting from “oh Serbia… our old friend and ally” to “oh NATO… welcome us in your bossom” years ago, today’s Romania is torn between siding with the EU [...] and disapproving Kosovo’s recent declaration of independence. It might be a proof of the fact we’re still elegantly swinging back and forth between the West and rest. [...]