Belgrade Insight, No. 5 by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN)

NEWS NEWS

Friday • June 13 • 2008

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1 / Friday, June 13, 2008 Issue Issue No. 5No. / Friday, September 26, 2008

Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists Rebel Hardliner Forms new Party

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

Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker

to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euroense negotiations on a new govpean social democrat organisation. ernment have divided the ranks Tomislav Nikolic, founder of the new Serbian Progressive Party After eight years of stagnation, of the Socialist Party, which holds theNikolic Socialists returned to centre stage the balance of power between the who was expelled from after winning 20 of the 250 seats in main blocs and has yet to announce the hardline nationalist Serbian RadiBy side Aleksandar Vasovic cal Party after a split leader Voparliament in the Maywith 11 elections. which they will support. Seselj, currently in and the nationHague inasBelgrade With the pro-European “It looks if the Socialists will jislav facing war crimes charges, told realist blocs almost evenly matched, move towards a government led by porters his new party would be in opthe Socialists haveparliament. the final say the Democrats,” political analyst Mi- position in the now Serbian ormerofdeputy chief of theCenSer- on“We the fate the country. lan Nikolic, the independent willof not have enemies but bian Radical Party“But Tomislav on the Serbian political Nikolic believes the Socialists, led tre of Policy Studies, said. such opponents Nikolic, has announced that scene,” he Dacic, said. will come over to by Ivica a move might provoke deeper divihis new political party will be called Nikolic vowed his party would Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic desions and even split the party.” continue to argue against Serbia’s the Serbian Progressive Party. sire to ensure their political survival. Simultaneous negotiations held “The group of younger Socialists with the pro-European and nationalgathered around Dacic seems to be ist blocs have drawn attention POLITICS to a in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding deep riftleaders inside the Serbia’s saySocialists. they are not sure whether they will“old-timers” secure majority that these reformists believe the party This divides loyal support at the UN for its bid to seek the World Court’s opinion on Kosovo’s independence. By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade

THIS ISSUE OF Belgrade Insight Page 3 IS SUPPORTED BY:

Business Insight

Costs Mounting

NEIGHBOURHOOD Bulgaria is the lowest ranked of all European Union member in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index. Among 180 countries ranked for corruption, Bulgaria takes 72nd place just below its neighbour and fellow EU newcomer Romania.

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conomists are warning that prolonged uncertainty over Serbia’s future could scare off investors, lead to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come. “This year has been lost, from the standpoint of economic policy,” says Stojan Stamenkovic of the Economics Institute in Belgrade. page 5

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 Tadic in a bid to guide his party into the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many officials may oppose that move.” Nikolic agreed: “The question is will the party split or will the ‘oldtimers’ back down,” he noted. Fearing they might not cross the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parliament, the Socialists teamed up with the Association of Pensioners and the United Serbia Party, led by businessman Dragan Markovic “Palma”. Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkobabic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats. The reported price is the post of deputy PM, with a brief in charge of security for the Socialist leader. faces extinction unless it changes. In addition, the Socialists are barHowever, a strong current also gaining for other ministries, includflows in the opposite direction, led ing capital investments, Kosovo and by party veterans enraged by the Photo FoNet education, Belgrade mediaby reported. prospect of a deal with Tadic. Tadic hasother denied talk of of horseMihajlo Markovic, founder of group with members the cooperation with the aInternational trading with the Socialists, maintainthe party, recently warned of a crisis Criminal Tribunal for the former Yu- party, called Forward Serbia. goslavia, at the Thepro-European Hague, and stood down, following ingNikolic that ministries would go only to if Dacic ICTY, opts for pledged to supportthe theSocialists’ Radical Party instructionto from his for prison those committed working the bloc, abandoning “nat- Seselj’s leader’s defence, despite Seselj’s ear- cell for the party to vote against Sergovernment’s “strategic goal”. ural” ideological partners. bia’s ratification of the Stabilization lier rejection of his assistance. the same time, Dacic seems reMarkovic, a prominent supporter Seselj is currently on trial for his andAtAssociation Agreement, SAA, luctant to call offUnion, negotiations with of Milosevic during the 1990s, is with role in fomenting war crimes during the European contrary to the 1990’s Balkan conflict. own advice. the nationalists. seen as representative of the “old- Nikolic’s Earlierinthis month, Nikolic effecThe SAA important “If we don’tmarks reach an an agreement timers” the party who want to stay tively split the Radical Party, when milestone along Serbia’s road to with the DSS and Radicals, the partrue to the former regime’s policies, he formed his own parliametary eventual EU membership. ty leadership will decide on future even though these almost ruined the steps”, Dacic announced, following Socialists for good. ECONOMICS the first session of country’s new parSome younger Socialist officials liament on Wednesday. have voiced frustration over the conTop officials from Serbia, Italy and tinuing impasse within their own Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) the Fiat SPA automotive giant said they will ink the deal on the sale of the Zastava carmaker on Sept 29.

BUSINESS EDITOR’S WORD Serbia likely to agree controversial Political Predictability energy deal with Russia. By Mark R. Pullen

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BOOK REVIEW Marcus Tanner reviews Balkans expert, Tim Judah’s new book. Many of us who have experienced numerous Serbian elections rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election results and post-election moves. We feel in-the-know because our experience of elections in Serbia has shown us that (a.) no single party or coalition will ever gain Page 10 the majority required to form a government, and (b.)&political OUT ABOUTnegotiations will never be quickly concluded. This week we take you south of BelEven when the Democrats grade, to Avala. achieved their surprising result at last month’s general election, it quickly became clear that the result was actually more-or-less the same as every other election result in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive. This is likely to continue as long as Serbia’s politiciansPage form10new political parties every time they disagree WHAT’S with theirON current party leader (there are currently 342 regThis week’s guide to the cultural hapisteredin political parties in Serbia). penings the city. Drawn-out negotiations are also the norm. One Belgrade-based Ambassador recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of urgency among Serbian politicians. “The country is at a standstill and I don’t understand their logic. If they are so eager to Page 13enprogress towards the EU and courage investors, how come they go home at SPORT 5pm sharp and don’t The Davis Cup draw looks tough for work weekends?” Serbia. Surely the situation is urgent enough to warrant a little overtime.

Neighbourhood Matters

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Football Rebellion

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BELGRADE

hile the football world watches events unfold at the EuroDelays re-housing the Roma community in ramshackle homes and unpeanliving Championships in Austria der the GazelaBosnia bridgeisare putting at Switzerland, experiencing risk the timescale forled re-development a soccer rebellion, by fans, playof the Gazela bridge over the Sava ers and former stars who are enraged river. The much needed repairs have by what they see as corrupt been planned for many years. leaders of the country’s football association leaders. page 10

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Source: www.weather2umbrella.com

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news

Friday, September 26, 2008

Future of Serbia’s Kosovo Case ‘Uncertain’

Tadic addresses the UN Photo by FoNet

erbia’s leaders say they are not sure whether they will secure majority support at the UN for its bid to seek the World Court’s opinion on Kosovo’s independence. President Boris Tadic and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic have been trying to win over as many as possible representatives of the 192 United Nations member states to secure a simple majority for Serbia’s resolution to be passed to the International Court of Justice. Belgrade wants the court, also

known as the World Court, to give its opinion on whether Kosovo’s February 17 declaration of independence was in line with international law. In trying to secure backing, they have been warning delegates about the legal and other consequences of the UN General Assembly’s failure to vote in favour of Belgrade’s resolution. Tadic, on Tuesday, said that the General Assembly could vote on the resolution in early October, as soon as it ended September’s debate. He again stressed his government’s view that Kosovo should not be treated as a unique case. “We all know that there are dozens of Kosovos throughout the world just waiting for their secession to be legitimised,. Many existing conflicts could escalate, frozen conflicts could reignite, and new ones could be instigated,” Belgrade media quoted Tadic as telling the General Assembly. He told media on Thursday “it still can not be said that a major-

ity has been secured,” adding his country’s aim was not to destabilise the region but “to move the issue (of Kosovo’s independence) from a political into a legal area.” Tadic met with United States President George Bush but failed to give any details on the talks, saying only that Belgrade and Washington reiterated their differences over the Kosovo issue. On the other hand, Tadic said his meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, once again proved that “Moscow unreservedly supports Belgrade’s resolution.” Tadic added that, “Russia will try to convince some other countries to follow suit.” Jeremic was also quoted telling the Reuters news agency that the UN’s refusal to back Serbia’s resolution, would send a signal “not only to Serbia and the region but to the whole world, saying: if you want to solve a problem, go ahead and use force, because problems are solved in that way.”

row over the appointment of Islamic religious teachers in Serbia’s Muslim-dominated southwestern Sandzak region is deepening a rift among local Muslim leaders. Nominations for religious teachers in the towns of Tutin and Sjenica, where the Bosniak Ticket for a European Sandzak led by Sulejman Ugljanin is in power, were recommended by the Islamic Community of Serbia headed by reis Adem Zilkic. However in the larger town of Novi Pazar, where the rival proWestern coalition led by Rasim Ljajic is in power, teachers were recommended by Zilkic’s rival, mufti Muamer Zukorlic. Zukorlic complained about the appointment of teachers in Tutin and Sjenica to Serbian President Boris Tadic, asking him to impose government control over religious schools.

shape’ due to the lack of a political will to solve cases of intimidation against journalists.

Downtown Zrenjanin

Serbia ‘Not a Part of Russia’s Politics’

erbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic says Belgrade will not recognise Georgia’s breakaway regions in a show of respect for the country’s territorial integrity. Speaking to the Austrian daily Presse on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Jeremic added that Serbia was not a part of Russia’s politics. The UN General Assembly will soon vote on Serbia’s bid to seek the World Court’s opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s independence. Jeremic reiterated Serbian President Boris Tadic’s pledge that Belgrade will not recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia, regardless of Moscow’s move to do so. For its part, Russia has said it nevertheless will not recognise Kosovo’s February 17 declaration of independence, so far acknowledged by 47 other countries, including the United States and the majority of the European Union member states.

Fifth Anniversary for Major Balkan Donor

Serb Police Probe Threats to Journalist erbian police say they are closing in on a man who has threatened a journalist and her daughter after an investigation was launched amid public outcry. Ljiljana Stupar this week received a new telephone threat apparently over her reports on Serbia’s privatisation programmes. Stupar, a correspondent for several media outlets, is a single mother and the threats were also made against her young daughter. Following protests by Serbian journalists’ associations and nongovernment organisations, police in the northern town of Zrenjanin said they “were getting close to the man.” Meanwhile, a the Independent Association Of Journalists argued that Serbia’s media is in ‘bad

Source: www. vojvodina.net

he Balkan Trust for Democracy, BTD, is marked its fifth anniversary by hosting an international conference in Belgrade to examine the Balkans, twenty years after the fall of communism and the role of civil society in transitional democracies.. Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic were due to address the two-day conference, the Balkan Trust for Democracy said in a statement. Also expected to take part were Miroslav Lajcak, the international administrator for Bosnia, Stefan Lehne of the European Union Council, Craig Kennedy, who heads the German Marshall Fund, Ivan Vejvoda, the Executive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democ-

racy and British broadcaster and journalist Misha Glenny. Panelists from across the Balkans were also expected to take part in the sessions, the statement said. BTD is a 10-year, $30 million (€20.4 million) grant-making initiative that supports democracy, good governance and Euro-atlantic integration in Southeastern Europe. It was created in 2003 by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the USAID, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Other key foundations, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Belgrade, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have also made additional contributions.

Teacher Row Deepens Serb Muslim Rift He accused the Ministry of Education of “silently supporting this phenomenon” and announced protests and a boycott of school classes. “Parents and the broader public are increasingly disturbed, and we can not rule out protest rallies and class boycotts in these schools. It is especially hard that this is happening during Ramadan, when hearts of believers are full of sensitivity and in need of spirituality and peace,” says Zukorlic’s letter to Tadic. Some parents protested last week in one of the school’s grounds in the Sjenica municipality, demanding the appointment of a teacher from Zukorlic’s ranks. Directors of primary and secondary schools in Tutin claim it is only an “interim solution,” while they wait for official opinion from the Ministry of Education. Some school Directors regard the stance of reis Zilkic “legally

Lejlek mosque in Novi Pazar stronger,” because they say he has greater seniority than Zukorlic. As of last year, Serbia has had two parallel Islamic communities which do not recognise each other and claim that their community is the only legal and legitimate representative of Serbia’s Muslims.

Source: www.imageshack.com One is the Islamic Community in Serbia, headed by mufti Muamer Zukorlic, the other is the Islamic Community of Serbia, headed by reis-ul-ulema Adem Zilkic. Muslims make up two percent of the population in Serbia and most of them live in the Sandzak region.

Jeremic said he hoped that “there will not be an agreement between Moscow and Washington on the mutual recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on one hand and Kosovo on the other.” “We won’t do that (recognise the two regions). We are grateful for Moscow’s support regarding Kosovo, the case where we above all talk about protecting our national interests. We are not any part of Russia’s politics,” Jeremic said. He added that Russia “has assured us it will not change its stand towards Kosovo.” As far as Serbia is concerned regarding Kosovo, Jeremic pledged that Belgrade “will continue to follow the road of diplomacy.” Late on Tuesday, Tadic addressed the United Nations General Assembly, arguing Kosovo was not a unique case and warning that voting against Belgrade’s bid to seek a World Court opinion would undermine the very essence of the UN system.

Serbia Urges Probe into WW II Suspect

erbia’s war crimes prosecutor’s office has demanded a probe into a Hungarian citizen suspected of war crimes during the Second World War, local media report. Shandor Kepiro, 94, was an officer of the Hungarian occupation police force in Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad during the Second World War. The office said it had evidence of the mass killing of civilians, mostly Serbs and Jews, in Novi Sad. They were killed in their homes, in the streets, in playgrounds, at an Orthodox Christian cemetery and by the Danube River, where they, dead or alive, were pushed through holes in the ice. Investigations into Kepiro’s alleged crimes were initiated by top ‘Nazi hunter’ Efraim Zuroff, who was in Belgrade earlier this month to discuss the hunt for remaining Second World War crimes suspects with Serbia’s authorities. Serbia’s prosecution office recommended that a local court launch proceedings in Kepiro’s absence and then to order his detention, after which Belgrade will ask Budapest to extradite him. Peter Egner, another Second World War crimes suspect Serbia seeks to put on trial, is pending a decision on his extradition from the United States.

business

Friday, September 26, 2008

Serbia Govt ‘to Rebalance Budget’, Minister Says

erbia’s 2008 budget deficit will amount to 55 billion dinars (€724 million) or as much as 1.8 per cent of GDP, something that will prompt its reshuffle, the finance minister says. The government of Mirko Cvetkovic will rebalance the budget by October 5, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said. In remarks carried by Belgrade’s B92 network, Dragutinovic said that “the budget gap will be covered from revenues and by reshuffling expenditures.” “Revenues in 2008 were 10 to 12 billion dinars higher then expected and the government has underestimated them,” she said. The previous government of Vojislav Kostunica forecast the budget deficit in 2008 at 0.5 per cent of

Serbia Postpones Sale of JAT Tehnika

erbia’s Privatisation Agency has extended the deadline for the sale of JAT Tehnika, the country’s largest aircraft maintenance firm to October 27, a statement said on Tuesday.

Gross Domestic Product. After taking over in July, Cvetkovic’s Cabinet pledged it will try to maintain the projected figure. The increase in the deficit is due to an additional € 300 million used funding a joint venture between Zastava and Fiat, an additional € 250 million euros pledged for the completion of part of Corridor 10 infrastructure project and a 10 per cent increase in pensions scheduled for November. Dragutinovic who previously served as the central bank’s Vice Governor said she “tried to avoid rebalancing the budget, but the new government has new priorities.” “Ministries asked for an additional 10 billion dinars and their proposed savings are only 350 million, hence the need to rebalance,” she said.

op officials from Serbia, Italy and the Fiat SPA automotive giant said they will ink the deal on the sale of the Zastava carmaker on Sept 29. Serbian President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Italian Foreign Minister Franco

In a tender offer in June, the Privatisation Agency offered a 70 percent stake in JAT Tehnika for sale to companies involved in aircraft maintenance for no less than five years and with at least €100 million in 2007 revenues. The original deadline was set to expire on September 24. In a terse statement the agency only said it decided to prolong the deadline “after taking all available information into consideration.” In 2006, the state-operated JAT Tehnika, previously a part of the national flag carrier JAT Airways, posted revenues of €18.7 million, and €157,113 in net profits. JAT Tehnika is licensed for the maintenance of all major aircraft types in the European Union and the United States. The sale of JAT Tehnika is a part of larger government project to privatise major enterprises and distribute free shares to as many as 4 million people.

Boost in Loans for Serbian Infrastructure

erbia will develop its infrastructure network with loans from the World Bank, the country’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic says. Following his meeting with key World Bank officials, Cvetkovic said that his Cabinet “will establish priorities for the development of infrastructure over the next three to four years” and inform the World Bank “about budgetary allocations” for them. Earlier this month, a government official told Balkan Insight that Cvetkovic’s Cabinet hopes that the World Bank and European Union banks will approve loans of as much as €950 million needed for the completion of the Corridor 10 motorway network by the end of 2008 or early next year. Serbia already owes $2 billion (€ 1.357 billion) to the World Bank.

After meeting Cvetkovic, Shigeo Katsu the Bank’s director for Europe and Central Asia said that upcoming infrastructure projects will improve the lives of all Serbians. In August, the Serbian government announced it will allocate €250 million from its 2008 budget for the Corridor 10 project and said that its construction should be completed within 18 months. Meanwhile, the World Bank’s regional head Jane Armitage said that that funding for Corridor 10 will be decided in October. In an interview carried by the Belgrade’s Politika daily, Armitage said that Serbia must maintain its current rate of growth, which in 2008 will amount to 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product. She however warned that the country must complete the privati-

Zastava will end production of its locally designed models.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic

uel prices in Serbia have dropped by an average of 5.5 per cent amid a decrease in global crude oil prices, the government says. In a statement, the government and the Ministry for Mining and Energy said that prices of unleaded 95-octane fuel and the D2 diesel dropped by 5.66 per cent and 6.74 per cent respectively. Prices of other gasoline and diesel types fell by 5.4 per cent on the average. The drop is related to a 9.93 per cent decrease of crude oil prices in the past two weeks, the ministry said and the move comes after a previous 0.95 per cent cut on September 6. Sasa Djogovic an analyst with the Belgrade-based Institute for Market Research said it is unlikely that a drop in fuel costs will influence retail market prices. “Manufacturers tend to raise their prices whenever fuel goes up but they seldom cut them when fuel costs go down,” he said.

deal” and said it “will … create thousands of jobs,” the statement said. In April, Fiat and the Serbian government agreed on the €800 million sale of a 70 per cent stake in Zastava, and the overhaul of Zastava’s facilities in the south eastern city of Kragujevac. Under the deal

Photo by FoNet

Fuel Prices Drop

Photo by sxc.hu

Ikarbus Sale Funded

Serbia, Fiat to Sign Zastava Deal Fratinni, Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchione and other top officials are expected to attend the signing ceremony in Belgrade, a government statement said. After a meeting in Belgrade, Serbian and Fiat’s officials “have expressed their satisfaction with the

sation of its key assets, improve the business climate, cut spending and maintain its budget deficit within 2 percent of GDP.

the Serbian government will keep the remaining 30 per cent of Zastava and invest an additional €300 million. The Serbian government and Fiat also agreed on the production of as many as 200,000 cars in 2009. Zastava is already producing Fiat’s Punto model under license.

Source: www.svevesti.com

oscow-based Alfa Bank announced it has granted a €13 million long-term loan to the Russian company AMS Holding to assist in the funding of the purchase of Serbia’s Ikarbus bus maker, Serbian media reported. “The build quality of Ikarbus vehicles is very good,” Igor Makiyenko, an Alfa Bank official is quoted as saying. The loan will be redirected to the AMS Holding’s subsidiary,AvtodetalServis and will be one element of the funding for the outright purchase of Ikarbus. Avtodetal-Servis also agreed to maintain the company’s welfare and social program and to invest in the Belgrade-based bus manufacturer. Bidding rules for potential buyers of Ikarbus required them to prove they had at least three years of experience in the automotive industry and at least €30 million in 2006 revenues. Ikarbus is Serbia’s single largest producer of buses and utility vehicles. In 2008 it agreed sales of 500 buses to customers in Serbia and overseas. Ikarbus suffered during the isolation of the 1990’s when sanctions closed access to international markets and investment in commercial vehicles declined.

business

Friday, September 26, 2008

Serbia Caves In Over Russia Over Oil Deal Belgrade proves no match for Kremlin’s tough negotiating stance. By Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade

erbia’s energy agreement with Russia, which envisages the sale of the country’s oil industry to Gazprom and the development of a key gaspipeline, appears to be a done deal. Observers believe Belgrade will now accept the deal as the price of Russia’s continued backing in the row over the independence of Kosovo. In July, Serbia said it wanted to renegotiate the sale of the NIS oil firm, arguing the Gazprom-proposed price of €400 million and an additional €500 million in investment was not sufficient. Last month, the auditors Deloitte & Touche valued Naftna Industrija Srbije at €2.2 billion. Nevertheless, Serbia’s parliament ratified the energy deal with Russia earlier this month. The Russian parliament ratified the deal nine months ago. The sale of NIS and the development of the gas pipeline form part of Serbia’s plan to attract investors, sell major state-operated assets and distribute free shares to as many as 4 million people. The country’s JAT Airways, JAT Tehnika airline maintenance, Telekom Srbije, the country’s fixed line phone operator and Galenika pharmaceuticals are also slated for sale. After a series of meetings between Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Minister for Emergency Situations and head of the commission that has overseen implementation of the energy deal, signed in January, and top Serbian officials, including Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, it became apparent Belgrade would bow to the Kremlin’s terms. Following the meeting with Shoigu, Cvetkovic said the two countries would ”complete the oil and gas deal to their mutual benefit”, adding: ”Serbia will adhere to the agreement, which is one of the biggest investments ever made here.” Shoigu later forthrightly argued that Russia had never intended even to discuss alterations to the price tag.

”You set the price and we now expect you make good on that,” he told Serbian reporters after a later meeting with Ivica Dacic, the Interior Minister, in the southern city of Nis. Previously, a government official close to the talks told Belgrade Insight he doubted Serbia would get a higher price for NIS, as the Russians have repeatedly said they will not pay a cent more. It remains unclear who proposed the price for NIS, the source said. He recalled that former prime minister Vojislav Kostunica’s trusted ally, Dejan Mihajlov, was tasked to run the initial talks. ”Mihajlov was not prepared, nor is he an economic or energy expert; it appears everything was driven by the then politics of the day,”the source said. The deal was proposed by the cabinet of Kostunica, who comes from the nationalist wing of Serbian politics, and which is traditionally proRussian. However, the negotiating team later included officials loyal to Serbia’s pro-Western President, Boris Tadic. One was Tadic’s close ally, the then deputy premier, Bozidar Djelic. “The negotiations were all shrouded in secrecy, even from highranking civil servants,”the source said, referring to the oil deal. Though most of the current ruling coalition backed the deal, the G17 Plus party and its leader, Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic, who also served in Kostunica’s cabinet, remained opposed. So were leaders in Serbia’s autonomous northern province of Vojvodina. According to the Belgrade Insight source, the rest of the government ignored the objections of G17 Plus and Dinkic. ”Ahead of the meeting [withShoigu], Dinkic was politely warned to remain silent,” the source claimed. A top Vojvodina politician, Bojan Kostres, now says the province will be seeking compensation if the government sells NIS at the agreed price. ”We are not against the energy deal but it’s unacceptable to sell 51 per cent of the national oil monopoly for only 400 million euros, a sum recently paid for a bankrupt department store,” he said.

Serbia Picks Advisor for Telecom Sale

erbia’s Privatisation Agency says it has chosen Morgan Stanley, the troubled US former investment bank as an advisor for the partial privatisation of the state-controlled fixed line telecoms operator, Telekom Srbija.

In a statement, the Privatisation Agency said Morgan Stanley will be tasked with drafting the strategy for an initial public offering of a 20 per cent stake of the Serbian government’s 80 per cent majority share in Telekom Srbija on the Belgrade and London stock exchanges in late 2008 or early 2009. Earlier this year the government of Mirko Cvetkovic said it will keep a 51 percent stake in Telekom Srbija. Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation SA owns 20 percent stake in the Belgrade-based company. Telekom Srbija’s initial public offering is a part of the Serbian government’s plan to sell major state-operated assets and distribute free shares to as many as 4 million people. Telekom Serbia is just one of many state controlled operations that the government has slated for privatisation in an effort to balance its books.

Sergei Shoigu Russia’s tough negotiator Two NIS oil refineries are based in Vojvodina at Pancevo and Novi Sad, and the provincial government wants to maintain a degree of control over the assets. Analysts believe Serbia has emerged short-changed from its poorly prepared initial negotiations. If the Serbian government, in January, has asked for one price and inked the deal, they cannot demand a higher price later on, Dragan Bujosevic, of the Belgrade weekly, NIN, commented. To alleviate impressions that the government might have bungled, the Energy Minister, Petar Skundric, said Gazprom could increase the annual

gas flow into the pipeline to more than 10 billion cubic meters, allowing Serbia to secure better gas supplies and get more cash in transit fees. The most recent Belgrade talks followed a series of meetings last week between experts from Gazprom and Srbijagas, the country’’s gas retailer and producer. According to a joint statement, the two teams agreed to draw up a feasibility assessment concerning the Serbian arm of the South Stream pipeline, which will carry natural gas from Russia via the Balkans to Europe. Jelica Putnikovic, a Belgradebased energy expert, said the visit of the Russian delegation showed the

Photo by FoNet two countries remained committed to implementing the deal, despite any disagreements. “This will set the direction for future talks, so the two sides can finally start discussing when and whether the pipeline will be built and about the final sale of NIS,” she said. She added that Serbia needed to concentrate on future joint ventures, business operations and the question of how soon it will start producing European Union-grade fuel. “The key issues are the profits from the fuel, the price of crude oil we will be receiving from the Russians and the taxes that the new company will be paying in Serbia,” she said.

Serbia, Russia To Extend Free Trade Deal

erbian and Russian experts have adopted a draft protocol that envisages the further lifting of duties on imports and exports of a range of goods, Serbia’s Economy Ministry said. The agreement is scheduled for signing by the two respective ministries by the end of November. A final draft protocol adopted in Moscow earlier this week, stipulates that Serbia and Russia will scrap “customs on bilateral trade of medicines, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, meat, confectionary products, some cosmetic products, home appliances and wooden office furniture,“ the ministry said in a statement. Between January and June, Serbia imported as much as €1.3 billion worth of goods from Russia or 58 per cent more than in 2007, Serbia’s Statistics Office said. Key imported goods were oil and gas, steel and other industrial products.

Serbia’s exports to Russia in the first six months of 2008 rose by an annual 69 per cent, but amounted to only €227 million. Serbia and Russia already have

a free trade agreement in place. The new draft protocol is an extension of the existing deal and the two countries are planning to lift duties on more products in 2009.

belgrade chronicle

Friday, September 26, 2008

Delay Re-housing Roma Blocks Gazela Reconstruction

elays re-housing the Roma community living in ramshackle homes under the Gazela bridge are putting at risk the timescale for re-development of the Gazela bridge over the Sava river. Rumours that social housing would be provided in the Zrenjanin Road and Ovca areas for the Roma

displaced by the reconstruction, have, unconfirmed reports say, led to an influx of Roma from other areas of town where their existing living conditions are also sub-standard. However many of the families lack the documentation demanded by the authorites before they will accept an application for re-housing. Asked whether she

had the necessary documentation, Sandra Talipovic, said: “How can I have the papers when there is no one prepared to register me.” “220 families from this part of Belgrade have the right to be rehoused in Ovca,” says Zivorad Mitrovic, co-ordinator of the Centre for Integration of the Roma, but de-

Squalid conditions under the Gazela bridge

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

Schools and kindergartens without heating

or the last ten days, many Belgrade schools have been unheated despite the temperature rarely nudging above 10ºC. Of 280 primary and secondary schools in Belgrade, as many as half of them do not have any heating and of the remainder, many have only limited means of heating the classrooms. A representative of Begrade’s power generating organisation said that radiators will be heated in apartments and public buildings as of October 1 if the daytime temperature remains below 12ºC. Otherwise schools and other public buidings will remain unheated until October 15. Because of the lack of facilities, most Serbian schools operate two

VIP Boxes to Rent

fter two years in business, the Belgrade Arena is opening up its VIP boxes to individuals for rent on annual basis or for specific events. Whilst aimed at business people for entertaining their clients and guests, the opportunity exists for any individual to book a box along with a group of friends for a party or event. The Arena has 70 fully equipped VIP boxes, and 30 are planned to be

Belgrade Arena

shifts and those attending the morning shiftare likely to suffer most as the cold night air lingers.The city’s Secretariat for Education confirms this position adding that the problem cannot be solved until the official start of the heating season. The City Assembly approved the heating plans and the system has been in place for fifteen years. The situation is, however patchy, and in Vozdovac Municipality. Snezana Mikic, director of a local kindergarten emphasised that the heating began in five of their facilities last Monday, because they do not rely on centrally supplied heating.” Despite cold days, all our facilities are warm and parents have no reason to worry,” says Mikic.

rented to individuals, and the remainder to companies. Rates will be set to charge a 25% premium over seats in the arena and the boxes come with access to catering and other services.. So far, however VIPs in Serbia have not shown much interest in boxes at the Arena. Corporate rentals are strong, no full boxes have been rented by any single individual even for just one event, Belgrade Insight understands.

spite licences having been issued by the authorities, construction has not started, having been delayed by protests from existing residents. Roma spokespeople told local media that they would be unable to move if works began on the Gazela Bridge before they were re-housed, and this would inevitably lead to delays in the reconstruction. Many of the Roma living under the bridge are unemployed and eke out a meagre existence recycling cardboard, scrap metal and household waste often in the most insanitary conditions. Many, without identity papers, do not qualify for welfare benefits or housing and others complain that even when they do qualify, payment is often late “I am still waiting for my May payment” a resident of the shanty town, Safir Sabanovic, told reporters. Previous attempts to re-house the community in Zemun polje some 15km outside the centre and Batajnica fell through and existing residents of Ovca have protested that they do not want the Roma to move to their neighbourhood.

No fast food downtown

nspectors have been ordered to close down all Kiosks in the Palilula and Stari grad municipalities in which food is being prepared and sold, Belgrade Insight understands. They have also been ordered to close down Kiosks not operating in locations approved recently by the City Assembly. The city administration announced that the number of locations in Stari grad for operating kiosks has been reduced from 65 to 58 and the number of facilities reduced from 74 to 61. In Palilula, 54 locations have been selected for kiosks. The recent growth in the number of unlicenced kiosks in the streets in this municipality has already prompted inspectors into action. “Operators who resume catering activities in Palilula, will be removed,”

Airshow Cancelled after pilot’s death

he Serbian authorities have cancelled the Belgrade Airshow previously scheduled for Sept. 27, after the death of Air Force’s pilot Istvan Kanas,43, in an air crash while practicing for the event. There were no other casualties in the accident at the Batajnica military airfield just outside Belgrade, the ministry said in a statement. “Kanas did not manage to bail out,” Gen. Dragan Katanic, the commander of Serbian Air Force said at a later press conference. He said that a special team will investigate the accident. The G-4 is an advanced jet trainer with a secondary light attack role. The first prototype flew in 1978 with production starting in 1983. The Serbian Air Force currently operates a total of 25 G-4’s in the 252nd Mixed Squadron in Batajnica, the 241st Fighter-Bomber squadron based at the southwestern Ladjevci air base Source: www.wikimedia.org and the Flight Testing Directorate.

warns Miodrag Joksimovic, a council spokesperson. The removal of temporary facilities has been going on since 2006. Of 2,200 kiosks found at the time, there are half as many on the streets now. Preparation and selling of food in kiosks is not allowed under any circumstances. The only municipality which has refused to honour these regulations is Radical-controlled Zemun, where there are 130 such facilities. A spokesperson from the citywide Secretariat for Communal and Inspection Affairs announced they would not turn a blind eye. “If people from the Zemun municipality insist on refusing to carry out decisions of city authorities, city inspectors will be asked to finish the job without them,” says Joksimovic.

New minibus line 61 as of October

he directorate for public transportation will introduce a new minibus line 61 as of October, and bus fares and stamps of the official Belgrade city transportation company will be valid in those minibuses. It is planned that minibuses on this line will run from Pristaniste to Terazije and back. The Directorate recently announced that surveys show that Belgrade citizens would like further minibuses, especially in New Belgrade, where provision of public transport is less well developed than in many other areas of the town, and where connections to from the old town are often slow and crowded.

Deal the Cards

Consumer Watch By Chris Farmer One of the most embarrassing things for me is when I go to the supermarket, fill up the trolley, whip out the trusty payment card and after a minute or so, have the lady look up at me in her smugly disinterested way and tell me: “You’ve got no money.”

roans rise from people behind me in line. Eyes begin to roll. One or two of them start to snicker. And all the time I am getting red in the face and telling her Yes! there is money there! Try again! Try again!” In most cases, however, they don’t. They sigh and tell me there’s nothing there, and I blush, start removing the nonessentials from my shopping, pay for my single litre of milk (of course I only have change in my pockets…) and slink away abashed, defeated by the system. The machine may have been broken, the lines may not have connected, my bank may have screwed up (because there was money there, I swear!), but in the end it does not matter. I lost face. No amount of indignant rage could help me. Credit cards are still a mystery in Serbia. When you have cash in your pocket, they work. When you least expect it, they play hide and seek with your money. But this is not the real gripe which I am ranting about just now. What bothers me most is the way one gets treated when things like this happen. The first assumption is immediately that you, the consumer, cannot pay for your dinner. No polite smiles, no apology, no trying another POS machine. I have learned that all these things can and will happen if you stubbornly insist and refuse to move. I was waiting once for nearly 30 minutes before they came back with the receipt to sign. A friend of mine went to his bank’s ATM this week and tried to take out cash. The machine spat out the card and said he could not. He went inside and complained, knowing he had money there. They told him flatly that the system was down. No idea when it would be fixed. No “sorry”. No hope. They told him (true story): “Try tomorrow and see.” For me, it is all about the service. When something goes wrong with the system, the tendency to blame the consumer is all too familiar. It costs nothing for a checkout clerk or bank teller to simple say “I’m sorry but…” instead of treating you like an indigent pariah. The guy behind you can wait five more minutes, can’t he?

neighbourhood

Friday, September 26, 2008

Worried Slovenia Swings Left in Election

A surprise win by Social Democrats, after a muddled campaign, reflects disillusionment with Janez Jansa’s divisive rhetoric and fears about economic downturn. By Olga Brezovar in Ljubljana

eft-of-centre parties emerged victorious in Slovenia’s general elections on Sunday, giving the Social Democrats, led by Borut Pahor, an opportunity to form a new government. Although the right-of-centre Slovene Democratic Party, SDS, of current Prime Minister Janez Jansa came in second place, his most loyal coalition partner, the pro-Catholic New Slovenia party, NSI, failed to win any seats in the 90-member parliament. The result means that after four years of right-wing government, Slovenia is back on its old left-ofcentre track, having chosen the same political option that brought the country through its most difficult period of economic transition. The Social Democrats will now hold about one-third of the seats in parliament and together with their Liberal Democrat, LDS, and Zares allies, they will control a total of 43, just three short of an absolute majority. Jansa claims the uncounted votes of about 40,000 Slovenes living abroad may yet change the final result, but few analysts see this as likely. In recent elections, votes of Slovenes living in other parts of the Former Yugoslavia have had more influence on the results than the votes of Slovenes in other overseas territories. And these are mostly left-oriented. Even if Jansa’s party does pick up the votes of conservative Catholic Slovenes living in Argentina, Canada and Australia, it will probably bring them only one more seat, which won’t alter the outcome. The factors behind the left’s victory lie mostly in voters’ unrealised expectations. The economic situation in the country is the poorest it has been during 16 years of independence and whilst the

global economic downturn may not be the fault of the government, the voters inevitably hold Jansa’s partly responsible for their plight. The Prime Minister’s apparent obsession with uncovering Communist crimes committed during and after the Second World War was not especially popular, and the privileges accorded to the Catholic Church during the last four years have also alienated some people. Until the last month of the campaign, the left wing parties appeared highly disunited but at the beginning of September, they managed to harmonise their programmes and present themselves as a credible option to the voters for leading Slovenia. They also mobilised a number of people who enjoy respect in Slovene society, such as the first president of independent Slovenia, Milan Kucan, the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Jankovic, and the ex-governor of the National Bank, Mitja Gaspari. Kucan said he hoped the pensioners party, known by the acronym DeSUS, a party more inclined to the left than to the right despite its place in Jansa’s coalition, would join the three other left-of-centre parties in the new government. The alliance with the SDS was not a happy one. As one pensioner party deputy, France Zindarsic, said: “A monkey goes out twice on the ice, but we won’t. You will not see us in coalition with Jansa again.” DeSUS has good reason to feel cheerful about its election results. The smallest party in the parliament for years, it is now the fourth largest, having doubled its number of deputies. This achievement is mostly down to the party president, Karel Erjavec, whose honest appearance and naive humour won over many voters. “Our success is based on hard work and the fact that we persistently fought for our programme over the last four years,” he said. “Collaborating with the right was a stressful and

Pahor victorious in Slovenian elections exhausting experience,” he added. its different policies,” Pahor said. After the results came through, Zares, was founded only last Erjavec said he would be a tough ne- October following a split in the gotiator, explaining that he expected former Liberal Democrats, bringing to keep his position in the govern- on-board some well-known faces ment as defence minister. as well as many new figures from The Social Democrats’ allies have the business and political elite. This made it clear they are happy to work combination has clearly helped them with the pensioners party. Gregor become a relevant political force in Golobic, leader of Zares, said his just a few months. party was “ready to let other parties Some political observers believe with similar ideas and programmes, Jansa erred politically by trying to posuch as DeSUS, into the coalition”. larize public opinion. Some feel that he If negotiations fail with the pen- tried too hard to present himself as an sioners, Pahor will probably turn to authoritative “father of the nation” who the small coalition uniting the Slov- would solve all past injustices, but the ene People’s Party, SLS, and the moderate majority of Slovenes did not Slovenian Youth Party, SMS. warm to this talk of “us” and “them”. But this will only be possible if Whether he has learned his lesson Pahor follows in the late Janez Dr- is unclear. After the election he said novsek’s political footsteps and forms he could not understand how people a politically diverse government based could make such a mistake as to vote for the left and hinted his party might on cooperation and not ideology. “We don’t exclude the possibility demand a recount. that we will invite the SLS-SMS coaVlado Miheljak, professor at the lition into the government in spite of Faculty of Social Sciences said of

Only One Croat Party Acted Within the Law

Croatian Lawmakers

Source: www.photobucket.com

Zagreb _ The first ever state audit of political parties and independent lawmakers has found that last year, only one party, the Democratic Union of Medjimurje fully complied with the legislation. The state inspectors found that the official report of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, shows 10 million kunas (€1.4 million) less revenues than the party actually declared in 2007. The biggest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, owes €500,000 euros to the state budget. The opposition Croatian People’s Party, HNS, according to inspectors, owns a company that lost some €10,000 in 2007, which indicates that “reasons for the existence of the firm should be examined.” Independent lawmakers were no less wasteful than political parties. Ivo Banac, who is also the president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, rented his own office to himself and paid the €5000 rent with money from the state budget, it is reported.

The Novi list daily claims Banac spent another €20,000 euros on book shelves for his “office”. Banac also spent €3000 on taxi services. Furio Radin, a lawmaker for the Italian minority, spent almost €10,000 on various technical equipment and gadgets, including an iPod, while Slaven Letica spent €50,000 on his electoral campaign and another €50,000 without a single bill. Jene Adam, a lawmaker for the Hungarian minority, was several years ago sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for paying his daughter’s apartment loan with state money. This time the state audit found that Adam again used the state budget money to return the €20,000 he previously took. According to the law on the financing of political parties and independent lawmakers, all independent members of parliament are entitled to some €50,000 annually for their parliamentary activities.

Photo by FoNet the move ”this would not be the first time. Each time he [Jansa] lost, he has blamed vote counting, validity of the voting process and mathematics.” Despite the economic crisis, which motivated many voters in cities to vote against Jansa’s party, the countryside remains devoted to him – a fact that Jansa commented on after the result. “Ljubljana decided, not Slovenia,” he said, bitterly. “It’s not fair that the votes of the rich seem to count for more.” He complained also that the left appeared to enjoy more support in the media than his own party. Katarina Kresal, the president of the Liberal Democrats, said the new government would break with what she called the Jansa government’s “ideological rhetoric”. Pahor meanwhile promised not to undertake any political purges of people occupying senior positions, as allegedly took place following the last election. Source: BalkanInsight.com

EU Grants Albania €245 million in Aid Tirana _ The European Commission is giving Albania €245 million to help it prepare for accession to the European Union. The three year package will focus on agriculture, transport and energy, environmental and regional development, as well as police and judiciary reform. The European Commission office in Tirana said in a statement on Tuesday that the programme “aims at ... preparing the country for future European Union accession.” Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union two years ago - an initial step toward joining the 27member union. The EU is the biggest aid donor to Albania, providing more than €1.2 billion since 1991.

neighbourhood

Friday, September 26, 2008

Kosovo Cheapest Narcotics in Region Pristina _ Kosovo has the lowest street prices for narcotics among all Balkan countries and drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin are affordable even for teenagers, Belgrade Insight can reveal. Drug prices in the newborn country are the lowest in the region, when compared with prices in neighbouring countries. Police sources show that a gram of heroin in Kosovo can be found for as little as €10. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the same quantity of the same drug is priced at between €15 to €25, in Macedonia between €25 and €40, while in Albania and Serbia from €25 upwards. Cocaine is also cheap in Kosovo where prices for a gram vary between €50 and €80. In Albania and Serbia it’s sold between €70 and €110, while in Macedonia and in Bosnia between €60 and €100. Albania leads the re-

gional market with cheap marijuana, sold as low as €4 per gram, whereas in other countries it costs between €5 and €10, according to police. Whilst the local population of some 2 million people is not a large market for narcotics, Kosovo, is widely viewed as a transit route for drug smuggling into western Europe.

Bulgaria ‘Bottom in EU’ for Corruption

Sofia _ Bulgaria is the lowest ranked of all European Union member in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index. Among 180 countries ranked for corruption, Bulgaria takes 72nd place just below its neighbour and fellow EU newcomer Romania. According to data from the survey, Bulgaria has returned to the levels of 2000-2001, with a drop in the overall score this year to 3.6 points. Bulgaria has been rocked by a series scandals and suggestions of corrup-

tion at the highest levels of politics and business. Bulgaria’s EU partners imposed unprecedented sanctions against Bulgaria in July and have withheld much-needed development cash until things improve. “We have returned to the starting position from our pre-accession talks. We are Europe’s failure in the opposition to corruption”, Bulgaria’s branch of Transparency International said, adding that there was a lack of political will to find solutions to the problem.

Macedonia ‘Should Recognise Kosovo’ Pristina _ The speaker of Kosovo’s Parliament, Jakup Krasniqi, has accused ethnic Albanian politicians in Macedonia of not working to recognise Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.”I see the lack of unity of Albanian politicians in Macedonia to be the main reason” for delaying recognition, said Krasniqi. Serbian media reported last week that Macedonia will recognise Kosovo on September 23.However, Skopje continued to insist that Macedonia is still not ready to recognise the independence of its neighbour. Following the successful resolution of border demarcation issues, between Macedonia and Kosovo, Pristina was

optimistic that the former Yugoslav republic would swiftly follow up with a formal recognition of Kosovo. Though the number of states which have recognised Kosovo’s independence has reached 47, Macedonia and Montenegro are yet to make the move. The two former Yugoslav republics recently announced they they recognise the new passports issued in Kosovo but they have not recognised Kosovo per se. Montenegro which has a significant ethnic Serb population, and Macedonia which sees Serbia as a key trading partner are both said to fear a backlash from Belgrade.

Romania Minister Suspended amid Graft Probe Bucharest _ Romania’s President Traian Basescu has suspended the acting Labour Minister, Paul Pacuraru, giving the green light for a probe over his alleged involvement in corruption. State prosecutors charge that Pacuraru took bribes in order to help a company close to one of his family members. He has denied the accusations. In late August, Romania’s Senate decided to strip Pacuraru and a former Economy Minister of their immunity from prosecution and to try them on corruption charges. According to Romanian law, a member of parliament can be prosecuted only with the approval of the legislature, while investigations of senior public officials and former ministers must be approved by the president. Currently there are two other investigations underway against former ministers, also for alleged corruption.

Montenegro Police Arrest 65 in Church Row

Podgorica _ Police say they have arrested 65 people who protested against plans by the self-styled Montenegrin Orthodox Church to build a monastery. The protesters blocked roads near the town of Niksic to prevent the head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, Bishop Mihajlo, and his followers from reaching the building site. The demonstrators pelted police and Montenegrin Orthodox Church supporters with eggs. The demonstrators are followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro which claims both church properties and religious primacy over the orthodox community in Montenegro. The church dispute has led to many incidents in Montenegro. The Montenegrin Orthodox Church has not been recognised by other Orthodox Christian churches. Police said after the incident on the 21st that the protesters will be charged with violating public order.

Journalist Beaten in Sofia

Sofia _ Ognyan Stefanov, 54, was attacked by four men who broke his arms and legs as he walked out of a restaurant in the Bulgarian capital on Monday night, police said. The attack on the editor in chief of a Bulgarian online news provider was the latest of several attacks on journalists in the Balkan nation in the past year. Stefanov, who is recovering in hospital, is the editor in chief of the online news provider frognews. bg. His name was recently linked to another news provider that was closed by the national security service for allegedly publishing classified information on high-level police corruption, but Stefanov has denied any links with that site. A number of reporters and photojournalists have been beaten in Bulgaria in the past year and earlier this year, a gunman killed an author of books on the Bulgarian mafia. In 2006, a bomb exploded in the apartment of an investigative journalist who had been threatened over his stories uncovering crime and abuse of power among police, notaries and state officials.

Suspended Labour Minister, Paul Pacuraru

Source: www.cotidianul.ro

Croat Nurseries ‘Should Teach Catholicism’

Zagreb _ The Croatian Bishops Conference has asked all public pre-school institutions to start teaching Catholic education as a part of their curriculum, the Novi list daily reports. According to a special contract on cultural and education collaboration signed by the Croatian Government and the Vatican, all schools and preschool institutions are allowed to introduce Catholic education if parents request it. Such a move does not require the approval of the Ministry of Education or any other government body. All elementary schools already teach the Catholic religion, nominally as an optional course but one which usually takes place in the middle of the school day. Media report that most non-Catholic parents therefore choose to leave their children at a religious education class, out of concern that, as a minority, they would feel isolated and ostracised. So far, some 100 kindergartens or two percent of all public preschool

institutions have introduced teaching Catholicism. Novi list reports that bishops recently appealed to parents to demand that kindergarten management introduce religious education. According to Protagora, a Nongovernmental organisation speaking out for the rights of atheists, this practice is unconstitutional and against the law on religious communities, which says that religious education can be introduced only at the request of all parents.

Prostitution Claims Shake Bosnia University

Sarajevo _ Two female students were arrested, questioned and then released as police probed an alleged sex and corruption ring at a Bosnian law faculty. Police are investigating the case at Sarajevo’s Law Faculty and its branch in the northern town of Tuzla. The two girls were questioned by Tuzla police under suspicion of enticing prostitution and giving false statements. Meanwhile the Tuzla special police team is continuing to investigate the key suspect, a driver for Tuzla canton’s government Jasmin Masic. He was arrested on September 11 and will remain in detention for a month, pending the start of criminal procedures against him, local media reported over the weekend.

Media also reported that three professors and the dean of the Sarajevo Law Faculty will also be questioned in relation to this case. The scandal started when police arrested Masic under suspicion of organising a prostitution ring which included several women, citizens of Bosnia as well as other countries in the region. The investigators allege that Masic, who was driving Sarajevo law professors to lectures and exams they held in Tuzla and back, enticed women – apparently both prostitutes and female students – to have sex with professors. It’s also alleged that he arranged gifts and money transfers for the professors so the students would pass their exams. Masic denies the charges.

real estate

Friday, September 26, 2008

Dangers Abound in Kosovo Building Boom Construction firms are transforming Kosovo’s skyline with one high-rise after another - but as most have no planning permission, buyers could lose out in the end. By Besiana Xharra in Pristina

ahri Kumnova, from Djakovica/ Gjakova in western Kosovo, is taking a good look at a new apartment block in Pristina. He wants to buy a flat in the capital but is worried the building may not have planning permission and does not know where to turn. “I have no clue what to do,” he says. “The construction company tells me the building has permission, while the municipal authority claims almost no new blocks have a licence.” For three months, Kumnova has toured many of the new buildings that have shot up recently in Pristina, crowding the city skyline. But his worries about whether the buildings have any right to exist are so great that he is thinking of buying a pricier apartment in one of the city’s remaining older blocks, where planning permission was granted years ago. Illegal builds and lack of urban planning are a constant headache for those dabbling in real estate in Kosovo. Development has been chaotic since the Serbian pullout in 1999, and construction companies and entrepreneurs have built numerous high-rises, transforming the urban profile for good. Many visitors say they no longer recognise Pristina when they return after an absence of a few years, thanks to the number of new buildings. Most have no construction permits. City hall in Pristina says 70 per cent of about a hundred new apartment buildings erected since 1999 have no permission and do not form part of the urban plan. “Some construction companies were careful to secure permits but most

of the buildings were built without permission,” Muhamet Gashi, spokesperson for the City of Pristina, confirms. This is reflected in the price tag. The cost of buying flats in new buildings is markedly lower than in the older housing stock dating from the 1950s and 1960s. Staff working in real estate accept that many clients are afraid to buy new apartments because they know most have no permits. “Buyers are most interested in apartments constructed before the 1999 conflict, even those that are more expensive than the new ones,” Muse Maloku, of Sazani real estate agency, says. Maloku says the price differential between the two is significant. The average price per square metre in an old building is about €1,000 while in new buildings it is only about €750. Safety is another consideration. “New apartments don’t meet any particular construction standards, so people don’t want to risk buying them,” Maloku notes. Fahri Kumnova is a buyer caught on the horns of this dilemma. He is wondering whether to save money by buying a new flat for €750 per square metre, or play safe and pay €1,000 or more for an older property. “These prices are very expensive,” he laments. “It makes no sense that old apartments are much more expensive than the new ones.” Price is also affected by location. Alban Beqiri, from the Real Estate agency, says prime spots in Pristina now go for about €2,000 per metre, making Pristina not only the most expensive place to buy in Kosovo but comparable in terms of price with other capital cities in the region. “Downtown flats are more expensive, and of course the lower floors come at a premium, because people

buy these apartments to convert them later into offices or business premises,” Beqiri explains. Competition between the various construction companies in Pristina and other towns in Kosovo is fierce. With so many people wanting to live in the capital, building construction is seen as one of the few profitable industries. Many locals are far from impressed, saying Kosovo has become ugly thanks to the explosion in socalled “wild” development. But the pressure to build remains remorseless. People continue to drift from the countryside to the city, while many Albanians have returned to live in Kosovo in recent years after working in Western Europe. The companies involved in construction all claim they never start

their projects without securing planning permission from the relevant municipal authorities. Durim Prishtina, owner of Tregtia, one of the largest construction companies in Kosovo, says he never starts work before he has obtained a valid licence. “They are all licensed from the municipality,” he says of his apartment blocks. The owners of Lesna, another major construction firm, say likewise. But the municipal authorities are sceptical of all such claims. Their advice to buyers is not to rush, and to check up before putting down any money. “If you buy a flat in a building that lacks planning permission, you risk losing your property in future,” Muhamet Gashi warns. He says owners of illegal build-

Pristina’s construction boom - buyer beware

ings in Kosovo could suffer the same fate as their counterparts in other parts of Europe. In Spain, where illegal developments on the south coast are especially common, owners of those properties have seen them demolished, and received no compensation. Gashi said Kosovo’s parliament is now mulling a new law on building, which could have the same effect. “Once we have the new law, we will license only those buildings that pose no risk to the city’s layout, while all the others will be destroyed,” he says. Buyers like Fahri Kumnova say it is up to the government and local councils to sort the matter out as quickly as possible. “Ten years have passed since the end of war and it is high time they dealt with this issue,” he says.

Source: www.galeriashqiptare.net

out & about

Friday, September 26, 2008

Avala, Belgrade’s Beacon

With scenic views and impressive monuments to the dead from two world wars, there’s plenty to occupy visitors on the nearest mountain to the capital.

By Aleksandar Vasovic

ust 16 kilometres southwest of Serbia’s congested and polluted capital lies Mount Avala. It’s not a very big mountain, but it is a quiet retreat and less than an hour from the city. “It is like a beacon. Whenever I am returning home from the south, the sight of Avala tells me the journey is nearly over,” Belgrader Zoran Dimitrijevic, 37, says. Reached by a potholed road, Avala is home to several sites worth visiting. At the peak is the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier, an impressive marble mausoleum to the troops who died in the First World War. Built in 1922 on the orders of Aleksandar I, of Yugoslavia the grey and black marble monument is the work of the celebrated Dalmatian-born sculptor, Ivan Mestrovic. The grave of the Unknown Soldier rests under a massive canopy supported by carved caryatides “After the 1914-1918 war, locals recovered a number of bodies of soldiers who fought the invading Austro-Hungarian and German armies here and built a small memorial for all of them,” said Dragan, 80, a retired history teacher and an avid Avala visitor. “The king who also fought in the war then ordered the construction of the mausoleum.” Although top officials and visitors frequently visit the site to pay tribute to the war dead, the monument and the square around have been sadly damaged in places by graffiti. Nevertheless the complex is worth a visit and offers magnificent views of Sumadija, the central forested region of Serbia, and of Belgrade itself. Once the site of a medieval settlement that the Serbs called Zrnov, the invading Ottoman Turks renamed it Avala, meaning “obstacle”, “rampart” or “barrier” in the 1490s. The relics of the Turkish occupation were completely destroyed during the construction of the mausoleum

and the few remaining photographs from the early 20th century are preserved in the city museum. Other landmarks are the Memorial to the Soviet War Veterans from the Second World War and the site of the Avala TV Tower, bombed by NATO in 1999. The 202 meter high tower, one of the tallest structures in the Balkans, was constructed by the architects Uglješa Bogunović and Slobodan Janjić. The remains of the old tower were cleared recently to make way for the construction of a huge concrete replacement, visible for miles around. Building work continues but we are promised a fantastic viewing platform once it is finally completed. The Veterans’ monument is built on a site where an aircraft carrying a Russian delegation, travelling to take part in the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from the Germans in 1944, crashed in dense fog killing all on board including Marshall Sergey Semyonovich Biryuzov, Chief of Staff and the Defense Minister of the former Soviet Union and Gen. Vladimir Ivanovich Zhdanov. Visitors can also spend time in the Avala Hotel. It is not famous for its food or accommodation, but it has a pleasant terrace where you can linger over a good cup of coffee. The nearby mountaineering hostel, Carapicev Brest, serves hearty fare at bargain prices.

Memorial to the Unknown Soldier

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

A view from Avala

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

How to get there: To reach Avala by public transport, take trolleybus 9, 10, or 14 from the city centre to the last stop in Banjica. Then take buses 401, 403, 404, 405, or 407, all of which pass the main entrance. Ask the driver or a fellow passenger where to disembark. Hotel Avala (+ 381) (011) 649-252; 649-280 Carapicev Brest (+381) (011) 390-7678, 390-8147. http://www.backpackers.org.yu/pl_ avala_s.htm. (in Serbian only)

the belgrader

Monopoly Rules

The word ‘monopoly’ prompts thoughts of poor quality and indifferent service - as well as a popular board game. But as David Dowse explains, not all monopolies deserve their bad press.

By David Dowse

recently heard that the campaigning efforts of Vesna Mirilo, a Serbian journalist, have resulted in a famous victory for Belgrade. The in-

ternational version of the board game Monopoly will now feature this great city, alongside lesser places such as Paris, Berlin and Rome. Thanks to Vesna and friends and the great love that Belgraders have for their city, Serbian democracy - in the form of thousands of online votes - for once delivered a clear and popular result. With my professional hat on, I must pay respects to the British PR company that conceived and executed such a superb global campaign for their clients, Monopoly’s owners, Hasbro. With their competition to vote new cities into the game, they managed to make what is just another commercial product a popular topic on mainstream TV news. TV presenters enthusiastically repeated the brand name and helpfully explained in background pieces how we have all known and loved the

game since we were knee-high to a grasshopper. Simply inspired, creative PR, timed to perfection for the August quiet season. Of course, the word itself does not normally conjure up such warm and cosy feelings. Monopoly as a commercial reality generally speaks of poor quality, indifferent service and the exploitation of consumers who are helpless without the empowerment that comes with choice. Ask anyone who shops for food in Belgrade supermarkets. But monopoly is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on the circumstances. During the 1990s, Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret “Iron Lady” Thatcher, set about a crusade (her word) against communal planning in Britain, infamously declaring, “There is no such thing as society. There is living tapestry of

men and women and people.” Some of the radical reforms she instigated were arguably needed and overdue but her blind pursuit of dogma also produced some ridiculous results. One of the most visible and damning legacies of the Thatcher era is Britain’s railway system. Once a state-owned monopoly, it was privatised by Maggie and her team, determined to break one of the few remaining strongholds of trade union power. Dogma demanded the introduction of competition, so the network was fragmented, with separate private companies becoming the owners of various parts of the infrastructure, assets and timetables. The result of this destruction of monopoly is clear to any traveller today. The network, timetables and pricing structures are so complex and disjointed that nobody, least of

all the station staff, has any idea how it all works. It is not uncommon for a return ticket to be cheaper than a one-way trip. A committee of lunatics could not produce such a result. Nobody would claim the old, stateowned British Rail was perfect, but what it needed was investment and modernisation, not destruction. Towards the end, Mrs Thatcher became fixated on the destruction of state monopoly wherever it still lurked. At the time, I was active as a consultant in the aviation industry, and played a small part in campaigning against the total privatisation of Britain’s air traffic control system. The idea of introducing a profit imperative, with its associated costreductions and corner-cutting, into such a safety-critical arena should never be allowed to pass go. Sometimes, Monopoly Rules.

the belgrader

Friday, September 26, 2008

Going out

Refresh Eugh! I won’t lie to you. Every one of these reviews that I write is in some small part steered by the undercurrents of self-preservation and the image of Sonny Corleone being gunned down at the toll booth by vengeful gangsters. So if there is no column next week, I suggest that you direct the police to commence their search under the buoyancy tanks of Refresh. By Richard Wordsworth

he hostess was the first sign that something very sinister has happened to the splav that used to be called Exile. I remember last year having a very bleary conversation with a friend about the possibility of mooring a house boat off the side and secretly moving in so as to avoid those irritating interludes of real life between leaving and coming back again the next night. And now devout followers such as ourselves are greeted by a crowing harpy, asking for reservations? The sign outside says Refresh but the welcome was wearily old school. Fortunately, hostesses are extremely susceptible to my Jedi mind powers, and we waved her aside and proceeded in. But she was nothing compared to the changes that lurked inside.

First things first; the dance floor has gone. I mean, it’s still there, but it’s covered in little tables. The carsized, ribcage-shaking, bone-crunching speaker has been tossed out as well, which is totally unforgiveable. It has been replaced with couches. Now stop, come on, really? I mean, it’s bad enough when clubs start to sacrifice dancing space for couches, but really when you start taking out the sound system you’re not running a nightclub anymore. It’s like taking the goals away at a football ground – you get more space but no one wants to play anymore. It also creates the situation of being totally surrounded on all sides when you’re trying to dance, and I don’t like the feeling of having a table of critical girls I don’t know sitting directly behind the space where I am trying to shake my booty. It makes me feel self-conscious. And where are the men’s toilets? The girls all still have to go in the

same place, but any lads who have had the tenacity to actually drink at this place now have to actually leave the club to relieve themselves. Out the door, round the back. Who could possibly have thought this a good idea? These changes are made all the worse by the total craziness of wanting to change anything about Exile in the first place. Bile-inducingly cloying as this may sound, Exile was the only club in Belgrade that I have ever felt an emotional connection to, like the fondness you get when you revisit your childhood home. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks; in your child’s mind it was perfect. Going to Refresh now is like turning up at your

old house to find that the neighbours from hell have moved in. If this uncharacteristic whining and sycophancy is making you wonder what’s happened to me this week then allow me to elaborate on quite what I liked about Exile so much. Exile was the place you could save up as the ace-up-thesleeve if everywhere else you tried in the evening was rubbish. Exile was the only club I’d ever been to that ran competitions to find new and unheard of DJs and give them a chance to play to a real dance floor. When I met two formerly unknown DJs from Belgrade for a coffee last year, they told me that the manager

Refresh sold its soul to Plastic - an unforgivable sin

of Exile had given them the keys to the place over the winter so that they could throw their own parties every weekend to promote themselves. In the big soul-sucking world of commercial clubbing, Exile was like Bono, selflessly feeding the needs of Belgrade’s musicstarved children, only in a loveable, much less annoying sort of way, and without those wretched sunglasses. In my usual end-of-review-notready-to-risk-my-kneecaps disclaimer, I should say that Refresh isn’t all bad. But I won’t. It’s sold its soul to be more like Plastic (reviewed earlier this year), and I won’t forgive it for that.

Source: www.nadlanu.com

Dining out

A Taste of the Med on the Danube Aleksandra Niksic finds her mouth watering at the sight of the fishy treats on offer at Varijanta - a gourmet bolthole hidden in the suburbs.

By Aleksandra Niksic

ourmet adventures into the suburbs don’t often pay off. Visnjica, once famed for local farms offering fresh vegetables at a time when “organic” was just a strange adjective, has long been forgotten by both owners and patrons of restaurants. A pity, because visitors should not be fooled by the sight of those shabby houses leaning against flashy car showrooms. There, hidden in a row of empty warehouses, awaits a real treat for foodies. Just 10 kilometres from the city centre, is Varijanta, a stone’s throw from the banks of the Danube, with a lovely garden for summer dining and an air-conditioned interior, soberly decorated in soothing orange, brown and white. The menu is distinctly fishy - the catch comes direct from the Adriatic twice a week - but caters well enough for those who prefer to stick to meat or vegetables. The main specialty is traditionally prepared octopus,

hobotnica ispod saca, baked inside a covered clay dish, which is buried in hot charcoal to cook. Due to the long preparation time, it has to be ordered a day in advance. We opted for light starters of tuna tartare and salmon carpaccio, served with garlic and olive flavoured butters . Fish soup was not as hot as it could have been, but was nevertheless fresh and tasty. The famous cheese from the island of Pag in Dalmatia, paski sir, though it featured on the menu, was not available, but at 800 dinars for a hundred grams perhaps that was a good thing! The home-made apricot and quince rakia’s however, were among the best we have tasted in Belgrade restaurants over the past year. At the waiter’s suggestion, we chose grilled fresh sea bream, sea bass and octopus. All came as we wanted; with a crispy grilled crust and meltingly soft flesh, with just a hint of herbs served with boiled potatoes and with a sauce of extra virgin olive oil, parsley and garlic on the side. The fish were filleted and served at the table by the waiter. There was a good

The Varijanta restaurant, a place for gourmet adventures selection of homemade breads and toasts and a green salad with cherry tomatoes and Greek cheese acted as a nice accompaniment to the fish. The wine list at Varijanta will satisfy even picky connoisseurs and ranges across the former Yugoslavia and further afield to Italy, France and South America. Some of the prices are stratospheric but you’ll not go too far wrong if you ask the sommelier for a local recommendation.

Photo courtesy of www.varijanta.co.yu

The desert menu was limited but nevertheless did not disappoint: pineapple carpaccio with balsamic dressing, honey and flax seeds, cold Cantaloupe melon with honey and real Italian-style tiramisu. The service was good: attentive, but not intrusive but the music, an eclectic and occasionally loud mix Cuban, Spanish and Greek, was less of a delight. The prospect of a live band at playing at weekends did not appeal!

This is not a place for a cheap night out and it’s very possible to spend upwards of 5,000 Dinars per head but there are bargains to be had and with judicious selections our bill for our party of four, including one bottle of local Harizma, came only to 10,000 dinars, not including the tip. Details: Varijanta, Visnjicka 113a, Tel: 011 2990 315; 063 222 218, www.varijanta.co.yu

the belgrader

Friday, September 26, 2008

Lost for Words

Feeling daunted by the Serbian language and all those Cyrillic letters? Don’t be. It’s easier than it looks and in many ways more logical than English.

By Pat Andjelkovic

hen you think about it, most foreign countries wouldn’t seem so terribly foreign if it weren’t for one thing: the language. If everybody spoke English, we’d be able to ask for directions, order food, understand when being spoken to or yelled at, and not get all upset when we can’t get our message across. We’d feel more relaxed. But although English is already a world language, we can’t and we shouldn’t rely on it, especially if we’re living or travelling in another country. Some believe that speakers of Romance languages are obsessed with

sex because they have masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives, though many other languages do, too. Some languages don’t have words for “the” and “a” and get along just fine. Others, like Serbian, which have inflected verb endings, don’t even have to use subject pronouns. But just try for even five minutes to have a conversation in English without using “I”, “you”, “he”, and so on. Others don’t even have a system of tenses, and use some alternative form for marking time, such “I go tomorrow” or “I go yesterday” to indicate a future or past action. Still others, like Serbian, have past tense markers indicating the gender and number of the speaker. For example, if a man says, “I was here,” he’d say “Bio sam ovde,” while a woman would say “Bila sam ovde.” In neither case do they have to use “ja” for “I.” Very early on in their history, the Slavs did not have their own alphabet, and communicated by means of tallies and sketches. After they converted to Christianity, they developed a particular Slavonic literacy with a special alphabet, a mixture of old Greek and Russian. Later, this was perfected and became known as the Cyrillic alphabet, after St Cyril, who composed 36 letters and 2 diphthongs, some of which – 24 – were similar to the Greek, while 14 others were suited to express Slavic sounds. This alphabet

wasn’t yet phonetic, even among the educated, so variations in spelling abounded. The major revolution in standardising spelling came about as a result of Vuk Karadzic, who was born in 1787 and died in 1864. Vuk developed the rules, “Write as you speak” and “Read as it is written.” In other words, one sound, one letter. Thus, the Serbs today have a perfect alphabet of 30 characters and the simplest spelling, with no need for spelling tests because there are no double letters, or silent letters, to worry about. Serbian is rich in detailed grammar, however, with nine kinds of words, seven cases, three genders of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and precise expressions for active and passive states or times of the actions, alongside fairly predictable syllabic stress. Serbian doesn’t have any particularly “unpronounceable” sounds but there are some tongue-twisting combinations, such as “dzezva,” “djavao,” “cvrst,” and “grb,” for example. “R” serves often as a vowel. It may seem incredibly complicated, but most people discover that Serbian appears harder when learned from a book than when actually put it into practice. If you can recognize the Cyrillic letters and know what they stand for, you can read and pronounce any word, even if you don’t know what it means! One common

mistake that newcomers make is that “pectopah” is a chain of restaurants, since many a restaurant (pectopah) has a sign that reads, for example, “PECTOPAH MOPHAP”, meaning “Sailor Restaurant’. Map reading is fun, too. Looking for Sarajevo? Look for “CAPAJEBO”. Some films on Serbian TV are subtitled in Cyrillic. Street signs in Cyrillic frustrate the foreign visitor. Although both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets are taught early on in school, there is a creeping fear among Serbs that Cyrillic is becoming less common. This follows the inevitable changes that any language undergoes, except those spoken in extreme isolation. If England hadn’t been invaded by the Romans, Vikings and Normans, we’d now be speaking a much poorer language The melding of languages

brought us, for instance both “beer” from the French and “ale” from the Anglo-Saxon along with “mutton” (French) and “sheep” (Anglo-Saxon) and of course swearing would be a lot less fun without all those cultural influences! Occasionally in Serbian newspapers you will read letters to the editor, bemoaning the contamination of the Serbian language by such borrowings as “menedzment” of “softver”. Restaurants boast such items as ХОТ ДОГ (hot dog), БЕКЕНДЕКС (bacon and eggs), ХЕМЕНДЕКС (ham and eggs), and ФAСТ ФУД (fast food) but my latest favourite is ШОПИНГ МОЛ (shopping mall). But this intrusion isn’t anything new. Go to Turkey and lend an ear, and you may be surprised to learn how many words the Serbs “borrowed” from the Turks.

New words for old: here, cookies is used in place of keks

Source: www.srbovanje.com

arts

Kosovo, What Everyone Needs to Know Small country, big dispute. So it’s ever been. Think of Israel, Lebanon, East Timor, Northern Ireland. One could go on. Review by Marcus Tanner

ewind the historical clock to the mid-19th century in Europe, and the continent was torn in two over the two small duchies of Schleswig and Holstein and whether they should go to Germany or Denmark. It’s a forgotten dispute now but for a couple of years it was touch and go whether the duchies would drag several great powers into a general war. Britain’s Lord Palmerston quipped famously that only three people in Europe could get their head round this bitter quarrel, which pitted the rights of the Danish crown against the new principle of self-determination. “One was a German professor who has gone mad,” the British Liberal leader declared, “the other was Prince Albert who is dead and the third is myself – but I have forgotten all about it.” Many might feel tempted to echo those words when it comes to Kosovo, a patch of land the same size as Jamaica, which has generated a remarkable amount of international heat compared to its size. Fortunately, though, we have Tim Judah as our guide through this particular dispute, and he has neither gone mad, nor died, nor

forgotten the salient details of what Serbs used to call the “Kosovo knot”. On the contrary, in this small, concise book, he provides a detailed but very readable account of Kosovo’s history as it has unfolded over the past few centuries, ending with the February 2008 declaration of independence and its immediate aftermath. Writing an impartial guide to Kosovo is like writing an impartial guide to the Israel/Palestine dispute. So contested and fought-over are even basic historical facts that ploughing an even furrow between them can seem impossible. But Judah, who will be well known to many followers of Balkan politics, prudently avoids being made hostage to either Serbian or Albanian versions of Kosovo’s history, often by the simple method of supplying the reader with both accounts. He is careful to point out that many of the facts and figures used by either side, such as the number of Serbian colonists before the war, or the number of Serbian refugees after 1999, are suspect; supposedly reliable data has always been a tool in the propaganda war. Judah is now, surely, the unchallenged doyen of foreign correspondents in the Balkans, which is one more reason to welcome this book. He has criss-crossed the region countless times since his debut here for The Times in the early 1990s. Long after most correspondents have packed up and left, he remains at his post, for many years now the correspondent of The Economist, listening, talking and interviewing. His experience on the ground, gathered over two decades in most of

the Balkan lands – Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia in particular – must therefore be counted as unique. For that reason, his lightest word on the subject is heavy. Fortunately, though, possession of an extensive body of knowledge has not led to ponderousness or a tendency to preach – the besetting sins of so many foreign writers on the Balkans. Instead, the facts, such as they can be ascertained, are laid out with a disarmingly light touch, alongside often contrasting narratives, and the reader left to judge for him or herself. Anyone expecting a mass of colourful anecdotes, along the lines of those contained in Judah’s other works on Serbia and Kosovo will be disappointed. The title of the book in that respect is quite self-explanatory. The purpose of this OUP series is avowedly educational – to inform rather than to entertain. That it does very nicely, and for that reason Judah’s book should be an indispensable addition to the library of every student of Balkan history as well as to anyone wanting to wrestle with the complexities of the “Kosovo knot”. Tim Judah is the author of ‘Kosovo: War and Revenge’ and ‘The Serbs, History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia’. ‘Kosovo, What Everyone Needs to Know’ is published by Oxford University Press. See: www.oup.com Correction: Last week’s review of The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric was incorrectly attributed to Marcus Tanner. This review should have been attributed to www.grandpoohbah. net. We apologise to all concerned.

Kosovo, What Everyone Needs to Know, by Tim Judah

the belgrader

Friday, September 26, 2008

What’s On CINEMAS Roda Cineplex Požeška 83A , tel: 011 2545-260 Ljubav & drugi zlocini (Love and Other Crimes) 18:00, 20:15 & 22:30 Wall - E 16:00 Kung Fu Panda 16:00 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan 22:15 Mamma Mia! 17:45 & 20:00

Tuckwood Cineplex Kneza Miloša 7, tel: 011 3236-517 Ljubav & drugi zlocini (Love and Other Crimes) 15:55, 18:10, 20:30 & 22:45 Journey to the Center of the Earth 16:00 & 18:00 Mamma Mia! 17:30 & 19:45 Milos Brankovic 16:30, 18:45, 21:00 & 23:15 Get Smart 22:30 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan 15:45, 18:00, 20:15 & 22:30 Wall - E 15:30 The Dark Knight 22:00 Tropic Thunder 20:00 & 22:15

CONCERTS Cuban Night Unique Cuban - Serbian band performs with guests from Cuba, musicians and dancers. Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall. Studentski trg 5 September 27, 20:00 Tickets available at Kolarac ticket office Journey to the Center of the Earth 16:30 & 18:30 Tropic Thunder 20:30 & 22:30

Adonis Remos The young Greek pop icon struts his stuff for the first time in Belgrade.

Dom sindikata Trg Nikole Pašića 5, tel. 011 3234-849

Great Hall, Sava Centre Milentija Popovica 9 September 28, 20:00 Tickets available at Bilet Servis, Trg Republike 5 and Sava Centre ticket office

Milos Brankovic 16:30, 18:30, 20:30 & 22:30 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan 16:15 & 22:15 Wall - E 16:15 Mamma Mia! 18:00, 20:00 & 22:00 Tropic Thunder 18:15 & 20:15 Ljubav & drugi zlocini (Love and Other Crimes) 16:15, 18:15, 20:15 & 22:15 Ster City Cinema Delta City, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Blok 67), tel: 011 2203-400 Milos Brankovic 12:50, 14:50, 16:40, 18:30, 20:20 & 22:30 Wall - E 12:30, 15:00 & 17:00 Tropic Thunder 11:40, 13:50, 16:00, 18:10, 20:40 & 22:50 Journey to the Center of the Earth 11:00, 13:40 & 21:40 Kung Fu Panda 11:00, 13:10 & 15:20 Ljubav & drugi zlocini (Love and Other Crimes) 12:00, 14:10, 16:20, 18:50, 21:00 & 23:10 You Don’t Mess with the Zohan 19:00, 21:20 & 23:40 Mamma Mia! 11:20, 13:30, 15:40, 17:50, 20:00 & 22:10

Belgrade Noise Society Experimental electronic sounds from Ivan Ckonjevic with French and Swiss collaborators Tamagawa and b°tong REX, Jevrejska 16 September 28, 21:00 Tickets available one hour before the event at Rex Cultural Centre

ANNUAL EVENTS The 2nd “Night of the Jumps” A programme of motorcycle mayhem, jumps and stunts from this travelling team of riders. Belgrade Arena Bulevar Arsenija Carnojevica 58 September 27, 20:00 Tickets available at Belgrade Arena ticket office, Bilet Service - Trg Republike 5, Mamut Bookstore, Sremska 2 and Ticketline, Skadarska 8.

The 2nd International Rakia FEST

The 42nd Belgrade International Theatre Festival/BITEF Sava Centre, Milentija Popovica 9 STIFTER’S THINGS/STIFTERS DINGE An invitation for audiences to enter a fascinating space full of sounds and images. September 26, 17:00 and 20:00 September 27, 17:00 and 20:00 Tickets available at Sava Centre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5.

A celebration of the most quintessential of all Serbian drinks, with more than 200 varieties, from 50 producers available to taste and buy. Last year’s festival saw more than 50,000 lovers of the local spirit pass through the doors.

Yugoslav Drama Theatre Kralja Milana 50 THE PERSIANS/DIE PERSER Two-and-a-half millennia of human tragedy compressed into 90 minutes in this widely acclaimed work

Amphitheatre, Exhibition-building B, Sava Centre, Milentija Popovica 9 September 26 - 27, from 10:00 to 17:00

September 27, 20:00 September 28, 20:00 Tickets available at YDT ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5.

OPERA

BITEF Special Programme Terazije Theatre Trg Nikole Pasica 3

National Theatre, Trg Republike 1a

TRUTH IN TRANSLATION The harrowing stories of translators working for the South African Truth and Reconcilliation Comission who were given the mandate – “do not become involved”

Italian Cultural Centre Kneza Milosa 56 Mon. - Fri. 10:00 - 17:00 September 22 - October 10 Exhibition of Italian Graphics Ethnographic Museum Studentski trg 13 Mon. - Sat. 10:00 - 17:00 Sunday 9:00 - 14:00 September 20 - September 30 The Dance of Coloured Thread A collection of traditional rugs from Pirot, organised to mark the occasion of the 107th birthday of this institution. Gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art Pariska 14 Every day except Thursday from 12:00 to 20:00 and ZVONO Gallery, Visnjiceva 5 Mon. - Fri. 12:00 - 19:00 Saturday 12:00 - 16:00 September 5 - October 3 “Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind” A collection featuring Serbian artist, Nikola Savic’s paintings and drawings. Belgrade Fortress Coins from the Belgrade Fortress

September 26, 20:00 September 27, 20:00 Tickets available at Terazije Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5.

EXHIBITIONS La Traviata Verdi’s old favourite, packed with singalong arias

Historical Museum of Serbia Djure Jaksica 9 Thu.- Sun. 12:00 - 20:00

September 27, 7:30 pm Tickets available at National Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service - Trg Republike 5.

September 4 - October 6 Three decades of Spanish Photography

THEATRES

Residence of Prince Milos in Topcider

French Cultural Centre Zmaj Jovina 11 Tue.- Fri. 12:00 - 18:00 Saturday 10:00 - 15:00

Puppet Theatre “Pinokio”, Karadjordjeva 9, Zemun The Three Little Pigs A re-working of the famous tale with a mix of performers and puppets September 27, 11:00 Ticket reservation via email biletarnica@ptpinokio.com

Coinage from all the nations associated with the long history of the fortress – an exhibition of large format prints on the terrace on the Sava side of the Fortress. September 12 - October 12

Rakovicki put bb Thu.- Sun. 10:00 - 17:00 Second Serbian Uprising Permanent Exhibition

September 23 - November 1 A Century of French and Belgian Comics From Pilote to Tin Tin and Valliant an exhibition from the European power-house of the comic genre.

Sacred Secrets of Lepenski Vir A glimpse into the world of the household gods of thousands of years ago grants insights into the beliefs and artistic powers of this vanished society.

By Jelena Mickic

he hall of the National Bank of Serbia has opened its premises to the public, to display 17 sculptures from this country’s prehistory. The exhibition is a valuable opportunity for visitors to get acquainted with some of the surviving artefacts of the 9,000-year-old culture of Lepenski Vir. Following the closure of the Archaeological Department of the National Museum in Belgrade in 1999, this exhibition is the first opportunity

in years for people to see the physical legacy of this complex and intriguing European culture. Lepenski Vir is located in the Djerdap Gorge, the part of the Danube river border near Romania, often known as the Iron Gate. During construction of a hydro-electric power plant in the region, archaeological finds that had been excavated between 1965 and 1971 were saved from flooding by being relocated some 30 metres higher up. Today a Museum of Lepenski Vir exists near the site, while the National Museum in Belgrade houses artefacts from this site too. The new exhibition in the National Bank, offers visitors insight and better understanding, not only of the artistic expression and craft skills of the prehistoric humans, but of their beliefs and way of life.

It appears, for example that these sculptures, made of stone, were placed carefully near household hearths, and represented the most revered deities governing people’s everyday lives. The male figures are fish-like while their female counterparts resemble bees. Visitors, standing in front of them and trying to absorb their shapes and meanings, will share the feeling of serenity, peace and simplicity that those long-ago sculptors surely intended observers to feel. The exhibition also features a video describing the excavation work at the original Lepenski Vir archaeological site. Where: Hall of the National Bank of Serbia, Nemanjina 17. When: Everyday except Monday, 10am-10pm. The exhibition runs until 19 December.

Hand tools from Lepenski Vir

Source: www.sgi.co.yu

sport

Friday, September 26, 2008

Serbian Soccer Fighting Decisive Battle Last week’s 10-year prison sentence for a Red Star fan may be Serbia’s turning point in crushing soccer-related violence. By Zoran Milosavljevic

ame the eleventh hour in Serbia’s desperate battle to crack down on two-decade long unrelenting soccer violence and the authorities finally responded: a Red Star fan who assaulted a police officer with a burning flare during last season’s first division match was sentenced to 10 years in jail last week after he was convicted of attempted murder. The landmark verdict, the most drastic punishment to date in Serbia for soccer-related violence, stirred up plenty of emotion among fans, local media and even the Red Star players. While the fans produced slogans vilifying the presiding judge in the case, the players came out wearing shirts with a slogan of support for the 20-year old offender, who broke into tears after hearing the verdict. His companions had to be restrained by security following an angry outburst when the verdict was announced. The judge, Velimir Lazovic, said the draconian punishment was necessary to end what he called an epidemic of football violence. Torn apart by years of bloody ethnic strife across the former Yugoslavia, and against a background of the loss of moral and social values and the cohesion of society, Serbia’s

Red Star fans set off flares during the 2007 game with Hajduk from Kula soccer descended into a spiralling vicious circle of corruption and uncontrolled violence where the perpetrators went largely unpunished, even after fights between rival fans which resulted in deaths. The shocking attack on the plainclothes policeman, who fired two gunshots into the air in self-defence, came only a few months after Red Star’s city rivals Partizan were thrown out of last season’s UEFA Cup when their fans started a riot at Bosnian rivals Zrinjski Mostar. Legal proceedings against topranking soccer officials accused of fraud earlier this year were an early sign that the Serbian authorities were at last prepared to show a new level

of determination to deal with the rot that had set into Serbian football. At the trial of Uros Misic, very few apart from his family and comrades from “Delije” a die-hard section of Red Star’s fan base, showed any sympathy after the horrific scenes from the club’s Marakana ground were televised over and over again. The club and their fans now face legal action after their defiant acts of support for Misic, who they see as a scapegoat after other offenders escaped punishment for similar or even worse acts in the past. Has a line been drawn and will Serbia’s Soccer Federation (FSS), aided by the government, have the strength to consistently implement a

Source: www.delije.net strict anti-violence law that had previously remained unused for so long? National team coach Radomir Antic apparently believes so. “With the help of the police and FSS President Tomsilav Karadzic, I want to get rid of corruption in the game in our country and to halt the outbreaks of violence,” Antic was quoted as saying in Vienna earlier this week. “Serbs have a hot temper but they love football and we have to turn this emotion into positive energy again so that fans can come to stadiums to celebrate the game and enjoy it,” Antic said. The police have often been accused of using excessive force against fans in the past and they too

might want to thread carefully to avoid giving the few troublemakers among many decent fans, the excuse they want to carry on with their senseless acts. Either way, the fight against violence is a two-way street, calling for careful navigation by all involved: the fans, the clubs, the national soccer bodies and the government. Years of negligence have turned soccer grounds into no go areas for many long-time fans of Serbia’s clubs, who nowadays celebrate the game from the safety of their armchairs, confined to watching topquality football on television. That has to change if Serbia’s soccer is to win its decisive battle.

players are 100 percent fit for the showdown we can spring a surprise,” Obradovic told reporters after the draw was made in Madrid, the venue of this season’s final which Spain will start as strong favourites. “I expect the final singles rubber to produce the winner because we have a stronger doubles team while Djokovic has an even chance against Nadal. Also, our number two Janko Tipsarevic has beaten their second-best player David Ferrer this season, so we will go there in confident mood,” he said. With individual players now seen as a force to be reckoned with following Djokovic’s win in the Australian Open title in January and Ana Ivanovic’s French Open triumph at Roland Garros in June, Serbian tennis is now looking to make an impact as a team. Although the women’s team is still to break into the top division of the Federation Cup, it seems likely that with both Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic on form and consistently ranked amongst the world’s best, they will be joining the elite countries in the near future. Slobodan Zivojinovic, the Serbian Tennis Federation (TSS) president who became the first Yugoslav player to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1986, believes it’s not an impossible mission. “Our current crop of players can go all the way because they are all very versatile and capable of play-

ing top-level tennis on any surface, which is particularly important in the Davis Cup,” Zivojinovic said. “However, the country’s institutions now have to step in and help build an infrastructure that will match the talent of our young champions,” he added in a timely reminder of long-term requirements vital for Serbia’s survival in the top flight of world’s tennis. “We need a top quality national tennis centre so that Djokovic, Ivanovic and Jankovic, ranked among the world’s best, can train in Serbia rather than abroad. We must help the upcoming generations too because they deserve all the support they can get,” Zivojinovic said. Should Serbia eliminate Spain, further progress seems on the cards as the winner meets either Germany or Austria for a semi-final berth. But as the old saying goes “you have to walk before you can run” and the Spaniards will certainly be no pushover for Serbia. Davis Cup 2009 first round (home team named first):

Tough Draw For Serbia

Next year’s shot at the Davis of reaching the elite division with a pick the surface and the chances are Cup title will be a tough one memorable win over Australia in the they will choose red clay, where their world number one, Rafael Nadal, has with Spain standing in the way Belgrade Arena. By Zoran Milosavljevic

n emphatic 4-1 play-off win over Slovakia on September 21st enabled Serbia to stay in the Davis Cup world group after last season’s unprecedented success

Djokovic pictured recently

However, hopes for a kind draw that would have given the Serbian team, led by world number three Novak Djokovic, a realistic shot at the title next season vanished in thin air when they were pitted against twotime winners Spain, who meet Argentina in this season’s final. Worse still for Serbia, the tie will be played in Spain, so the hosts get to

been literally invincible in the past three years. Serbia’s coach Bogdan Obradovic believes, nevertheless, his team is in with a chance of beating the odds and upsetting the strongest tennis nation in a tie he expects to go down to the wire. “Clearly, we have drawn the toughest possible rival but if all our

Photo courtesy of www.novakdjokovic.rs

SPAIN v SERBIA CZECH REPUBLIC v FRANCE USA v SWITZERLAND CROATIA v CHILE ROMANIA v RUSSIA ISRAEL v SWEDEN GERMANY v AUSTRIA ARGENTINA v NETHERLANDS