Belgrade Insight, No. 26

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NEWS NEWS

Friday • June 13 • 2008

9 ISSN 1820-8339

771820 833000

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Issue 1 / Friday, 13, 2008 Weekly Issue No. 26,No. Friday, Mar. 06June - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists

While younger Socialists support joining a new, pro-EU government, old Milosevic loyalists threaten revolt over the prospect.

EDITOR’S WORD POLITICS

Political Predictability

The Kopaonik Economic Forum saw some tough talking from President Boris TadicR. and government minisBy Mark Pullen ters.

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party over which way to turn.

“The situation in the party seems extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining laggards that we need to move out of Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist Party official complained.

“Dacic will eventually side with Many of us who have experiBELGRADE Tadic in a bid to guide his party into enced numerous Serbian elections the European mainstream, but much Dorcol rate ourselves as from pundits when it has changed a down-atof the membership and many offi- heel comes topopulated predicting redistrict by election immigrants tosults the country’s nightlife capital. cials may oppose that move.” and post-election moves.

Nikolic agreed: “The question is We feel in-the-knowPage because 4 will the party split or will the ‘oldour experience of elections in Sertimers’ back down,” he noted. bia hasOUT shown that (a.) no single &usABOUT Fearing they might not cross the party or coalition will ever gain the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parlia- Ifmajority required to form a governyou’re at a loss for something to ment, the Socialists teamed up with doment, withand the (b.) kidspolitical this weekend, we negotiations the perfect suggestion. the Association of Pensioners and the have will never be quickly concluded.

United Serbia Party, led by businessEven when the Democrats man Dragan Markovic “Palma”. achieved their surprising result at Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkobalast month’s general election, it bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing quickly became clear that the refor a deal with the Democrats. sult was actually more-or-less the The reported price is the post of same as every other election result Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker deputy PM, with a brief in charge of in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive. security for the Socialist leader. faces extinction unless it changes.

This is likely to continue as long to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan

By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade In addition, the Socialists are barHowever, a strong current also as Serbia’s politicians form new Milosevic, and reformists who want gaining for other ministries, includflows in the opposite direction, led political parties every time they the party to become a modern Euroense negotiations on a new govPage party 9 PhotoKosovo

by FoNet and ing capital investments, by party veterans enraged by the disagree with their current pean social democrat organisation. ernment have divided the ranks Women across Serbia will be expecting flowers from the men in their lives on International Women’s Day, this Sunday. education, Belgrade media reported. prospect of a deal with Tadic. leader (there are currently 342 regAfter eight years of stagnation, of the Socialist Party, which holds REVIEW Tadic has denied talk of horseMihajlo Markovic, a founder of istered political parties in Serbia). the Socialists returned to centre stage the balance of power between the correspondent looks forward trading with the Socialists, maintain- Our arts the party, recently warned of a crisis Drawn-out negotiations are also after winning 20 of the 250 seats in main blocs and has yet to announce some of theOne biggest music events ing that ministries would go only to tothe if Dacic opts for the pro-European norm.

Belgrade-based parliament in the May 11 elections. which side they will support. of the year. those committed to working for the bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ “natAmbassador recently told me he With the pro-European and nation“It looks as if the Socialists will 11 government’s “strategic goal”. ural” ideological partners.as a commercial was also alarmed by Page the distinct alist blocsfestival almost evenly matched, move towards a government led by socialist This old boozy is enjoying a revival, albeit event.

At the same time, Dacic seems reMarkovic, a prominent supporter lack of urgency among Serbian the Socialists now have the final say the Democrats,” political analyst MiGOING OUT is at a Today’stoyounger look onwith ery much festival, invited gipsy band and oroftheMilosevic scarves that our union bought is luctant call offwomen negotiations during the 1990s, politicians.

“The country on the fate of theacountry. lan Nikolic, of thea Socialist independent Cen- usually the old Socialist festival as just anlargely ignored in countries nobody went home until everyone for the women in our firm.

I never the nationalists. seen as representative of the “oldstandstill andsome I don’t Nikolic believes the Socialists, led tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such Maska mixes coolunderstand furniture, commercial with that didn’t feel the “guiding was drunk.” expected my husband to give me a other “If some cool art andare a so fairly cool we don’t opportunity, reach an agreement timers” in the party who want to stay their logic.

If they eager to

by Ivica Dacic, will come over to a move might provoke deeper divithe same sort of status that Mothers hand” of communism, International Many companies and trade un- gift on Women’s Day, either.” crowd. with the DSS and Radicals, the partrue to the former regime’s policies, progress towards the EU and enTadic, if only out of a pragmatic desions and even split the party.”

Women’s Day was a special event in ions paid for trips abroad for their But the long arm of commer- Day enjoys in much of the world. ty leadership willthe decide future even though these started almost creeping ruined the courage investors, how come they sire to ensure their political “When you see shoponwintheSimultaneous old Yugoslavia.negotiations held female has since employees over thesurvival. week- cialisation or go into announced, supermarkets and Among a generationand of nationalwomen ends“The the event over the last few dows, around March 8th. Women did into steps”, Dacic following Socialists for and good. go home at 5pm sharp and don’t group of younger Socialists with the pro-European allfirst thatsession discounted chocolate, born in the 1940s andattention 1950s ittoisa not International Women’sofficials Day seethe choosearound whether to take part of country’s new parSome younger Socialist work weekends?” gathered Dacic seems to in be years, ist blocs have drawn youliament see that point is to make remembered as a major celebration. these celebrations, or not, says Kale- has again come to the fore. ontheir Wednesday. have voiced frustration over the conSurely the situation is urgent in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding deep rift inside the Socialists.

Every woman, young or old, could zic. “Nobody asked us if we wanted This year, in shop windows all you spend your money,” says Sofija tinuing impasse within their own enough to warrant a little overtime. that these reformists believe the party This divides “old-timers” loyal Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) expect to receive gifts that day from flowers or parties, it was just some- over town, there are signs and post- Eftimovski, 26. “On this day we husbands, children and friends, as thing that everyone did.” ers offering special Women’s Day should remember those women who well as colleagues and usually their But over the years, particularly af- discounts. Lifestyle magazines have fought so that we could work, vote employers as well. offering readers presents rang- and have equal rights, and women in terBusiness the fall of communism, THIS ISSUE OF Insight and as the been Neighbourhood Matters Restaurants would be fully economy went into a nosedive, the tra- ing from perfumes and anti-ageing the world who don’t yet have those Belgrade Insight booked with parties from offices dition started to wane. Gorica Mijail- creams to discount vouchers for use rights,” she adds.

Page 12 IS SUPPORTED BY: Nevertheless, it will still be a and factories.

“Lots of food, lots of ovic, 48, says that for her generation in some of the most popular Belalcohol, that was how it was at Yu- the day became less and less relevant. grade stores. Some pharmacies are brave husband who ventures home discounts suchwatchun- after work on March 8th without goslav Air Transport, (JAT), where “I conomists never expected presents or even offering are warning that prohile the footballon world items as blood moniI worked in the 1970s,” recalled considered day important,” she romantices longedthe uncertainty over Serbia’s events unfoldsugar at the Euro- bringing even the smallest of tokens for the woman in his life.

Mirjana Kalezic, aged 59. “They said. “I didn’t care for red carnations tors and blood pressure cuffs. future could scare off investors, lead pean Championships in Austria and to higher inflation and jeopardise Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing DINING prosperity OUT for years to come. a soccer rebellion, led by fans, SPORT play“This year has been lost, from the ers and former stars who are enraged standpoint of economic policy,” says Michel by what they leaves see as the corrupt Znak Pitanja is one of Belgrade’s best Platini doorleaders open Stojan Stamenkovic of the Econom- toofa the country’s football known traditional restaurants. This Balkan soccer leagueassociation but rules week Trencherman checks it out. out Kosovo participation. ics Institute in Belgrade. leaders. page 5 page 10

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Women’s Day Gets a Second Wind

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Costs Mounting

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Football Rebellion

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Source: www.weather2umbrella.com

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politics

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

President Boris Tadic and government ministers spoke frankly about the challenges ahead, when they addressed the Economic Forum in Kopaonik.

Tough Words from Kopaonik President Boris Tadic and government ministers used the opportunity presented by the two day Economic Forum in Kopaonik to ram home their policy objectives for the forthcoming year.

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ver the course of two days at the Economic Forum in Kopaonik, attended by politicians, academics and a smattering of the business elite, the government outlined its key macroeconomic plans for the coming year, delivered stern messages of tough times ahead for the economy and issued warnings about the influence of corruption in society.

Speaking on both days of the forum, Tadic said that the economic situation in the country was difficult, that the poorest ranks of society would be most affected and that action was needed so as to stop the decline. “No one has the right to behave as they acted in the earlier years”. Tadic told the gathering.

Tadic said that that he expects the

government to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, on stand-by funding arrangements which would significantly strengthen the foreign currency position of the National Bank of Serbia, although he said that Serbia should be prepared for the tough terms that the IMF representatives would set as a condition of the arrangement.

“Serbia has not taken funds from international financial institutions, which demonstrates that our country has the capacity to defend its existing position, but, as in any other economy in crisis, Serbia’s economy may not make it further without assistance – and this is not gratis, it costs,” Tadic said.

He added that Serbia – within the agreement with the IMF – would ac-

cept only “politically and socially sustainable” solutions.

Speaking on the first day of the conference, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said that the government should be aware of the gravity of the current situation but keep a level of optimism in order to be able to fight the crisis. He admitted that the budget deficit was likely to reach 2.5 – 3 per cent, rather than the previously projected 1.75 per cent.

Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy and Regional Development pointed to the high levels of foreign debt accumulated by Serbian businesses, amounting to some €7 billion as one of the biggest problems facing the economy, contrasting it with what he said were low levels of public debt as a percentage of GDP. Contrary to the opinions of many economists, Dinkic claimed that Serbia “would not enter recession” He said Serbia should have expansive fiscal policy, with the budget deficit up to 3 per cent at the most, coupled with a moderately restrictive monetary policy and that interest rates should be reduced. Recession, would be avoided, he said, as long as the decline in industrial production could be kept below 10 per cent by the end of the first quarter.

Photo courtesy of Blic

Serbia’s economy may not make it further without assistance – and this is not gratis, it costs.

Minister of finance Diana Dragutinovic, warned that the coming second wave of the financial crisis would be felt more strongly in Serbia as the economy is “highly dependent on foreign capital” which would be more difficult to obtain. She also noted what she said was the huge gap between levels of saving and necessary investments. She warned that the country would have to take extra loans, and that it would not go without consequences in the international financial markets and with international financial institutions. The only alternative, she said, was increased receipts from privatisations but this would take some time to come to fruition.

Bozidar Djelic, also deputy prime minister, said that wages and pensions should not be reduced, as this would reduce domestic demand.

He said a solution to the budget deficit should be sought at the upcoming talks with the IMF.

Weekly Press Roundup POLITIKA - One of the leaders of newly formed Serbian Progressive party, Aleksandar Vucic, announced the start of his party’s campaign for forthcoming municipal elections in Serbia. In an interview, he said that the current government do not have ability to solve all problems and that parliament is unable to work properly.

GLAS JAVNOSTI - Tobacco manufacturers from across Serbia protested in front of the main government building in centre of Belgrade requesting a meeting with ministries and the prime minister. They blocked the streets and announced that if government does not accept their proposals on the tobacco price, that they would organise further protests.

VECERNJE NOVOSTI - Belgrade is planning a new port designed by famous architect Daniel Libeskind. He presented his ideas for the complex on the Danube river which will become the biggest construction project in the city. The whole project is worth around €7 billion and if it goes ahead, could be finished by the end of 2025.

POLITIKA - “There will be no development and reform if we do not challenge the close ties between politics, business and organised crime” said Serbian president Boris Tadic at the Kopaonik economic forum.

The Serbian political, economic and business elite gathered at the event dubbed in the media as the “Serbian Davos” to discuss the impact of the economic crisis on Serbia.

BLIC - Former chief of Serbian intelligence Jovica Stanisic, accused at the Hague Tribunal, confirmed that he had close ties with CIA. He told journalists at his home in Belgrade that although he accepts that he had a relationship with the CIA, the article published in LA Times was not accurate

VECERNJE NOVOSTI - Richard Holbrook guaranteed to Radovan Karadzic that he would not be charged by the Hague Tribunal if he stepped back from political life in BiH. Professor Charles Ingorao published a report in which he explains

how the US administration worked on withdrawing Radovan Karadzic from political life in BIH after the Dayton peace agreement.

BLIC - Florence Hartman said that the British, French and US administrations pressed the Hague Tribunal over the “Stanisic case”. He was released after letters from these countries were sent to the Hague Tribunal. Hartman said that the CIA rather than the government itself, sent a submission.

DANAS - The Supreme Court suspended the decision of a Belgrade district court in the case of Uros Misic a youth who was convicted of attacking a policeman at a football game. The District court sentenced him to ten years in jail but the Supreme Court said in it’s decision that the evidence convicting him was insufficient.

BORBA - The Serbian government withdrew an anti-discrimination bill from Parliament because the Serbian Orthodox Church objected. The bill is the one of the most important from the “Schengen package” of legisla-

tion that is crucial for putting Serbia on the so called “EU white list”.

VECERNJE NOVOSTI - Albanian “terrorists” have threatened the Serbian minister of foreign affairs Vuk Jeremic on the eve of his visit to Switzerland, said the paper citing a source from the Swiss administration. The situation is very serious and security will be at the highest level. Jeremic rejected suggestions that the visit should be cancelled.

BLIC - Reporting from the economic forum in Kopaonik, Belgrade’s daily quotes Bozidar Djelic, the deputy prime minister, saying that cutting salaries is not a good strategy in the current financial crisis “because it would decrease spending”.

KURIR - Miladin Kovacevic, a fugitive from US justice, could be prosecuted in Serbia. US prosecutors said that they have had negotiations with Serbian judiciary and the Serbian minister for justice, Snezana Malovic, has assured them that the Serbian judiciary is ready and capable of trying the case.

It certainly does not matter if a person has economic influence or any other public position, if he or she violates the law.

“We must alter our approach to spending money, and those changes must be obvious in the 2010 budget.

We especially must change the way we spend the funds we receive from international financial institutions”, Djelic said.

A recurring theme over the two days was the battle against what Tadic said were the ongoing links between business, crime and the judiciary. Tadic told delegates that without greater development of civil society institutions a wider acceptance of the rule of law and an end to corruption, Serbia’s future would be bleak. He called on society to break the links that he said had emerged during the time of former president Slobodan Milosevic.

“If these ties are broken, we have a chance – but no guarantee – to have a better future. The Guarantees are in the economic and social reforms, which we will implement”, Tadic said in his keynote address.

Echoing this theme, the first deputy prime minister and interior minister, Ivica Dacic, said that Serbia needed to decisively confront crime and corruption. “It does not matter who a person is or how big his power base is… it does not matter who belongs to which party, whether they are in authority or from the opposition, and it certainly does not matter if a person has economic influence or any other public position, if he or she violates the law”, Dacic said.

politics

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Stanisic Case ‘A Classic Espionage Tale’

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Profile of the Week Jovica Stanisic

Jovica Who Came In From The Cold

By Slobodan Georgijev Following leaks suggesting that the CIA may help former chief of Serbian secret service at his Hague trial, certain events from the 1990’s could get an entirely new meaning.

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Photo courtesy of Greg Miller Los Angeles Times journalist Greg Miller, who brought the story to the world, gives an exclusive interview to Balkan Insight’s Branka Trivic.

By Branka Trivic

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n 03 March 2009 Journalist Greg Miller of the Los Angeles Times spoke to Balkan Insight about the “classic espionage tale” of how the trusted chief of Slobodan Milosevic’s intelligence service, Jovica Stanisic, was in fact working with the CIA in the 1990s.

Miller’s story in the LA Times made headlines in Serbia and the Balkans. He got a lead into the story from intelligence sources in Washington, who told him that the CIA submitted confidential documents to Stanisic’s war crimes trial in The Hague listing Stanisic’s contributions and attesting to his “helpful role” Miller says that the CIA got involved not because they want the charges against Stanisic dropped, but because they “are interested in having a fuller account of Stanisic’s role presented, because they regard the case against him at the ICTY, not necessarily as inaccurate, but as incomplete.”

“As I said in the story, they did not see Stanisic as a choirboy,” Miller told Balkan Insight.

“When you talk to people who work in espionage, this is often the case. Because of the nature of thejob, of that assignment, they are working with people who don’t have unblemished records,

it would be difficult for them to be effective if they only worked with people who had unblemished records.”

He didn’t believe that Milosevic was taking the country in the right direction – so he wanted to influence events.

“People in Belgrade who have been following the career of Jovica Stanisic would say that this was a guy who was an expert in his field; he was a highly trained and highly effective spy,” Miller said. “I think his motivation may have been that he wanted to know what the United States was up to, he didn’t believe that Milosevic was taking the country in the right direction – so he wanted to influence events. I think he saw himself as an important guy who could pull strings behind the scenes to make things happen in Belgrade.”

Miller said that “in 1993,with CIA prodding”, Stanisic “pressured Ratko Mladic to briefly stop the shelling of Sarajevo. He later went on to work with the CIA, trying to locate and help rescue NATO troops in Bosnia who had been taken hostage in 1995.

He was trying to influence the people inside the Milosevic regime.

He became something of a conduit to the United States, which

obviously did not have good relationships with the government in Belgrade. At times, they would make their case to Stanisic, they would issue warnings to him, they would say: if your government continued to do this, then this is how we are going to respond. And he would work inside the government in Belgrade to try to make sure that it didn’t happen. He became, as somebody put it to me, a sort of an action agent – somebody who was willing to listen to the warnings of the West and work inside his own government to try to influence the outcome, so that the crisis could be contained.”

He was never what you would call a CIA asset, he was never a paid agent of the CIA. Miller said Stanisic “was providing information about what was happening inside the government there at a time when the United States was desperate for that information” but had also “established certain boundaries.”

“He was never what you would call a CIA asset, he was never a paid agent of the CIA. He never accepted assignments from the CIA. He was involved in sharing information with the Agency, but he kept it on his terms. I think it’s

safe to say that he was not in agreement with Milosevic and that there was always conflict between these two people, but at the same time he was a loyal Serb. I don’t think he wanted ever to betray his country or his government.”

His case was very complicated, and everything was in shades of grey, Miller added.

“That’s sort of a classic tale of espionage.”

Miller said retired CIA operatives had on occasion visited Stanisic in hospital in The Hague “but it’s not like…they are communicating with him every day or even every week”, but rather more of a relationship with “somebody from their past that they keep in touch with.”

“He was never completely an agent for them, he was never a paid asset, so the idea that they (CIA) would somehow try to give him a new identity and whisk him to safety may not have occurred to them,” Miller said. “And I don’t know whether they anticipated that he was going to find himself in this much trouble. I mean it was five years after he was fired by Milosevic before he was finally indicted and sent to the Hague, so I am not sure that they thought that this would ever happen. I don’t know that Jovica Stanisic thought that this was going to happen to him”.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

he LA Times’s revalations about direct ties between Jovica Stanisic, 59, and the CIA, are causing much consternation in Serbia. Things that have been implied for years by certain independent Serbian media now turn out to be almost exactly true.

In the 1990s, during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, which Stanisic, among others, took part in with the service he was heading, he was in constant communication with the CIA about joint affairs and interests.

The break-up of Yugoslavia and the ensuing conflicts led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and displacement of several million people. His period as Slobodan Milosevic’s right hand man, saw the creation of irregular paramilitary units, hounding of the opposition and the development of a climate in which everyone who had communication with Western democracies was a traitor.

Born in the Vojvodina town of Odzaci, a son of Montenegrin emigrants from Kosovo, he studied in Belgrade and spent all his working life in the State Security Service. As a reward for assisting with Slobodan Milosevic’s path to the leadership in the late 1980s, he was appointed the service’s leader in autumn 1991, a position he held for seven years. He was dismissed in 1998, when Mirjana Markovic, Milosevic’s wife, started suspecting that Stanisic was not under their control any more.

Although he fell from grace, many believe that he retained enormous influence on Serbian secret service affairs. After the democratic changes in 2000, he stayed in the shadows, but it was widely expected that he would be indicted by the Hague. He was not arrested until spring 2003, after the assassination of Zoran Djindjic, and was handed over to the Hague several months later. However, his trial date is still uncertain, as Stanisic is being treated for severe depression, some witnesses have died, some have been killed, and some are no longer prepared to testify.

In the complex and shady world of the elite and powerful in Serbia, one thing is always guaranteed and that is that nothing is ever quite as it seems.

Establishing the truth and the responsibilities of the various protagonists from that confused period is a difficult task and almost a decade later some of the most important events in recent Serbian history are still clouded in mystery.

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belgrade chronicle

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Dorcol’s Cafe Culture:

By Kristina Gacaric

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here were a few old fashioned “kafanas”, some shabby stores, ruined buildings, just two or three cafes, no nightlife as we know it today.

That is how Dorcol looked in the nineties, when Ivan Saljic, opened one of the first cafes, Bizzare, in this Belgrade neighborhood.

“In the last ten years they’ve shot up like mushrooms after rain” he says of the huge number of cafes in the district.

Strahinjica Bana is typical of the changes in this neighborhood in the last ten years - known as Belgrade’s

Rade Kundacina, a painter and long-time resident of Dorcol

‘Silicon Valley’, not for the high tech industry, of which there is none, but for the surgically enhanced women that adorn local cafes. Strahinjica Bana attracts an international crowd from the Balkans and beyond to its lively nightlife.

Dusan Mirotic, long time resident of Dorcol, in mid forties says, “I like Dorcol, it lives around the clock. This place would look provincial without it” But not everybody likes this change from a quiet, run-down residential street to a place that many consider as a spot for wannabe’s, an imitation of Western Europe, with none of the soul that was typical for Dorcol, just ten years ago.

A Trip Through Old Dorcol THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDAR NEVSKI

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he Church of St. Alexander Nevsky is the headquarters of the Dorcol parish and surrounded by Dusanova, Francuska, Skenderbegova and Dositejeva streets. The construction of the church started in 1912, and was finished in 1929h. It was built under the patronage of King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic.

The Home of the Jewish ReligiousSchool Community

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n the past, Dorcol was home to a large Jewish community, centred around the Home of the Jewish Religious - School Community which was built by architect Samuel Sumbul in 1928, at Kralja Petra 71a, with its back to the former synagogue, Beth Israel. The Synagogue, located in the Cara Urosa Street, was destroyed during the bombing in WWII, and the site is now the Gallery of Frescoes.

OLD SKADARLIJA

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kadarska, more famous as Skadarlija, bordering Dorcol, is the bohemian district and one of the most recognisable streets in Belgrade. Actors, writers, poets, painters and other artists lived and visited this street in the late 19th and early 20th century. Skadarlija has some of the oldest restaurants in Belgrade, “Tri sesira” (Three Hats), “Dva jelena” (Two Deer) and “Ima dana” (There Is Time).

BAJRAKLI MOSQUE

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ajrakli Mosque is one of the oldest buildings in Dorcol. Located in Gospodar Jevremova, it was built, according to Turkish sources, between 1660 and 1688, by cloth merchant Haxhi Alija, and was originally known as the Cokadzi-mosque.

It got its current name from the flag used to announce the call to prayer from the minaret to other mosques in the city. It is the only remaining mosque in Belgrade. Under the rule of Prince Eugene of Savoy between 1717 and 1739, it was converted into a Roman Catholic church.

Rade Kundacina, a painter and old resident of Dorcol says, “I feel that we lost our soul after the old fashioned ‘kafanas’ were closed”.

There’s everything in Strahinjica Bana, from Karaoke bars to Italian restaurants, from trendy French bistros to cool joints to sip your juice and be seen in, after a visit to the gym.

Classy boutiques attract Belgrade’s nouveau riche, with a parade of brands, from Vuitton to Gucci.

And everything changes so quickly.

Tonight’s Irish themed bar becomes tomorrow’s cafe bistro in the blink of an eye, as trends move on and bar owners chase the fashion.

In Dorcol, in the summertime it is almost impossible to walk on the pavement. Cafe patios take up most of the pavement. The roads are crowded with cars moving slowly, while drivers scan the scenery for a familiar face or a vacant parking spot. Dorcol is the place to come, to see and be seen.

Belgrade’s cafe culture is a relatively recent phenomenon, arising at around the time of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, a time of political upheaval and the birth of Serbia’s own musical creation, Turbo-Folk.

“When I opened this place, my intention was not to make a business of it, but to create a place where all of my friends could come and have fun”, said Ivan Saljic.

“I have organised parties, DJ nights, jazz concerts and different exhibitions.

As time went by, and our popularity spread, a lot of people started to come here, including the current President, Boris Tadic, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Goran Svilanovic, and others who were opposition figures at the time. They were joined by writers, artists... Dorcol became a kind of shelter for the ‘Grandjanska Srbija’, the liberal middle class.”

Milan Potrebic, former owner of cafe Gaudi remembers one of his favourite nights in his cafe, at the end of the nineties. “It was November 29th, a national holiday in the former Yugoslavia, and loads of customers wanted to celebrate. They spontaneously started to dance and a couple of minutes later, the whole place was packed with people dancing on the tables”.

A strong sense of community developed in the turbulent nineties and very often the cafes became meeting points from where people went to protest against Milosevic’s regime.

Later still, during the NATO bombings of 1999, people gathered in the cafes for company during the daytime after spending their evenings inside ,away from the air raids, and local cafes organised daytime parties to keep people’s spirits up.

And remants of the community culture of those times survive today.

Dorcol residents in those days picked their favourite cafe, to meet and take morning coffee and discuss the previous days events over a newspaper, and you can still get a little of that feeling in some of the cafes in Dorcol, such as Centrala or Bizzare.

But the demographics of the region have changed drastically since the nineties - a lot of the old inhabitants left the country, to avoid wars or to seek a better life in the West, while a new moneyed elite started moving into the area, buying flats for ever astronomical amounts until today Dorcol, from its humble beginnings, is now one of

Bizzare was one of the first cafe/bars in Dorcol and continues

HISTORY CLASS Dorcol is a part of the Old Town municipality. Its name comes from the Turkish words dort (four) and yol (road) and means crossroads. The historic centre of this colourful quarter was the area down from Cara Dusana and was mostly populated by Turkish and Greek residents and a sizeable Jewish community. At the beginning of the last century, the Dorcol neighbourhood grew to cover all the streets from Kalemegdan to Francuska and from Vasina to the river. Today Dorcol’s population is approximately 23,000. the most expensive neighbourhoods in town. The old craft shops and restaurants have gone to be replaced by more upmarket and trendier joints catering to a younger, more affluent crowd. As for the cafes of the past, one or two still struggle on, with an ever-dwindling clientele of locals and ever increasing rents, but the old community culture of Dorcol, may soon be just a memory.

Now the locals are engaged in a new war over the noisy late night revelers, the loud music and inconsiderately parked cars and litter that places like this attract the world over.

Dorcol’s certainly changed in the last twenty years and many hanker after a past they look fondly upon, but perhaps the spectacles become ever more rose-tinted as we get older. After all, just pick up a guide book, any guide book, about this town and you’ll see that the nightlife in Belgrade is becoming world famous, and that Dorcol is at its centre.

belgrade chronicle

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Then and Now

Belgrade Through the Eyes of…

Prabha Chandran Communications & Media Consultant Nationality: Indian In Belgrade since: February 2008 The best thing about Belgrade is:

s to be a firm favourite for it’s lively atmosphere.

Photo courtesy of cafe Bizzare

Belgrade Diary

Almost forty years …

By John White

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t’s easy to picture the scene - as the place hasn’t changed much: Belgrade’s main railway station, on a winter’s afternoon in 1970. The Munich train is just in. There’s a young English guy getting ready to jump off. He’s come all the way from London – a two-day journey - to meet his Yugoslav sweetheart. First time in Yugi and he’s come well prepared for the Balkan winter – in a Canadian fur coat, borrowed from an uncle (“keeps ya cosy at 20 below, son!”).

Only snag, as he finds out at once, is that Belgrade’s had one of its sudden weather shifts, and outside the train it’s 15 above. He simply melts into the arms of his beloved. He doesn’t take in the station, the low, narrow platforms, the travellers laden like refugees, the dark-coated railwaymen, the cops with the red stars on their caps ... He’s in love, and he’s hot.

Nearly forty years on, what can I say about Belgrade? Since that warm December day, it’s been so much a part of me that I have to step right outside myself to answer the question. In fact, I didn’t come to live here full time until 1983 but, minus two years or so in Skopje, I’ve been here ever since. And,

for most of those 20+ years, living in the same place in the south of the city, Julino Brdo. So me and Belgrade, with its people, its sights, shapes, smells and sounds, are really close buddies. Are we still in love? Of course we are. Are we still blind to one another’s faults? I don’t think so.

I love, most of all, the topography of Belgrade. Take my home area: full of little ups and downs, sudden steep cliffs, views westward of 70-80 km – Cer Mountain on the left, the Fruska Gora hills on the right, and, closer in, the chunky skyline of New Belgrade.

Magnificent sunsets, clean morning breezes blowing away the evening smog which has floated down from the city centre, summer storms crashing, unhindered, against the windows.

Standing on the battlements of the fortress, I’m still, after 40 years, amazed at the sight of the two great rivers joining together – the handsomely proportioned Sava, not too wide to be easily bridged, its banks guarded by jetties and boats and, upstream, by the lines of floating homes and cafes – and the huge Danube, broad, brown, viciously fast-moving and altogether unforgiving, bridged only by the ugly and rusting girders of the Pancevacki Most.

Everyone has their favourite places – some love the wide expanses of New Belgrade, all sky and grass and scrub between the parallel lines of apartments and offices; others the quiet, leafy lanes of Senjak, or the private walled estates of Dedinje; yet others the slopes of Visnjicka banja with its views over the Danube, or the narrow steep streets of Zvezdara, with yard dogs snarling on every side.

Skopje, my “other” Balkan city, has something Belgrade doesn’t – a 1,000m mountain leaping out of its western suburbs, but what it does have in common with its big northern brother is a slightly battered look. In Skopje’s case, I think that’s due to bad memories of the 1963 earthquake, but Belgrade’s battering was man-made, from the air – the Luftwaffe in 1941, the Allies in 1944, NATO in 1999 … The city, that great survivor, carries its scars with a somewhat perverse pride, offering to us a built environment which is an almost random mixture of styles – from Secessionist facades to Socialist-Realist housing to mirror-glass Modernism.

Living long in Belgrade makes you tolerant, and inclined to forgive, too easily, things which irritate visitors: the appalling density of traffic, which suggests that the authorities haven’t yet mastered the methods of rational traffic management; the sloppy and inconsistent approach to running apartment blocks, which leaves nearly everything to resident volunteers, thus ensuring that little gets done; the stray dog problem; the rubbish problem, with no separation of household garbage, and no large-scale recycling. The average Belgrader notes these things, shakes his head, grumbles but moves on. Maybe we’re too tolerant, too passive, but how are you going to protest, and where?

Perhaps given my own background, one of the things I find marvellous is the passion for books at a time when publishing is in the doldrums in the US and Europe. I was surprised to discover the Belgrade Book fair is the second largest in Europe and that some of India’s most successful contemporary writers have been translated into Serbian. For instance, Beli Tigre by Arvind Adiga was in local stores even before it won the Booker last year. There is a cafe culture in Belgrade that reminds me of Paris.

The most annoying thing about Belgrade is:

It’s no good asking me about Belgrade – I’ve been living here too long.

I went back to the main railway station the other day. Nothing has changed much. It’s still the crummy place I arrived at in 1970, perhaps even crummier. OK, they’ve put in new toilets, but the few visible staff don’t seem to have much to do. There are few trains and even fewer passengers. But Belgrade does “crummy” quite well: you feel at home in that station, you feel it’s your own place, you’re not daunted or intimidated.

And that’s Belgrade for me, my own place, my own people, not a bad place to be retired in, after all.

John White has worked for European Commission Delegations in Belgrade and Skopje, and for the European Agency for Reconstruction. He is now retired.

We fly for your smile.

We’d love to hear your thoughts too. Tell us what you like about Belgrade, what really makes you fizz with anger and what you would change if you were in charge.

Send us your thoughts, tell us a little bit about yourself, and send a photo too, if you like.

Send your contributions to: belgradeinsighteditor@birn.eu.com

5

That there is a different price for foreigners at local markets and in some hotels. This weekend, for the third time, we arrived at a hotel to discover the price for a room was double what we had been told on the phone. Initially, I also found food prices very inflated at the green market but now I’ve learnt to negotiate a little.

If I was mayor for one day: I would ban children from coming up to cars at traffic lights, begging for money and punish women who use babies for this purpose. Poverty is something we are grappling with in my own country. What annoys me is exploitation of poverty. At the International Women’s Club of Belgrade we support several Serbian NGOs and I learn of cases where children are trafficked for begging and in one case, amputated for the purpose.

6

business

NBS Interest Rate Remains at 16.5 per cent The Monetary Board of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) decided to keep its key interest rate at 16.5 per cent in an attempt to counter inflationary pressures, driven by the high fiscal deficit in December 2008. The board also noted disappointingly low budget inflows in the first two months of the year.

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Funding problems for Delta’s Slovenian Venture

Lviv Bus Manufacturer wants FAP Ukrainian bus manufacturer Lvivski Avtobusni Zavod was the only bidder in the tender for the purchase of 86.5 per cent of Priboj based FAP, a manufacturer of trucks, buses and chassis. The Ukranian based operator is owned by Russian entrepreneur Igor Curkin. However there is a possibility that postal bids have yet to arrive.

Still no Bidder for FKS Jagodina’s Industrija kablova, FKS, has once again failed to attract a single bidder in the recent privatisation tender. Indeed not a single prospective buyer purchased the tender documentation.

On offer was 99.35 per cent of the stock in the company which is the largest manufacturer of cables and cable equipment in the Balkans, at a minimum price of €56.6 million payable in six annual installments.

“It is likely that… a new tender will be announced with a minimum bid price 51 per cent lower than now” said Dragan Rajid, the President of the Independent Trade Union of this company.

Subsidised Mortgages Ruled Out In the wake of government announcements of subsidised consumer credit, Oliver Dulid, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, has ruled out subsidised mortgage loans, saying that the government would rather consider the construction of social apartments, which he said would resolve the housing problems of hundreds of thousands of people.

An architect’s drawing of the planned Stozice sports park project, a joint development between Delta Holding, Druzbi Grep and the local government.

L

jubljana daily Dnevnik reports that Delta Holding has not invested the necessary funding into the “Stozice” sports park project that it committed to in August 2008 and that the developers may be seeking alternative partners in the event that Delta does not fulfill its commitments to the project.

At the time it was announced in August 2008, Delta Holding’s planned investment of €242.5 mil-

Delta’s partner in the project, Druzbi Grep, are reported to be looking for alternative partners, Including Multi– Development, a Dutch Group which had previously bid on the project, but Delta released a statement confirming its continued interest in the project and noting that it was in negotiations with its bankers about the necessary funding for the project.

A Belgrade Insight source in Delta’s PR Unit confirmed that Delta is

“still in the project” and that the finance for the project was being put in place, “we are in negotiation with big investment banks over the loans”, the source said.

As late as the fourth quarter of 2008, there was much speculation that Delta would emerge as a bidder for the Mercator group at the forthcoming sale of Infond Holding and Pivovarna Lasko’s 48 per cent holding in the group, but this now seems unlikely.

Middle Eastern Buyer for Petrohemija

P

etrohemija,the leading regional producer of petrochemicals and plastics may be linked to Iranian business interests, local daily Blic reports.

Following the recent visit of an Iranian trade delegation, the Iranian’s expressed great interest in business cooperation with the refinery.

Whether this would lead to a purchase of the facility or just a closer

Trains in Prokop Station

by Year End Minister of Infrastructure, Milutin Mrkonjic, announced that some 20 years after construction first started, trains will stop at the Prokop railway station before the year end. Envisaged as a replacement for the current central station, the site has been left idle for most of the last two decades as financial crises and the instability following the break up of Yugoslavia intervened.

lion, was the largest foreign investment in Slovenia in the sector and was widely see as an aggressive move by Serbia’s largest retail group into the home territory of Mercator, the region’s largest grocer. The project, which includes a shopping centre, a 16,000 seat football stadium, indoor area and other facilities is a Public Private Partnership, PPP, between the local government and the developers.

Belex Petrohemija in Pancevo

By Tijana Cvetkovic

S

erbian markets continued to weaken in line with the international market.

Major European indices hit levels unseen in more than a decade,

strategic partnership is yet unclear but changes could certainly mean an end to the continual crisis at the ailing state-run operation and some job security for the 3,000 workers.

The Iranian Foreign Minister and a negotiating team are expected as early as this Wednesday for talks with local experts. Milos Bugarin, president of Serbian Chamber of Commerce noted the interest expressed

in Teheran by the Iranian Petroleum Ministry for a strategic partnership with ‘Petrohemija’.

Petrohemija produces a range of oil distillates, petro-chemicals and plastics, from ethylene through to plastic piping for the water and gas industries, in a sprawling 247 acre site in the industrial city of Pancevo, approximately 15km outside Belgrade.

Serbia’s Market Plumbs New Depths and Belgrade’s Stock Exchange indices recorded new historic lows.

The Belex15, index of the most liquid shares, plunged to 391.03 points, while the composite index, Belexline, dropped to 908.8 points.

Over a week the Belex15 was 6.4 per cent off, and the Belexline down 4.2 per cent.

Between March 2nd and 5th, total turnover was just 345 million dinars with shares making up some 77 per cent of total turnover.

Total FX bond turnover reached €864,000 with, once again, series A2016 the most heavily traded.

Foreign investors accounted for 44.5 per cent of the week’s overal trading with a higher participation on the sell side.

The most actively traded share in the reviewed period was AIK

Bank with turnover of 97.4 million dinars and 68,458 traded shares.

Privredna Bank and Energoprojekt holding also saw relatively heavy trading with turnover of 32.8 million dinars and 21.5 million dinars respectively.

The low liquidity caused a double digit drop on most positions, so top losers of the week were Politika (-48.20 per cent ), Veterinarski zavod Subotica (-15.00 per cent) and Energoprojekt holding (-13.00 per cent).

Top gainers were Credy Bank, Vranje based Simpo and Jubmes Bank with modest price increases of 7.2 per cent, 7.1 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

Tijana Cvetkovic is an analyst with FIMA Fas Ltd. in Belgrade.

business

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

7

Heba Brings Hope to South Serbia

By Nikola Lazic From Bujanovac

S

erbia’s flourishing mineral water market will be watching to see what happens to Heba of Bujanovac now that it has been sold to successful fruit juice company Nektar from Backa Palanka in northern Serbia.

Heba lost its position as a brand leader over the past three or four years while awaiting privatisation and a much needed injection of capital.

Nektar paid €2.5 million for a 70 per cent stake in the company last September, with an obligation to invest another €6 million in Heba’s development and to assume its debts of around €4 million.

Nektar will also pay €250 per year of work to each of the 520 workers expected to take voluntary redundancy. So far, around 300 workers have applied to leave.

Bojan Radun, a director of Nektar, said the company now intended to expand, a development which could bring much needed benefits to the impoverished local community in southern Serbia.

“The local community will enjoy multiple benefits from us,” he said. “Employees will have good salaries and part of the tax [we pay] will go to the municipal budget,” he said.

Producing 300 million litres of various fruit juices annually, Nektar has around 50 per cent of the domestic market and is a regional brand leader.

Heba, meanwhile, was once one of the country’s most successful companies and even in 2008 was still in fifth place as a water bottler in Serbia, producing 41.5 million litres.

The Bujanovac region, home to the Heba plant, was the scene of an armed conflict between security forces and Albanian insurgents in 2000 and 2001 and remains ethnically tense, but local authorities now hope to derive big benefits from the arrival of Nektar.

Ismail Pajaziti, who acted on Heba’s behalf in the privatisation process, believes it’s in Nektar’s interest to invest in the factory and develop it.

“Those who remain in Heba will be receiving good salaries, while those who opt for social programmes will also get money from their severance pay,” he said. “Besides, Nektar will certainly improve Heba’s business, which means more taxes for the municipality.”

Branka Serovic, from the Business Association of the Serbian Mineral Water Industry, believes Heba will soon increase its market share.

“As a leader in its field, Nektar will greatly improve Heba’s business dealings, increasing its share of the mineral water market, while the municipality of Bujanovac will also benefit,” she told Balkan Insight.

Knjaz Milos from Arandjelovac near Belgrade is the current market leader in Serbia. Since 2004, Knjaz has been owned by the Investment Fund Salford. In 2008, they produced 195 million litres, giving them a 30 per cent market share.

Radun, director of Nektar, plans to increase production at Heba by 40 per cent over the next two two years, from the current level of 41.5 million litres, a return to the production levels of 2002.

“As with every company that came late to privatisation, Heba did not care about the quality of product and did not invest in the brand,” Radun recalled. Nektar aims to change this, and is not afraid of competition.

“There is enough room for everyone on the market although because of the economic crisis, more and more people are opting for tap water,” he said.

“Our aim is to revive Heba as a recognised brand… and we will achieve this by investing in marketing, in a quality product and in developing packaging.”

With around 300 wells, Serbia is one of Europe’s mostly richly endowed countries in terms of quality mineral water, but it exports less than 10 per cent of its mineral water, mostly to neighbouring states.

Branka Serovic says the main obstacle to exports are high prices. “Beside quality, which our

Nectar will invest €6 million in the Heba plant to improve production efficiency and increase output.

waters undoubtedly have, you need strong marketing to increase exports,” she said. “But prices are the biggest obstacle.”

Radun says Heba plans to focus on boosting exports to neighbouring markets, primarily Macedonia, Bosnia and Albania.

“We will first try to reclaim the Serbian market and then the markets of neighbouring countries.”

The privatisation process has left victims, too.

Around 300 workers have so far accepted voluntary redundancy.

“After 15 years of work in Heba I am out of job, and with €3,700 in severance pay I can’t buy even an average used car let alone start a serious private business,” said Sladjan Spasic, 45, from Bujanovac.

“As a leader in its field, Nektar will greatly improve Heba’s business.”

Branka Serovic

“I don’t know how I will provide for two children and an unemployed wife,” he added. “I made the decision [to accept redundancy] out of fear, because if I’d been sacked later on, I would have lost both the job and the money.”

Sava Tomic, 39, has also opted to leave Heba voluntarily. Until recently he worked as a security guard. He and another 13 colleagues were left without jobs after the new owner hired a private security firm to do their work.

“I spent over ten years in Heba but don’t see any future for me there. The severance pay is too small to start up a business, so I will try to find a job in a state institution as it’s safest there,” Sava said. “I’m lucky I’m not married and still living with my parents.”

But Stojanca Arsic, a local politician, said locals take a realistic view of the situation. “Workers at Heba knew there were too many employees in the factory,” he said.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

8

neighbourhood

Albanian Minster Sacked Over Sex Scandal Tirana_Albania’s Minister of Culture Ylli Pango was fired on Wednesday, after a video showing him allegedly asking for sexual favours from young women applying for a job in his ministry, was broadcast on TV. The video and accompanying audio, broadcast on the investigative program Fisk Fare on Top Channel TV, appear to show Pango setting up private meetings with two job applicants. One of these meetings was in his private villa in Tirana, and the sacked minister appears to ask a girl to take her clothes off. Thirty minutes after the broadcast, Prime Minister Sali Berisha issued a statement sacking Pango as culture minister.

Bank Director “Blocks” Investigation Sarajevo_The director of the Development Bank in the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)Croat Federation has blocked their investigation into his own alleged misuse of power. The chief inspector of the Federal Finance Police, Zufer Dervisevic, said that the financial police were forced to stop their weeks old investigation into the work of the government-owned Federal Development Bank after “verbal assaults and obstructions” from the bank’s director, Ramiz Dzaferovic. Dzaferovic refused to provide any further documentation into the work of his bank, media reported on Wednesday. The Development Bank dismissed this claim but provided no further details of the investigation.

Hospital Removes 5 kg Tumour Sofia _ Tokuda Hospital in Sofia has successfully removed a 5 kilo tumour from a 13year-old boy the Sofia Echo reports. Over the six hours of the operation, the entire team of the thoracic surgery department at the Tokuda hospital helped out. Doctor Tsvetan Minchev, head of the thoracic surgery department, said that the procedure went without a glitch and the boy was doing well.

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

US Military Met With Mladic After Indictment

By Branka Trivic

A

merican Professor Charles Ingrao says research shows the US military often encountered the Hague tribunal’s top war-crimes indictee in 1996, but failed to arrest him because that was not then their policy.

Purdue University History Professor Charles Ingrao says the US military saw Ratko Mladic at least 20 times in 1996 alone but the Pentagon was not then interested in capturing war crimes indictees in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The startling claim, one in a series of controversial claims concerning the role played by the United States and its allies in post-Dayton Bosnia, appears in a broad work of investigative research undertaken by 300 scholars from the Western Balkans and beyond.

The research work, published recently is entitled “Scholars’ Initiative: Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies” and aims to “bridge the cognitive gap between the region’s peoples”.

“Between late February and early July 1996”, says Ingrao, “a specially designated US Army reconnaissance team observed Ratko Mladic on at least 20 occasions, closely tailing him as he commuted between his command post inside Mount Zepa, the nearby compound of the VRS [the Republika Srpska Army], the Sixty-Fifth Protective Regiment, and other locations in

Source: www.mediainfo.ba

US professor, Charles Ingrao says US forces had multiple opportunities to apprehend Mladic

“Between late February and early July 1996, a specially designated US Army reconnaissance team observed Ratko Mladic on at least 20 occasions.”

the vicinity of Han Pijesak.”

Further, Ingrao says, on several other occasions the same unit escorted US Colonel John Batiste and a military policeman to Republika Srpska Army regimental headquarters on Mt Zepa for face-to-face meetings with Mladic, allegedly to negotiate his voluntary surrender.

Ingrao told Balkan Insight it was documented in their research that “the platoon even rehearsed the protocol for

Mladic’s ‘permissive detention’, although not any procedure for forcibly arresting him.

“The unit did not actually see Mladic but they told me there was no doubt Batiste went to that location to meet him”.

Asked who told him of the “close encounters” between Col Batiste and Mladic, Ingrao says: “He was a military officer with this unit…. a member of the US intelligence community”.

Then asked whether the Pentagon was then aware of the meeting between a high-ranking US officer and the war crimes indictee, Ingrao says: “There is no question that for an American senior officer to meet with a twice-indicted war criminal, this could only have been done with the fore-knowledge and approval of the Pentagon.”

He adds: “There is no question about that. It would seem very unusual if they were not in touch with the Pentagon”.

He goes on to say that several US military officers he interviewed stated as much.

“Also… the former US Ambassador to Croatia and Serbia, William Montgomery, has been on record also talking about the degree to which the US military actively ‘torpedoed’ any attempts to get indicted war criminals arrested.

It was clear that the US military was not going after war criminals.”

Ingrao says similar preferential treatment was extended to the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, who regularly commuted between his Pale home and office in full view of the International Police Task Force, IPTF, whose Austrian, Swedish, and Ukrainian officers neglected to report

these encounters to their Sarajevo headquarters.

The history professor says the US prohibition on capturing suspects “was so proscriptive that not a single one of more that 50 indictees was apprehended by IFOR during the first 18 months of its deployment in Bosnia”.

He describes the events being played on the Bosnian “playground” from 1995 onwards as a form of bizarre game: “Whereas White House Press Spokesman Mike McCurry announced that pictures of all of the indictees were being distributed at IFOR checkpoints, the photos were posted only at the headquarters’ compounds, far removed from the checkpoints and, presumably, from the fugitives themselves.

“When a Bosnian-Croat fugitive, Miroslav Bralo, turned up at a check-

“Holbrooke accepted Karadzic’s terms, knowing full well that the US, French and British military had no intention of arresting any ICTY indictees.”

point in Vitez and offered to surrender, Dutch IFOR units merely took down his name and address, then returned to their base to look for his picture”.

“It soon became apparent that US military commanders were actively forestalling efforts by the Dutch, Danish and other IFOR contingents to apprehend fugitives, a charge confirmed by military and civilian officials from several NATO countries and by Swed-

ish foreign minister Carl Bildt, then serving as the international community’s High Representative for Bosnia”.

The Pentagon was not the only American “player” to show no interest in capturing war-crimes indictees, he says. The then president, Bill Clinton, was no fan, either: “When the US went into Bosnia it was an obsession of Clinton that this would not be ‘another Mogadishu’ [when US troops were dragged through the streets of the Somali capital in 1993].

So, he was quite unwilling to overrule the Pentagon, despite State Department attempts to get him to do so.”

The State Department was the only major player that wanted war criminals arrested, because it wanted to establish stable government in Bosnia. They understood that as long as Karadzic headed Republika Srpska, that aim was not possible.

Their agenda was, quite understandably, to have these war criminals arrested, including, and perhaps beginning with, Karadzic, but they knew the US military would not do it.

“Therefore, when [US envoy Richard] Holbrooke was sent to Belgrade to negotiate with [Serbian leader Slobodan] Milosevic, the whole focus was on getting Karadzic out of the government”.

Touching on the alleged KaradzicHolbrooke tradeoff, in which Karadzic agreed to disappear from public life in return for impunity from arrest – a tradeoff Holbrooke strongly denies ever existed – Ingrao says that at least three high-ranking State Department officials have confirmed such an exchange of pledges happened.

Mladic is still at large

“Holbrooke accepted Karadzic’s terms, knowing full well that the US, French and British military had no intention of arresting any ICTY indictees, but declined to put such a promise in writing,” he says.

“Instead, he instructed his principal assistant, Christopher Hill, to draft a memorandum to be signed by Karadzic in which he agreed to give up power and retire to private life”.

Asked if the State Department gave Holbrooke the green light to negotiate such a deal, Ingrao says: “One of our sources is unaware of the degree to which Holbrooke was given the green light to negotiate such an arrangement.

What we do know is that he was encouraged to be ‘creative’; that the people in the State Department, including Warren Christopher [Secretary of State from January 20, 1993 until January 17, 1997] were basically telling him: do what you have to do, but get Karadzic out of the government”.

out & about

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

9

Budapest for Bored Kids The Aquaworld resort provides respite from winter gloom.

By Paul Bergen

Reporting from Aquaworld

B

udapest’s history may stretch across millennia, and its museums, arts, music and architecture may make it a regional cultural centre.

But my kids don’t care. It has a waterpark. That’s what Budapest means to them.

For our winter vacation, instead of subjecting the kids to culture and learning - boring stuff - as I normally would, we decided to take them somewhere just for fun – Aquaworld and the Ramada Resort Budapest, which opened in December. We managed to soak the winter chill out of our bones and enjoyed 11 waterslides, a wave pool, and other amusements.

Under a five-storey, 72-meterwide dome, most of the heated pools and amusements are open year-round.

The six tallest water slides, which you descend via tube, mat or “body slide” - your skin - are accessed by a lift or stairs. You can send your tube up its own elevator, if you wish, although with a shortage of tubes during our visit, someone else always seemed to have grabbed mine at the top before I could catch up to it.

Signs say the tallest slides are restricted to those older than 10 and taller than 150 cm. Apparently parents can rely on their own discretion because I saw children shorter than that riding. But do use care. The slides are fun but fast, even a little disorienting, and I know of two people who bumped their heads on them (they were uninjured). I let my two children ride the slowest slides, the “Rainbow” and “UFO.” Maybe next time I’ll be a little braver with them.

But they found plenty more to amuse. One slide shoots you into an onion-shaped funnel, then drops you into a pool. Another is wide enough for three to slide together. A sheltered jungle-themed alcove has slides scaled for smaller children.

Several pools are good for a hot soak, a chance to ride the waves or to learn to surf on a gushing tide. An attendant offers instruction, but with his limited English skills, my kids merely clung to their boards, which, like javelins, shot to the padded back wall. I never saw anyone manage to stand on their boards, but plenty seemed to enjoy trying.

The wave pool lies still most of the time. But once an hour, for 10 minutes, the water starts rolling and heaving. We needed to make regular migrations to catch the tide.

The indoor/outdoor thermal pool, with its automatic door, provided a more gentle thrill. My kids loved being out in the cold air, steam rising from the surface, while they stayed comfortable, mostly submerged. “I wonder if my hair will freeze,” my son said (it didn’t). They thought swimming through a doorway was pretty cool, too.

Adults who would like to enjoy a quieter soak would do well to go

Photo by Paul Bergen

The Aquaworld resort has enough attractions to keep the children entertained for the whole day.

between the 6 a.m. opening and 10 a.m., when the pumps and valves of all the amusements are turned on. On the flip side, kids who wake their parents up early to try to beat the lines will be sorely disappointed.

Aquaworld has its own cafeteria (lunch for four cost about €20; two main dishes were big enough to share) saunas, lockers and showers. Guests of the Ramada Resort can get direct access via their room cards through a separate gate.

The hotel offers its own pleasures, geared more toward adults, but not exclusively so. The spa lists 20 massage treatments, including at least four flavours: chocolate, cocoa oil, rose oil and cinnamon; and multiple body beautification treatments, again several involving chocolate or milk.

Algae is also an option, if that’s more your taste. There’s a hairdresser and even a dentist. There are an indoor/ outdoor pool, saunas, squash courts, a weight room, fitness programs led by a trainer for dreary weather, tennis courts and outdoor pools. And then there are the cosmetic treatments designed to perfect every body part.

A weekend day-pass to the water park costs about €21.50 for adults, €13.20 for kids. The hotel, which has 309 rooms, suites and apartments, offers an array of package deals.

We took a three-night package that included two days admission to the waterpark and breakfast for just over €500. We stayed in what the hotel called an apartment, a bedroom, bath and sort of a large rec-room with a pull-out couch, small table and coun-

ter area. There were a few plates and some silverware, a sink and a microwave to warm things up, but no other way to cook anything. Roomy and comfortable though it was, without a true kitchen or kitchenette, I don’t know that it should be called an apartment.

That said, we wouldn’t have prepared any food there anyway because we stayed out all day and were too tired afterward to do anything but sleep. Breakfast was a terrific buffet with omelets to order, those tiny hot dogs that hotels call “breakfast sausages,” several other hot dishes, meats, cheeses, breads, fruits, vegetables, yogurt, cereals, and even decent coffee.

The hotel is located in a non-descript suburb north of the city centre.

It’s not close to other attractions, but a 20 minute drive gets you to the WestEnd City Center, where you can leave your car and grab a metro or tram. We took a day for a non-aquatic experience, the Budapest Zoo (www. zoobudapest.com) and the Hungarian State Circus (www.maciva.hu), in the delightful City Park (Varosliget), the location of an amusement park, museums of fine arts and transportation, the Széchenyi Baths, and several lakes, one steaming and the other frozen for skating.

The Zoo was as grey as the day, and the Asian elephant, rocking back and forth and slowly shaking its head and trunk, appeared to need its own vacation. But the grown-ups appreciated the Jugendstil buildings, and the tropical fish in the aquarium, the ape

house and other exhibits provided a taste of tropical warmth.

The 120-year-old circus featured acrobats, contortionists, a ventriloquist who used human “dummies,” a lion tamer, a dog act, and a recurring clown act. The kids loved it. So did the parents.

Aquaworld proved to be an easy weekend getaway, offering fun for kids, more sophisticated and restful pleasures for adults, and, at least while introductory pricing lasts, good value.

Getting there: From Belgrade, it’s barely 3½ hours to the hotel – don’t let anyone tell you it’ll take more than 4.

The last leg of the M0 beltway was completed shortly before the resort opened, and unfortunately your maps and GPS may be no more reliable than your friends. Approaching Budapest on the M5/E75, take the M0 and stay on it past the airport (ferihegy) and the exit for Njiregyhaza and the M3. Follow signs for Vac, E77, and take Exit 73, Donakeszi Del. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and follow the signs to Aquaworld. The last turn comes before the Auchan store (a French chain, and a good place to stock up on Gallic wine and cheese before heading back home). http://www.ramadaplaza.hu/ http://www.aqua-world.hu/

10

the belgrader

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Dining Out

Znak Pitanja Centuries of history and traditional food combine to form this popular bar and restaurant.

By Trencherman

Y

ou know those evenings when absolutely nothing goes right?

Well we were having one of those. “You’re not wearing that, are you?” “I didn’t phone the taxi. I thought you’d phoned the taxi.” “What do you mean, you didn’t book?”

So, we were turned away from our fully booked first choice and after a long and somewhat miserable trudge back to the centre of town we came across “?” or Znak Pitanja.

Now, everybody who’s been in Serbia more than a month or two will, I suspect, have heard of this place, even if they’ve not eaten here.

We weren’t planning to have an adventure in Serbian cuisine. In fact we’d dressed up and “?” is not a place you dress up for, but it was there, and we were damp and a little miserable and totally bereft of ideas, so we ventured in.

It has what the guidebooks will tell you is character. And it serves what

guidebooks will tell you is traditional Serbian cuisine. You walk in through the bar, which on our visit was filled with gnarled looking individuals nursing beers with rakija on the side, and take a right into the dining room. We took the last available table and joined the other 25 or so diners. Personal space is at a premium here and this comes both with potential advantages and drawbacks. You’ll certainly learn more about your neighbours lives here than in virtually any other forum in Belgrade, and whilst this could lead you into a friendship for life, you could, as we were, be irritated to boiling point by the crass and insensitive boasting of the “businessman” on the next table.

The English-speaking waiter, when asked if they had a Vranac said yes, but wouldn’t we rather have a local white wine? It was, he said, only 1,900 dinars, which he told us was a good price. Why we agreed, I don’t know. We knew it wasn’t a good price and we wanted red, but sometimes you go with the flow. It was predictably miserable. Delivered as two half litre carafes, it was ice cold, had no nose and an almost imperceptibly light, slightly acidic taste. There was more flavour in the accompanying bottle of Knaz Milos.

In another restaurant, I have twice been beguiled by the menu into ordering “Serbian-style mushrooms. And both times I have been disappointed

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

Znak Pitanja (the question mark) serves traditional Serbian style food in ‘olde worlde’ surroundings.

with the results. Somehow I thought things would be different here, after all, this restaurant has been serving traditional food for over a hundred years.

But they weren’t. Up-turned caps of field mushrooms on a bed of white rice with round lettuce. My dining companion’s spicy peppers with sour cream were much better. The peppers were fresh, crisp and a little spicy and the sour cream was glorious – thick, really creamy but with enough sourness to stop it being sickly – a rare treat.

For main dishes we chose a Serbian muckalica and medallions of steak, described, I recall, as Zlatibor style, and some Serbian style beans – what could be more traditional.

The beans were soft, creamy

white beans in a light savoury sauce, with a little onion. But they weren’t uniformly hot – I suspect the use of a microwave. The muckalica arrived sizzling and was a generous portion of grilled pork, chopped and added to a base of onion and a little cabbage stewed in stock. It made a pleasing combination and mixed with the beans, a hearty dish. The steak dish used the same base, with the addition of a little cooked red pepper and was slathered with Kajmak which had separated slightly under a hot grill and the result was a little greasy.

To get the full experience we ordered desserts of, what we were told was a traditional Serbian apple pie, and

an apple dish which is best described, as no name would do it justice. A cold, peeled baked apple was sat in sweetened juice. Some chestnut puree had been pushed into the core and a blob of whipped cream applied to the top.

Crushed nuts, walnuts, I think, had been sprinkled over the ensemble. The pie, was two thin slices of a tray baked pie, with very little apple between two thick layers of shortcrust pastry.

I know that many people’s hearts have a soft spot in them for “?” and the ambiance is definitely the “traditional Serbian” that many first-time visitors are looking for, but in all honesty if what you’re looking for is good traditional Serbian food there’s definitely better out there.

We Recommend Every week we feature a selection of restaurants picked by our team. They give a flavour of what’s out there on the Belgrade restaurant scene and should provide you with a few alternatives to get you out of your dining rut. Our choices may not always have had the full Trencherman treatment but you can be sure that one of us has eaten there and enjoyed it.

Bevanda

Caffe Caffe

Dva Jelena

This restaurant serves some of the best seafood you’ll find in town. But save it for a special occasion, because according to one of our team, it’s great, but its “expensive, expensive, expensive”.

This little restaurant in Senjak boasts competent Italian cooking, a great wine list and polished service. Ideal if you don’t feel like venturing into town.

It’s touristy we know, but for simple Serbian standards, a great location and reasonable prices it’s a good bet on any day of the week.

Pozarevacka 51 Tel: 011 2447446

Vase Pelagica 48 Tel: 011 3693030

The name Portobello, or calm port, characterises our restaurant perfectly. A calm, warm and cozy place for you to set sail from on a culinary journey Svetog Save 11, BELGRADE Tel/Fax: 011 2458373 www.portobello-restoran.co.rs e-mail: info@portobello-restoran.co.rs

Frans Need to impress that certain someone? Clients to butter-up?

Important inter-governmental business to conduct? Frans could well be a good venue. An interesting mix of local and international cuisine, retro-chic interior and good service make this a popular if somewhat expensive choice.

Bulevar Oslobodjenja 18a Tel: 011 2641944

Skadarska 32 Tel: 011 3242994

the belgrader

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

11

Belgrade’s Partizan stadium will play host to ageing Australian rockers AC/DC in what promises to be one of the biggest events of this year’s music calendar.

Concert Heaven Judging by the large number of concerts held recently, and scheduled for later this year, the local music industry has never been better off, despite the global economic crisis, and Serbia is fast becoming the industry’s regional centre.

quick look at events last month at Belgrade’s concert venues says it all: Iron Maiden, Sting, Ennio Morricone, The Pussycat Dolls, James Blunt – all managed to fill up the Belgrade Arena or the Sava Centar, at a time when the media is constantly telling us that the economic outlook for the year is going to be the worst for at least a decade.

It is possible that it’s precisely because of all that worry, that Belgraders seem to have adopted the maxim “don’t worry, be happy” as their own.

And the best is yet to come. In March, Belgrade will welcome Il Divo, Italian pop-opera sensation, unknown, perhaps, in many west European countries, but a huge draw on this side of the Adriatic. In May, 45,000 fans will fill Partizan’s stadium to see AC/DC, and British 1980’s new wave band, Depeche Mode,

long forgotten at home, but still a huge draw in eastern Europe, will rock Usce park. In August the self styled Queen of Pop and controversial diva, Madonna, will be in town, also at Usce.

Alongside these mega-stars Serbia will again host the ever more popular Exit festival graced by some of greatest names in the industry.

The tenth festival at the Petrovaradin fortress near Novi Sad looks likely to be the biggest ever and will draw festival goers from all over Europe. David Byrn, former ‘Talking Head’ and later collaborator with experimental musician Brian Eno, will be playing in Belgrade at a jazz festival and heavy metal band Slipknot will also be in town.

Whilst this may not seem like much to someone from London or New York, in the regional context it is surely significant. AC/ DC sold out their concert within three hours at ticket prices equal to those at any other venue on the tour, and promoters will have no problem selling the last few remaining tickets for Madonna and Depeche Mode. Over recent

Cane, lead singer of the Partibrejkers.

Temperamental pop diva Madona will be in town in August .

By Slobodan Georgijev

A

years, Belgrade has hosted The Rolling Stones, The Police, Rihanna, REM, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and each Exit festival has hosted a galaxy of stars from just about every genre of popular music.

Local producers and promoters, Raka Maric from Music Star and Maksa Catovic from Komuna, now have the expertise and the backing to host the biggest international stars and the marketing skills to fill up stadiums, and Exit has broadened the scope of its work and is now active throughout the year.

Everything the that the local public was watching on MTV during the 1990s has now come to Serbia, and more sophisticated concert promoters can see through the lack of sales of recorded music, in a territory where piracy is rife, to gauge the true popularity of acts.

Promoters in the region have worked hard to establish themselves as reliable partners of international agencies, and this has made it impossible for the largest names in popular music to miss Serbia from their list of tour dates.

But what has perhaps not happened so successfully, is the development of domestic product. The lively underground scene in Belgrade and the rest of Serbia has remained just that, and whilst the former Yugoslavia was considered as having a strong rock and pop scene, today the mainstream is represented by aging rock stars and crooners, many of whom flirted dangerously with the 1990’s turbo-folk scene.

So whilst we definitely recommend getting out to see some of the big stars when they pass through, we also think that any serious music lover should also check out the smaller venues around town and some unfamiliar names.

Belgrade has a solid “scene” which needs only better management and perhaps a little commitment from the paying public for their music to reach larger audiences. For a great introduction to the local scene, our music correspondent suggests you check out long-time local favourite rockers, the Partibrejkers, at Dom Omladine on March 20th and 21st. You may be pleasantly surprised.

The Pussycat Dolls wowed the Arena last month.

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the belgrader

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Going Out

We Recommend

Maska Maska is a chic venue to relax over a few drinks any night of the week.

Source: www.myspace.com

An unusual and eclectic mix of furniture, paintings, wall hangings and clientele

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

T

he Maska cafe stems from a innovative idea to combine an art gallery and cafe setting into one. The Maska gallery has been around since 1999, when its first location opened in the bohemian quarter of Skadarlija.

The gallery specialises in art and decor from the Far East, which of course is how the cafes are decorated as well. The two cafe locations are both in the same street, occupying beautiful, large villas in the Cubura neighborhood of Belgrade.

The one I visited has three levels, downstairs, upstairs and an expansive attic. The decor and design of the cafe

is what sets it apart from most in Belgrade, not so much the actual pieces you will see or the exotic interior, but the sheer effort and enormous amount of thought that went into the design.

The cafe works both has a place to enjoy drinks and as a gallery, with each piece of furniture having a discretely placed price tag on it. Most of the articles are from India, east Africa and Indonesia. Every piece of furniture is unique, for example, at one table you can see a wooden chair fashioned into the shape of a hand, where the person is sitting in the palm of the hand and leaning back on the fingertips, and the chair next to it will be made of bamboo and in a completely different design.

The attic, which we chose to sit in, was fantastic - exceptionally spacious, with high ceilings and a vibe that was very hedonistic.

My Picks

Glam Up Every week, Rian Harris tells us one of her favourite places to shop. the road. Luggage is just part of what draws clients to Glam Up; they also have a large selection of handbags in a range of colors, styles and fabrics, mostly by the David Jones label, Australia’s oldest department store.

Sweet little wallets and coin purses, some jewellery, scarves and belts are also on offer. I recently purchased a

By Rian Harris retro black leather evening clutch for just 1,600 dinars. Bags, in leather, oing somewhere?

Need synthetic or cotton, start at 1,400. something to pack your stuff in? Glam Up has fashionable Glam Up sets of expandable luggage, duffle Terazije 28, Mon.-Fri 9:00-21:00, and shoulder bags to help you get on Sat 10:00-20:00.

G

My party was seated in sprawling and extremely comfortable vintage couches and sofas. There is a light scent of burning incense in the air at all times, which will probably help non-smokers enjoy the atmosphere even more. The hardwood floors are also very “vintage” in appearance, obviously new, but weathered to give a more rustic and antique appearance.

The light is dim, and the music is thankfully very unobtrusive, consisting mostly of soft acid jazz, soul and ambient world music—comfortable is the key word.

Once again, the painstaking attention given to detail is what really wins over the patrons of this cafe. The attic windows are done up to look like pictures, with old, golden frames around them. There is also a fantastic vintage furnace stretching some five metres between the floors which is working and heats the vast area of the cafe, and large chandeliers hand from the ceilings.

The prices for drinks are typical of most Belgrade nightclubs or cafes, with the beer selection focusing more on foreign brands, with only one domestic draft on tap. The rakija selection is stellar, with a large variety of branded domestic rakijas. We had the medovaca (honey) rakija, which was exquisite and is usually hard to find outside of specialty liquor shops.

The staff are courteous and fast, while the patrons seem to be of the “arty persuasion” -fashionable socialites, with the women leaning towards the more urban, artsy side and the male population bordering on a comfortable but refined style I like to call yuppie chic.

Overall, the design and detailed interior is what leaves the greatest impression on anyone visiting this place.

Every table, chair, candlestick, glass, cup, lamp, door is unique and interesting, giving the impression of sitting in a museum rather than a bar. All of the walls are either covered in tapestries or paintings and even the mailbox at the entrance into the villa has its own unique design.

It would be criminal for such a lively and interesting place to be empty, and thankfully, it usually is not. We were there at about an hour to midnight on a weekday and it was filled to about 90 per cent capacity at the time, so get there early if you want to get a good spot, the comfy couches in the attic section are highly recommended.

Friday

Dreddup The up-and-coming industrial band from Novi Sad will be promoting their new album “El Conquistadors” for the first time to the Belgrade public. Dreddup is a highly recommended new band for people into dark industrial punk rock, and remind us a little of Skinny Puppy and the older Nine Inch Nails. Underworld, Metro entrance at the corner of Ruzveltova and 27 Marta

Saturday

Krome Angels This trance super group will be coming to Belgrade. One of its members, Dino Psaras, recently played an excellent solo set here. The Krome Angels are made up of three of the leading trance producers in the world, the aforementioned Psaras, Frederic Hlyszewski and Shanti Matkin.

Kolos, Staro Sajmiste directly under the Brankov Most bridge

Sunday

Vlada Divljan The Serbian singer/songwriter is best known for his work with the rock group Idoli. Since the disintegration of the group he has been working and living abroad, and has recently taken up writing scores for films. However, this concert will be sure to focus on Idoli hits and songs from his solo career. Dom Omladine, Makedonska 22

Monday

Exhibition: Zoran Radovic This young painter is better known as a member of the Belgrade indie rock band Presing. This is the fifth installment in his “Infra” series of exhibitions. Discussing the exhibition, he states that “Individual aesthetic evidence is found in unique contrast. I find it adequate that a continuous descriptiveness represents the principle poetics of my pictures.” Whatever you say, champ! Magacin u Kraljevica Marka, Kraljevica Marka 4

Tuesday

RTS National Orchestra The Radio Television Serbia National Orchestra has spent many decades promoting and upholding the folk music traditions of not only Serbia, but surrounding Balkan countries as well. The orchestra is made up of some of the most renowned soloists and orchestral musicians in all of Serbia, led by award-winning accordion player Ljubisa Pavkovic. Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall, Studentski Trg 5

Wednesday

Cabaret Voyage The Just Jazz troupe is made up of some of the best dancers and choreographers that Belgrade has to offer. The group will be performing various cabaret numbers that will take the audience on a voyage through seven different countries. The show debuted in February as an accompanying performance to a workshop on gender inequality. Student Cultural Centre, Kralja Milana 48

Thursday

Soulfly After a successful outing by the Brazilian metal band Sepultura in Belgrade recently, the band’s founder Max Cavalera, who left over a decade ago, will try to one-up his old band with his new one, Soulfly. The band is no stranger to Serbia, having played here many times over the past five years and even took a Serbian band, Eyesburn, on tour with them several years ago. Student Cultural Centre, Kralja Milana 48

the belgrader

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

13

What’s On CINEMAS

Friday, March 6

Roda Cineplex Pozeska 83A , tel: 011 2545260

Music:

Pink Panther 2: 16:30, 18:30 Bolt: 16:15 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: 16:00 Marley and Me: 18:00, 20:15, 22:30 He’s Just Not That Into You: 17:45, 20:00, 22:20 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 21:00 Valkyrie: 20:10, 22:15 Dom sindikata Trg Nikole Pasica 5, tel. 011 3234849 Marley and Me: 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 22:30 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 18:15, 21:00 Confessions Of a Shopaholic: 16:00, 18:00 Valkyrie: 22:00 Zone of the Dead: 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 Pink Panther 2: 16:15 He’s Just Not That Into You: 20:00, 22:15 Ster City Cinema Delta City, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Blok 67), tel: 011 2203400 Pink Panther 2: 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:20 Valkyrie: 23:00 The International: 13:40, 16:00, 18:20, 20:40 Confessions Of A Shopaholic: 11:10, 13:20, 15:40, 18:00, 20:20, 22:30 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 21:20 Revolutionary Road: 12:10, 14:40, 17:20, 19:40 Marley and Me: 12:40, 15:20, 17:40, 20:00, 22:20 Zone of the Dead: 22:00 Tuckwood Cineplex Kneza Milosa 7, tel: 011 3236517 Marley and Me: 15:30, 18:00, 20:30, 22:50 He’s Just Not That Into You: 17:30, 20:00, 22:20 Valkyrie: 23:15 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 22:00 Dusk: 17:20 Zone of the Dead: 17:15, 19:15, 21:15 The International: 20:15, 22:30 Pink Panther 2: 16:15, 18:15

Extra Orkestar, Lava Bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00 Toca and Band, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Starfuckers, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Odium, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Happy Guitar Band, Diva Restaurant, Bulevar Nikole Tesle 2, 20:00 Nightlife: Barthelemy Vincent and Shwabe, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00 Disco Plastic, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 DJ Stevie, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Vocal House, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Sweeet Fridays, Ex-Lagoom, Svetozara Radica 5, 23:00 Yu Rock, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00 Les Gigantes, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23,00 DJ Super Fly, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 23:00 Groove Control, The Tube, Dobracina 21, 23:00 Other: Romance (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Masacre God ( play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Exhibition: Sinisa Ilic (drawings), Saloon of the Contemporary Arts Museum, Pariska 14, 17:00

Saturday, March 7 Music: Frankestra Band, Gaucosi, Dunavska 17a, 23:00 No Comment Band, Lava bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00 Witch 1, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Ben Hur, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Nightlife: Belgrade Disco Mafia, The Tube, Dobracina 17, 23:00 Gramaphondzije, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00 House Night, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 DJ Marko Gangbangers, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27.

Marta, 23:00 House Fever, Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Disco House Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00

Soul Touch, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23,00 Alternative Control, Ex-Lagoom, Svetozara Radica 5, 23:00 Other: Don Juan in Soho (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Eling, Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Exhibition: German Artists (illustrations), Fine Arts Museum, Vuka Karadzica 18, 17:00 Eugene Onegin, (opera), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30

Sunday, March 8 Music: Makao Band, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Live Bands, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Djura i Mornari, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Los Propeleros, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Nightlife: Sportsman Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00 Shaker Party, Mr. Stefan Braun Garden, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:00 Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Karaoke, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30 Leftovers, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Other: Ceif (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Amy’s View (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Exhibition: Srboljub Kojadinovic (photography) SKC Gallery, Kralja Milana 48, 17:00

Other:

Other:

Sleeping Beauty (ballet), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30 Delirium Tremens (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Wounded Eagle (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Exhibition: Marija Kauzlaric (photography), ULUPUDS Small Gallery, Uzun Mirkova 12 17:00

Some Girls (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Exhibition: Zivorad Ciglic (sculpture), Gallery 73, Pozeska 83A, 17:00

Tuesday, March 10 Music: Kinky Acoustic, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30 Follower, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Azra tribute band, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Nightlife: Psychodelic Tuesday, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27 Marta, 23:00 Diesel Party, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Discount Night, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Zex Kazanova, Bambo Bar, Strahinjica Bana 71, 22:00 Other: Amadeus (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Massacre God (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Exhibition: Miodrag Krkobabic (photography), O3ONE Gallery, Andricev Venac 12, 17:00

Wednesday, March 11 Music:

Monday, March 9

Went, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00

Music:

Nightlife:

Spektar, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Kareoke Night, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Di Luna Blues Band, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00

Cocktail Wednesdays, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 DJ Ike & Prema, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 Popular Science, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Karaoke Challenge, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Go With the Flow, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Salsa Night, Havana, Nikole Spasica 1, 22:00 Fest Café, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00

Nightlife: Dj Dutya, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 22:00 House Party (DJ Kobac), Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Bla Bla Band, Vanila, Studentski trg 15, 22:30

Thursday, March 12 Music: The Resident, Bitefart café, Skver Mire Trailovic 1, 22:30 Tropico Band, Lava Bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00 Zoomie, Danguba, Cirila I Metodija 2, 23:00 Nightlife: A Little Bit of 90s, Mistique, Aberdareva 1b, 23:00 Respect, The Tube, Dobracina 21, 23:00 Ladies’ Night, Mr Braun Garden, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:00 Playground Radio Show Live, Tapas Bar, Dositejeva 17, 22:00 Weekend Warm Up, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Other: Art (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Fortress (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 New Stradija (play), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30 Exhibition: Slobodan Kastavarac (painting), Feniks Gallery, Tadeusa Koscuska, 17:00

14

sport

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Kosovo’s Soccer Future Still in the Dark UEFA President Michel Platini has dealt a blow to Kosovo’s ambitions of getting on the world football map, before it wins a U.N. seat.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

A

ny hopes soccer officials in Kosovo might have had of seeing their teams in action at international level were dashed by UEFA President Michel Platini, who made it clear, in no uncertain terms, during his shuttle visit to Belgrade earlier this week that Europe’s governing body will not break its statute to accommodate these aspirations.

Kosovo, still seen by Serbia’s government as its southern province, cannot play competitive football before it is recognised as an independent state by the United Nations. “I can only comply with the UEFA statute, which says that a country cannot be a member of the organization before it wins a U.N. seat,” Platini told reporters in the Serbian capital while he also left an open door to a regional soccer league in the Balkans.

“We are not in this for politics, but we would like to find a way to enable

young people in Kosovo to play football,” he added. If a regional soccer league does start in the foreseeable future, teams from Kosovo will surely want to take part in it, as it would put them on the map and provide an acid test of their ability to compete.

But, can anyone here imagine Serbian giants Red Star and Partizan going to Pristina to play international football and rival fans behaving during what would be an impossibly explosive encounter?

The chances are that a Balkan league would not include teams from Kosovo, at least in its initial stage, in order to avoid all sorts of trouble their early inclusion would inevitably produce. It is more likely that the initial set-up will be a carbon copy of a highly successful regional basketball league, rallying teams from across the former Yugoslavia – except Kosovo.

Platini has put more wind in the sails of those advocating a regional soccer league by leaving an open door for the teams involved to gain access to European competition, namely the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. “The UEFA statute does not allow such a course of action at the moment, but if a regional league turns out to be a feasible project, UEFA’s executive committee would be prepared to have a look at it and make

Photo by FoNet

Que sera, sera: UEFA President Michel Platini has left an open door for teams from the former Yugoslavia to set up a regional soccer league, if they can come up with a realistic proposal. The fate of Kosovo’s clubs, however, is still in limbo after he stressed that UEFA would not break its statute to allow them to compete.

a decision,” said the Frenchman and outlined exactly what is required for the idea to work.

“It requires a joint soccer and political project by several countries in the region and their unified ambition to compete in a single league. It is an interesting initiative and such a league would give teams from this part of Europe a chance to compete on a higher level with their wealthier Western rivals,” he said.

The idea also has its opponents, who argue that matches between teams which once competed in a single league in the former Yugoslavia would rekindle ethnic tensions that tore the country apart in a series of bloody conflicts.

Soccer encounters in the Balkans, especially local derbies, have a history of crowd trouble and Platini told the Serbian Football Federation that eradi-

Serbia Out to Stun Spain Dethroning the Davis Cup holders will take a monumental effort from Novak Djokovic and company, but they are convinced it is not beyond them.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

A

team including the world number three on the men’s ATP tour would surely start most of their Davis Cup matches as firm favourites, but not this time. In fact, Novak Djokovic and his comrades will be rank outsiders on the red clay of Benidorm against holders Spain in the first round of this season’s competition, with the world’s best player Rafael Nadal eager to impress the home crowd after missing last season’s final against Argentina.

Still, the Serbs are convinced they can pull of an upset in their bid to win the Davis Cup, in only their second season in the tournament’s top tier. “No matter how preposterous it may sound, we must have a real go at Spain because if our only ambition is to give them a good run for their money, they will walk all over us,”

said Viktor Troicki, ranked 43rd on the ATP tour and likely to face Nadal in the opening singles rubber on Friday. “I expect the tie to go down to the wire and I hope we will have cause to celebrate on Sunday,” coach Bogdan Obradovic added.

Serbia will certainly be boosted

by Djokovic’s return to form and his impressive conquest at last week’s ATP tournament in Dubai, where he brushed aside Spain’s David Ferrer in a one-sided final. He may have a more difficult task if they cross swords again in Benidorm, with the home crowd and the surface poised to help the Spaniard compete on an even keel.

“I switched to a new racket producer at the start of the season and that caused frustration on and off the court, because it takes time to get used to a new tool,” Djokovic said in the buildup to the match with Spain, which will be televised by RTS throughout the weekend. “But things are changing for the better and the win in Dubai has really restored my confidence,” he added. The icing on the cake of a mouthwatering clash could be Sunday’s singles rubber featuring Djokovic and Nadal, friends off the court and bitter rivals on it. “I am not thinking about it, because there are three singles and Saturday’s doubles at stake before we

cating violence was a basic condition to move forward. “UEFA has zero tolerance for violence and racism and we all know that Serbian fans have not behaved as well as we would have liked them to in the past few years,” he said.

Neither have rival supporters in Croatia and Bosnia, hence crowd trouble appears to be a stumbling block in the sporadic, semi-official bids by soccer officials in the region to kick-start a competition which would surely improve the poor quality of football in this part of Europe. Again, the champions of the cause will want to look at the NLB regional basketball league as a role model, where the early trials and tribulations have given in to top-quality basketball and more or less normal playing conditions, bar the occasional outbursts of nationalist insults from the terraces.

“Infrastructure is the weak link in our organisation and rebuilding it will take time because we don’t have a magic wand,” said Tomislav Karadzic, the Serbian FA president. “Soccer violence has become a disease in the Balkans and we need to crush it, just as we need a regional league because clubs in this part of Europe have been languishing in the doldrums for years,” he added. What fans craving for more entertaining and competitive football need to understand is that showing a bare minimum of respect for their rivals is the first step to get out of the doldrums. For many of them, it appears to be the most difficult one.

Zoran Milosavljevic is Belgrade Insight’s sports writer and also a regional sports correspondent for Reuters.

Live Sports on TV

Photo by FoNet

Djokovic outclassed Ferrer in Dubai but it may be a different story in Benidorm.

meet. He is always the favourite on clay, which is his preferred surface.

He is the best player in the world because he is a great all-round player,” Djokovic said. Croatia defied the odds to win the Davis Cup in 2005, now it’s Serbia’s turn to impress if they can get their biggest obstacle out of the way.

Friday, March 6: Soccer: Schalke 04 v Cologne (Sport Klub 8.30 p.m.), Mons v Standard Liege (Sport Klub + 8.30 p.m.), Argentinean League – Lanus v Newell’s (Sport Klub + 00.15 a.m. Saturday); Rugby Union: French Top 14 – Perpignan v Toulouse (Eurosport 2 at 9.00 p.m.); Rugby League: Huddersfield v Hull (Sport Klub 11.30 p.m. delayed); Alpine Skiing: Women’s Giant Slalom (Eurosport, first run at 10.00 a.m. second run at 1.00 p.m.), Men’s Downhill (Eurosport 11.15 a.m.); Tennis: Davis Cup – Spain v Serbia (RTS 1 at 11.00 a.m.), Croatia v Chile (HRT 2 at 11.00 a.m.)

Saturday, March 7: Basketball: NLB Regional League – Zadar v Red Star Belgrade (HRT 2 at 8.00 p.m.), Tennis: Davis Cup – Spain v Serbia (RTS 2 at 1.00 p.m.), Croatia v Chile (HRT 2 at 1.50 p.m.); Alpine Skiing: Women’s Slalom (Eurosport 10.00 a.m. first run, 2.15 p.m. second run), Men’s Downhill (Eurosport 11.30 a.m.); Soccer: Hoffenheim v Werder Bremen (Sport Klub 3.30 p.m.), Borussia M’gladbach v Hamburg (Sport Klub + 3.30 p.m.), Tottenham v Sunderland (RTS 2 at 4.00 p.m.), Genoa v Inter Milan (Sport Klub + 6.00 p.m.), FA Cup – Fulham v Manchester United (Sport Klub + 6.15 p.m.), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (FOX Serbia 8.00 p.m.), Anderlecht v Waregem (Sport Klub + 8.00 p.m.), Torino v Juventus (OBN 8.30 p.m.), Lille v Lyon (Sport Klub 9.00 p.m.), Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao (FOX Serbia 10.00 p.m.), Leixoes v Porto (Sport Klub + 10.00 p.m.), Villarreal v Espanyol (FOX Serbia midnight, delayed), Argen-

tinean League Match (Sport Klub + 00.30 a.m.

Sunday), FA Cup – Coventry v Chelsea (Sport Klub + 2.15 a.m. Sunday delayed), Sunday, March 8: Basketball: Spanish League – Estudiantes v Barcelona (Sport Klub 12.30 p.m.), NBA Regular Season – San Antonio Spurs v Phoenix Suns (OBN at midnight); Alpine Skiing: Men’s Super G (Eurosport 10.45 a.m.); Tennis: Davis Cup – Spain v Serbia (RTS 2 at 11.00 a.m.), Croatia v Chile (HRT 2 at noon); Rugby League: Wigan v Bradford ( Sport Klub 11.00 p.m. delayed), Soccer: FA Cup – Arsenal v Burnley (Sport Klub + 2.30 p.m.), Atalanta v AC Milan (OBN 3.00 p.m.), Various Italian League Matches (Sport Klub 3.00 p.m.), FA Cup – Everton v Middlesbrough (Sport Klub 5.00 p.m.), Spanish League Match (Kosava 5.00 p.m.), Bayer Leverkusen v Bochum (Sport Klub + 5.00 p.m.), NAC Breda v Feyenoord (Sport Klub + 7.00 p.m.), Osijek v Dinamo Zagreb (HRT 2 at 8.10 p.m.), Cercle Brugge v Club Brugge (Sport Klub + 8.30 p.m.), Saint Etienne v Nantes (Sport Klub 9.00 p.m.), Argentinean League Match (Sport Klub + 10.30 p.m.).

Tuesday, March 10: Champions League – Liverpool v Real Madrid (B 92 at 8.30 p.m. followed by news of the day, highlights and Juventus v Chelsea delayed at 1.00 a.m.

Wednesday).

Wednesday, March 11: Champions League – Manchester United v Inter Milan (B 92 at 8.30 p.m. followed by news of the day, highlights and Barcelona v Lyon at 1.00 a.m. Thursday delayed).

directory

Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009 Accounting & Auditing

15

Gifts & Souvenirs

International schools

Pharmacies (on duty 24 hours)

BDO BC Excell, Knez Mihailova 10, 011 3281299.

ConsulTeam, Prote Mateje 52, 011 3086180.

Deloitte, Kralja Milana 16, 011 3612524.

Ernst & Young, Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 115d, 011 2095700.

KPMG, Studentski trg 4, 011 3282892.

Pricewater House Coopers, Omladinskih brigada 88a, 011 3302100.

SEECAP, Marsala Birjuzova 22, 011 3283100.

Kneza Milosa 12, 011 2641335, www. kombeg.org.yu.

Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 15, 011 3617583, www.merr. sr.gov.yu.

Ministry of Trade and Services, Nemanjina 22-26, 011 3610579.

Privatization Agency, Terazije 23, 011 3020800, www.priv.yu.

Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Resavska 13-15, 011 3300900, pks.komora.net.

SIEPA - Investment and Export Promotion Agency, Vlajkoviceva 3, 011 3398550.

Adore, New Millennium Shopping Centre, entrance from Knez Mihailova 21, Delta City 011 2625056, 10:00 20:00, Sat 10:00 - 15:00, closed Sun. Beoizlog, Trg Republike 5, 011 3281859, 09:00 - 21:00, Sat 09:00 15:00, closed Sun. Singidunum, Terazije 42, 011 2643158, 09:00 - 21:00, closed Sun. Zdravo-Zivo, Nusiceva 3, 063 8785988, 12:00 - 16:00, closed Sun. www.serbiasouvenirs.com

Aqua Pharm 2, Corner of Kneza Milosa and Visegradska Streets, 011 3610171.

Bogdan Vujosevic, Goce Delceva 30, 011 2601887.

Miroslav Trajkovic, Pozeska 87, 011 3058482.

Prvi Maj, Kralja Milana 9, 011 3241349.

Sveti Sava, Nemanjina 2, 011 2643170.

Zemun, Glavna 34, 011 2618582.

Aikido

Children’s playrooms

Real Aikido World Centre, Slavujev venac 1, 011 3089199

Extreme Kids, Cvijiceva 1, 011 2764335.

Puf-Puf, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 165a, 011 3111793.

Golf Klub Beograd, Ada Ciganlija, 011 3056837.

Belgrade Arena, Bulevar Arsenija Carnojevica 58, 011 220 22 22, www. arenabeograd.com.

Anglo-American School, Velisava Vulovica 47, 011 3675777.

Britannica International School, Uzicka 21a, 011 3671557.

British International School, Svetozara Radojcica 4, 011 3467000.

Chartwell International School, Teodora Drajzera 38, 011 3675340.

Ecole Francaise de Belgrade, Kablarska 35, 011 3691762.

Deutsche Schule Belgrad, Sanje Zivanovic 10, 011 3693135.

International Nursery School, Nake Spasic 4, 011 2667130.

International School of Belgrade, Temisvarska 19, 011 2069999.

Ballet classes Orhestra Ballet Studio, Cirila i Metodija 2a, 011 2403443.

Majdan Children’s Cultural Centre, Kozjacka 3-5, 011 3692645.

Bookshops Apropo, Cara Lazara 10, 011 2625839, 10:00 - 20:00, Sat 10:00 - 16:00, Closed Sun. IPS-Akademija, Knez Mihailova 35, 011 2636514, 09:00 - 23:00.

Mamut, corner of Sremska and Knez Mihailova, 011 2639060, 09:00- 22:00, Sun 12:00 - 22:00.

Bowling Colosseum, Dobanovacka 56 (Zemun), 011 3165403, 11:00 - 01:00, Sat, Sun 10:00 - 02:00.

First bowling, Gradski Park u Zemunu, 011 3771612, 11:00 - 01:00, Sat, Sun 11:00 - 17:00.

Kolosej, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Delta City), 0113129944, 09:00 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 09:00 - 02:00, Sun 09:00 - 24:00.

Business connections Belgrade Stock Exchange, Omladinskih brigada 1, 011 3117297, www. belex.co.yu.

Business Registration Agency C-2, Trg Nikole Pasica 5, 011 3331400, www.apr.sr.gov.yu.

Chamber of Commerce of Belgrade,

Consulting CES Mecon, Danijelova 12-16, 011 3090800, www.cesmecon.com.

Dekleva & Partners Ltd., Hilandarska 23, 011 3033649, www.dekleva1.com.

EKI Investment, Kralja Milana 16, 011 3613164, www.eki-investment.com.

Dentists (on duty 24 hours) Stari Grad, Obilicev Venac 30, 011 2635236.

Vracar, Kneginje Zorke 15, 011 2441413.

Golf

Health

Sunasce, Admirala Geprata 8a ulaz 5/1, 011 3617013.

Marry Poppins, Kursulina 37, 011 2433059.

Anlave CD, Vase Pelagica 68, 011 3175929, www.anlave.co.yu.

Bel Medic General Hospital, Koste Jovanovica 87, 011 3091000, www. belmedic.com.

Bel Medic Outpatient Clinic, Viktora Igoa 1, 011 3091000, www.belmedic. com.

MEDIX, Novopazarska 30, 011 3085805, www.medix.co.yu.

Baklaja Igric Mujezinovic in Association with Clyde & Co, Gospodar Jevremova 47, 011 303 8822 Harrison Solicitors, Terazije 34, 011 3615918.

Law Office, Takovska 13, 011 3227133, 063 383116, www.businesslawserbia.com.

HOME HELP

Money transfer

Lawyers

Western Union, Kosovska 1, 011 3300300.

Dry cleaners

Open Markets

Cleaning Servis, Palmoticeva 10, 011 3233206.

Pop’s, Mercator Shopping Centre, Bulevar Umetnosti 4, 011 3130251.

Bajlonijeva Pijaca, Dzordza Vasingtona bb, 011 3223472, 07:00 - 16:00 Blok 44, Jurija Gagarina bb, 011 2158232, 07:00 - 16:00 Kalenic Pijaca, Maksima Gorkog bb, 011 2450350, 07:00 - 16:00 Zeleni venac, Jug Bogdanova bb, 011 2629328, 07:00 - 16:00

Fitness Clubs Extreme Gym, Cvijiceva 1, 011 2764335, 08:00 - 24:00, Sat, Sun 10:00 - 22:00.

Power Gym, Steve Todorovica 32, 011 3545935, 09:00 - 22:00.

Wellness Centar, Kraljice Natalije 3840, 011 2686268, 07:30 - 23:00, Sat, Sun 09:00 - 21:00.

Zvezda City Oaza, Ada Ciganlija, 011 3554652, 07:00 - 22:30, Sat, Sun 09:00 - 22:30.

Kindergartens

Opticians Horse riding Aleksa Dundic Riding Club, Belgrade Hippodrome, Pastroviceva 2, 011 3541584.

Diopta, Kralja Milana 4, 011 2687539.

La Gatta, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 43, 011 3244914.

M&M optic, Jurija Gagarina 153/18, Novi Beograd, 011 1760772.

Photo service Color Foto, Svetogorska 4, 011 3245982.

Foto Studio 212, Cvijiceva 63, 011 3374015.

Models, Svetog Save 16-18, 011 3449608.

Real estate Eurodiplomatic, Dravska 18, 011 3086878.

Mentor, Milesevska 2, 011 3089080.

Slavija rent, Beogradska 33, 011 3341281.

Shoe repairS Sasa M, Kosovska 35, 011 3227238.

Air Zak, Kralja Aleksandra 254/a, 011 2413283.

Spa & Beauty Salons Jai Thai, Vase Pelagica 48, 011 3699193.

Spa Centar, Strahinjica Bana 5, 011 3285408.

St Angelina, Karnegijeva 3, 011 3232058.

Sun Beauty Center, Strahinica Bana 29, 011 2182090.

Zorica, Dobracina 33, 011 3285922.

TAXI SERVICES Beotaxi, 011 970 Beogradski taxi, 011 9801 Lux taxi, 011 3033123 NBA taxi, 011 3185777 Pink taxi, 011 9803 Translators Association of Technical and Scientific Translators of Serbia, Kicevska 9, 011 2442729.

Belgrade Translation Center, Dobracina 50, 011 3287388.

Center Lomonosov, Hilandarska 23, 011 3343184.

16

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Friday, Mar. 06 - Thursday, Mar. 12, 2009

Latest news from across the Balkans, in-depth analysis and investigations from our journalists in nine countries.