2 replies to this topic

[the sushi club]

Nije za temu u Srbiji posto me zanimaju kako zapadni mediji gledaju na Srbiju i Jugoslaviju...i imidgz generalno Srbije na zapadu...

Za pocetak:
This is Serbia, so nothing is clear. Two years after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, the country is lurching from crisis to crisis and gloom has set in. Serbs are depressed, uncertain about the future and, above all, fed up with their politicians.

But the triumph of the past two years is that Serbia, which for a decade dominated foreign news coverage and poisoned relations between Europe, the US and Russia, has faded into obscurity - a huge success for its exhausted people, as well as its neighbours.

Yet pundits are delighted because the fact that Serbia and Montenegro have been unable to elect Presidents - and that Mladic remains free - means that Serbia may lose US aid and slow its path to Nato membership. But Serbia is showing traits of the Italy of old, when governments came and went and the mafia had undue power and influence

Today some of Serbia's leaders are consumed with plotting against each other. Others work quietly doing the work that needs to be done. Not such bad news from Serbia then.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 January 5

[Prki]

zar nisi rekao da je ovo samo pocetak, daj josh

[Prki]

Prki:
zar nisi rekao da je ovo samo pocetak, daj josh

One day soon, Yugoslavia will be old news
Serbia and Montenegro are close to unity, but turmoil and chaos still rule

Tim Judah in Belgrade
Sunday January 5, 2003
The Observer

The waiters are restless. They want to go home. The pianist has struck a mournful note and a freezing chill has settled over Belgrade. The Moskva Hotel restaurant is almost empty, but in the twilight gloom of its furthest corner two happy thirty-somethings giggle, ignored by the few lone businessmen. How are they supposed to know that the redhead and her friend are plotting the country's future?

Change the scene to New Year's Eve. Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Many Serbs suspect their Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, already is one. Nonetheless, he is game for an appearance on the show, although his winnings must go to charity. He takes his seat - and the show goes off the air. Sabotage - or men on the roof letting off fireworks?

This is Serbia, so nothing is clear. Two years after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, the country is lurching from crisis to crisis and gloom has set in. Serbs are depressed, uncertain about the future and, above all, fed up with their politicians.

The US is threatening to withdraw aid unless it hands over General Ratko Mladic, the indicted wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs. The government says it does not know where he is.

A recent poll in the daily Politika found that more than half of the nation felt they were no better off than a year ago. More than half could not be bothered to vote last month - invalidating the country's presidential poll. So, step forward the redhead.

Natasa Micic, 37, was, until 30 December, parliamentary Speaker. But the failure of the elections has propelled her to become acting President. A hard-boiled human rights activist from the provinces, the Serbs call her 'our Nicole Kidman'.

Micic takes it all in good part, but she doesn't like being called a political non-entity. In this country's bewildering circle of Presidents, Vojislav Kostunica, Yugoslavia's President, said that her presidency of Serbia would be a 'joke'. But perhaps he is jealous, since not enough Serbs voted for him to become President of Serbia.

He cried foul, but it has not helped. In a few weeks he'll be an ex-President anyway. Serbia and its tiny neighbour, Montenegro, are close to agreeing the last details of their new union - one that will consign the name of Yugoslavia to the dustbin of history. The deal is the work of Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, so wags suggest the new state be called Solania - or S&M.

If Kostunica is out of a job, at least he is not being issued with a one-way ticket to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Micic has just taken over from Milan Milutinovic, the last of Milosevic's cronies to have occupied high office. Milutinovic was infamous for not interfering in the running of his job. That may be his saving grace.

Milutinovic, who has no powerful protectors, unlike Mladic, told a newspaper recently he was ready to face fate in The Hague. Perhaps he is gambling on arguing that he was nothing but a political yes-man who had no real say in the running of the war in Kosovo.

The political outlook for Serbia involves upheaval as the two giants of Serbian politics battle it out. Reforms will be delayed, organised crime will continue to flourish and the issue of Kosovo will remain unresolved.

But the triumph of the past two years is that Serbia, which for a decade dominated foreign news coverage and poisoned relations between Europe, the US and Russia, has faded into obscurity - a huge success for its exhausted people, as well as its neighbours.

The reason why we hear so little from Serbia is partly because good news is no news. Last month, for example, Yugoslavia and Croatia signed an agreement on a territorial dispute and on the terms of a free trade pact, part of a widening network to make the whole of south-eastern Europe a free trade zone.

Yet pundits are delighted because the fact that Serbia and Montenegro have been unable to elect Presidents - and that Mladic remains free - means that Serbia may lose US aid and slow its path to Nato membership. But Serbia is showing traits of the Italy of old, when governments came and went and the mafia had undue power and influence but the country appeared to prosper anyway. Serbia is not prospering yet, but it has smart economists making painful choices and charting a stable course. Some of its leaders are even beginning to talk about Kosovo.

Today some of Serbia's leaders are consumed with plotting against each other. Others work quietly doing the work that needs to be done. Not such bad news from Serbia then.


Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003