July and August

There are months when “something always happens”. In Serbia, wbelieved for a long time that the month of March and the “Ides of March” brought us great misfortunes and riots – the protests against the signing of the Triple Pact on March 27, 1941, were a prelude to the coup d’état. the bombing of Belgrade and the beginning of WWII; under the slogan “Kosovo is a Republic” in March 1981, Albanians started mass protests in Kosovo and Metohija; protests led by the opposition parties on March 9, 1991, claimed two lives; the beginning of the bombing of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was on March 24, 1999; the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjić happened on March 12, 2003; violence against Serbs in Kosovo on March 17, 2004...

Unexpected things always somehow happen to us in March and this year May took over the “sinister role” from March, when a series of tragic events and political unrest befell our country.

We have also been dreading July and August for decades. Although these two are summer months which in other countries, most people associate with summer holidays, in our region, July and August are responsible for heating national tensions. Due to the anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica (the mass killing of Bosniaks lasted from July 11 to 19, 1995), July was “reserved” for the on-duty deterioration of relations between Serbs and Bosniaks. This year, after the commemoration held on July 11, on the same evening in Srebrenica, the local Serbs celebrated St. Peter’s Day with the song “Veseli se srpski rode” (“Be joyful, Serbs!). Just as the passions surrounding the anniversary of the crime in Srebrenica calmed down, on August 4 and 5 Croats celebrated their special military operation called “Storm” during which they liberated a part of their territory in 1995, while the Serbs mourn their victims and point out that the expulsion of 200,000 people from their homes in Croatia is “the biggest ethnic cleansing in Europe after the Second World War”. The former usually forget to mention or only mention in passing the numerous civilian victims, mostly old people who remained in their homes, while the latter never mention that the same ethnic cleansing was carried out in 1991 against the Croats who were expelled from those territories.

This year marks the 28th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica and the operation “Storm” and it seems that passions are just as heated, some claim even more, than on the 5th, 10th or 15th anniversary of these events. In 1973, that is 28 years after the end of the Second World War, in which, among others, millions of French and Germans perished, France and Germany had formed a common alliance decades earlier, which was then called the European Economic Community (EEC) and today is called the European Union. In 1973, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland joined the EEC.

On the other hand, it seems that hatred in our region only comes out of the mouths of politicians and from TV screens or the pages of daily newspapers. Ordinary people seem to live parallel lives - Serbs holiday en masse in Dalmatia and Istria; young Croats also en masse frequent the Exit Festival in Novi Sad or go partying in Belgrade. Likewise, I skied on the Jahorina Mountain near Sarajevo together with Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Slovenes and numerous foreigners from all over Europe. Zdravko Marić from Split gathers thousands of children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia at the Youth Sports Games every year and not a single incident has ever occurred so far. This year, right at the end of August, the Youth Sports Games will celebrate its 27th anniversary.

We can only hope that, in the years to come, there will be fewer politicians and journalists who will pick on old wounds and more people like Zdravko who will celebrate sportsmanship and cooperation between nations.

KATSUMATA Takahiko (TAKA) former Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Serbia

I Miss Rakija, Wine, and a Variety of Meat

Cuisine Served in Beautiful Serbian Nature

What have you been doing since you left Belgrade?

Two months have passed since I left Belgrade at the beginning of May this year. Because of my love for Serbia, it was not easy for me to move to another diplomatic destination, although I knew it was a ”destiny“ for diplomats.

I am now in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye, where I spent almost ten years in my previous assignments. Fortunately, like the relationship between Japan and Serbia, we have been enjoying a long-standing friendship with Türkiye. My urgent mission is to facilitate continuous support to the southeast region seriously damaged by the devastating earthquake in February. I have visited the suffering region to encourage the local people and elaborate on Japan’s support program. As Japan and Serbia did, we have been strengthening our ties with Türkiye, especially in such difficult times.

In my personal time, I am enjoying running around my residence in Ankara. In Belgrade, seems

Former Ambassador of Japan to Serbia, H.E. Katsumata Takahiko, now serves as the ambassador to Türkiye. He remembers days when he was a citizen of Belgrade and sent us a warm postcard from Ankara to revoke these days in our capital.

What and who do you miss the most from Serbia?

Yes, I am already starting to feel a loss of Serbia. What I am missing the most is my friends and the people of Serbia. My first impression of the Serbs was a physical gap between us. I had to keep my head upward to greet you, even though my height was more than the average of Japanese men. However, more importantly, I was so impressed with the very friendly statements and attitude of the Serbian people toward Japan. They never forget Japan’s support when Serbia faced many difficulties after the late 1990s, which was symbolically mentioned by the donation of “Yellow Buses” to Belgrade.

Another love for Serbia is going to its wonderful nature and culture. Wherever I visited, locals welcomed me with much hospitality and were attracted by the historical town architecture with the Serbian Orthodox churches. Rakija, wine, and a variety of meat cuisine served in beautiful nature were one of my highlights in Serbia.

Upon this opportunity, let me thank all embassy staff who warmly supported me in Belgrade. Also, I wish all the best for Serbia and its people! Hvala Serbiji!