Belgrade 2.0

Don't blame the kids

Posted 2008-02-22 02:32 under Politics by Viktor Marković / 23 comments

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

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

But kids are not to blame. Because, what do you expect of hooligans? Riots, smashing, burning and fighting. It’s normal and predictable. That’s why we have police forces during high-risk matches for example. We don’t let the hooligans do what they will and hope nothing will happen. It’s called precaution.

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

Days prior to the protest, all you could hear from various government officials were words of hatred towards European Union, America and all the countries that recognized Kosovo as an independent state. The state television stopped broadcasting all Western tv show and replaced them with Russian. Newspapers are full of hatred for Kosovo Albanians and domestic “traitors”. When the minor rioting occured on Sunday, most government officials justified it, one of them even saying that the embasies got what was coming to them.

Unfortunately, Western medias choose to show the rioting and not the “peacefull and dignified” protest meeting in front of the parliament. And the rioting is not where the real evil was coming from tonight.

The real evil tonight came from the speeches of: one Kostunica Vojislav, one Nikolic Tomislav and one Kusturica Emir.

The kids did it because kids like to break stuff. And for the free Nike’s.

See also twenty last videos from b92 and other videos on youtube. You can also see play-by-play on Belgrade twitter.
Bganon will send his opinion in the comments later. You are welcome to leave yours too.

23 Comments

Comment

1. Nemanja (bg 2.0) on 22/02/08 08:28 AM

   Viktor, could you give us a digest of Kusturica’s speech, I somehow missed it, but I hear it was disgusting and insulting.

2. Media Mix on 22/02/08 09:02 AM

   For example, he asked: What human, European or God’s law we (Serbia) have ever broken???!

3. Cvijus on 22/02/08 09:18 AM

   What kind of a morronic patriotism is that to demolish and loot your own city?

4. Eric on 22/02/08 09:27 AM

   This is a short clip of Kusturica’s speech

   And here is the whole thing, but with a voice over translation into Russian (you can still hear the original, but it is distracting)

   It seems he has a thing about mice.

5. Marcello from Milano ITALY on 22/02/08 09:39 AM

   We are with a Serbian People. The decision of the fucking Italian governament make shame on us. I ask sorry to great Serbian people, but in Italy the American lobby the have much influence. Mrs Dalema is the shame on Italy. We don’t want one muslim country in Europe..but the American have choice. Shame. Much respect to guy that destroy American Ambassy..and please go to destroy also Italian Ambassy…make that for us. We belive that Kosovo State will be a mafia country, far to the our ideal of life. Serbian people you are not alone,..here in Milan there is a lot of people that are contrary to this fucking indipendent kosovo. Resitance..resistance and global revolution again the honers of the world. Much respect to the glorius Serbian People. From Milan with love. Marcello

6. John on 22/02/08 11:51 AM

   Of course the kids are not to blame! I commend and for ever will fight and stand with this blog and its organizers for speaking the truth here! For what it is worth and for what I can bring to the table – this post is “spot on”! Havala PUNO!

   Being the sole care taker of a Serbian “youth”, I can attest that the kids are not to blame. I wish to my GOD I could explain his and my discussion on this topic today. Let’s just say not all are “hooligans”.

   But then I guess one must understand a hooligan to pass judgment. I used to be a hooligan. I had no money, was impressionable and got caught up in the wrong crowd. Only pure luck saved me from a hooligan’s fate.

   The only reason my boy is not a hooligan is because I provide for him an education, money and the best guidance I can. I pray and hope he goes into Serbian politics one day.

   I still have not heard any facts about those teens killed in Novi Sad! Is this true or just rumors spread by the activates of late? Please tell!

   He is convinced war is next. I disagree though! Perhaps one day but not soon as he thinks – I pray anyway! :(

7. Cvijus on 22/02/08 11:58 AM

   Here is another video of how important is Kosovo for the Serbian youth.

8. Carine on 22/02/08 12:17 PM

   I’m not right with that I’m sorry! Who can, even for one second, think that smashing everything is helping Kosovo serbians? I’m shocked and shooked… by what happenned here :(! And… I am very very sad :(

   I canno’t explain myself why police was not dispatched on all very sensitive spots of Belgrade, especially because we know so well that there are some in the city!

   Speaking of speetches… I’m not surprised by the speetches of M.Kostunica and M.Nikolic… but… Kusturica shocked me. It was injurious and provoking.

   Let’s say clearly. What happened, and the manners which was used to do all that are horrific. My friends in France are telling me that in this moment some surveys said that at least 53% of french people is against the decision which was maked by their president. And they are right, because, frankly, even if all this was expected, the way it happened was really awfull.

   But, all that is not a reason to distroy our own country. And frankly, as an journalist said – all those broken shops and bank agencies representing hundreds people who, in fact, lost their job yesterday!!! Isn’t it afwull… when we know that the majority of those who was “protesting” and breaking yesterday, are persons who are, in some way disapointed by the fact that the future is hard, there is not job… and most of them are dreaming – to go in some other country!!! So … people… what to think?

   We are in a very awfull situation :(. On one side there is one part of the territory which has gone – and that is sad, I agree. I was the firs to explain to everybody why that region is so important for people here. And all the world seems against it! But on the other side… if we reject to go in Europe… we go to a big isolation. Those “kids” who breaked yesterday seems forgetting the awfull years of embargo, fifteen years ago?

   Friendly,
   Kay

9. Nemanja (bg 2.0) on 22/02/08 12:25 PM

   John,
   about those kids in Novi Sad – yes, it happened. Eight of them died, the fire was set by another kid, angry because the waitress didn’t let him smoke inside. He lit the curtain and fled, but was arrested the same evening.

   People say that the materials used in decorating the place were wood and synthetics – both highly flammable, a disaster waiting to happen. It all went up in flames so fast that no one had time to react.

   The kid was obviously so dumb that he couldn’t assume what would happen… for me, it’s a much greater tragedy than this overblown hysteria about the expected independence of Kosovo.

10. Viktor on 22/02/08 02:14 PM

    Kostunica said after last night that those kids were only reacting because the West breached the international law. The man is evil and insane, I keep telling you.
    It all seems to me that the government will break apart very soon.

11. Harry on 22/02/08 02:27 PM

    Thanks for the informative blog – it’s good to see what’s happening on the streets of Belgrade from a non-Western perspective. Myself and 7 friends have a 3-day trip booked to Belgrade next weekend. We are from London and it is for a friend’s birthday. We booked this months ago. What is the current feeling towards citizens of the UK? We are still hoping to come to visit your city but we are being conflicting advice at the moment. Any feedback would be gratefully received. Thanks

12. Mario from Turin ITALY on 22/02/08 05:24 PM

    I love Serbia and Serbian people since I’ve been many times in Belgrade and I have friends there. But this is not the point. According to me the point is that a unilateral declaration of independence is non sense and Europe, Italy in particular, had not to recognise the independence of Kosovo. What if the Serbian Government would recognise the independence of Padania (the northern regions of Italy that Lega Nord pretends to free from Rome and make independent)? What will then be the reactions of Italian Government? The whole matter is sad and bitter and I can understand the feelings of Serbian People. In this occasion Europe had to demonstrate a wisdom capacity and freedom of judgement, not simply to follow American foolishness. That’s all. Greetings to all my Serbian friends.

13. Val on 22/02/08 07:58 PM

    I am affraid that this will be the very beginig of the World War III.Kosovo and Metohia are holy land.Metohia means-lend of monastries.600 years ago,serbians ortodox cristians were there in war against Otomans,and the Serbian king,Lazar iz Saint.Every Serb know that land is holy…becouse they fought not only for their land, more for their faith! So,i think that something bad will happened to all those who helped this land to belong to muslims. Otomans was affraid to destroy monasteries,this muslims destroyed a lot…
    ,,God,forgive them,they dont know what are they doing,, Serb homeland is in the area now known as Kosovo. That’s where Serbs originated. The Kosovars are the recent immigrants who seized ownership from another nation. They also happen to be typical muslims trying to enforce their barbarity on as many people as possible.

    Everyone knows(who want to know !)that Tito,former Yougoslav president,
    allow Albanians to came and live in Kosovo ,without any passport,or control.And Albanians came during few last decades-thousants of them,directly from Albania,and imidiatelly proclaim themselves as Shiptars.Origin Shiptars was friendly to Serbs,but Albanians started kill Serbs ,disturb cristian churches and monasteries…and long ago,many Serbs there had to leave their land,houses.
    Now,origin Shiptars are just a little percent of all muslims there.Albanians who recently came are majority.
    All of this can be checked in demographic studies for that region.
    P.S.Tito was dictator who initiated bombing Belgrade and few more Serbian cities in 1945,and England did it !!!World War II already was finished,but Tito had to kill more Serbs.Direction from intelligent service of England!
    In 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosia-Herzegovina. Serbs were angry and Russia felt humiliated and vowed that this would not happen again. And we all know what happened in 1914. 2008 and another annexation which angers Serbs and pricks Russian pride.

14. bganon on 22/02/08 08:18 PM

    Where to begin? It didnt take a genuis to realise that there was a good chance of something like that happening yesterday.
    At about 4.15 I took my first photos of the young men / hooligan element marching up Knez Milos Street where the US and other embassies are based. I counted about 20 riot police outside the rear side of the US embassy. I wondered what measures the police would take to seal off Knez Milos, but didnt see any sign of reinforcements.
    Having moved through the crowd I met up with Viktor at the tap by the Hotel Moscow. You could smell alcohol and already see empty bottles on the street. As soon as I arrived I spotted a young male kicking and could see somebody lying on the ground. Viktor saw more of this than I did, neither of us wanted to dwell on it but I told him almost immediately that I thought there would be trouble.

    Much of the crowd carried radical party banners but it wasnt exclusively radical – perhaps 25 percent were non radical. None of the speeches surprised me, although I wondered which of the speakers was getting the ‘most drunk’ on the occasion. Kostunica sounded strained, as he does on these occasions. He doesnt appear to enjoy them much. I could not help making a comparison with the last time he addressed the crowd in front of parliament – October 5th. Then it was a very different crowd and they were much more enthusiastic. Here it was clear that he was not their darling. No amount of the yelling of ‘Russia’ or ‘International law’ could cover up that fact. Nikolic though was greeted by loud cheers. He gave his supporters the message that he would not back down. Interestingly the biggest choreographed boo of the evening came when Nikolic mentioned the EU – confirming the EU as being the favourite ‘hate’ word in the radical camp. It replaces ‘NATO PACT’ and only ‘NGO’s’ or ‘Certain media’ can probably compete now.

    Later we heard reports that some had attacked and set fire to the embassy so we hastily made our way. Anarchy greeted us. We were surrounded by boys, armed with stones, flares or anything else they could get their hands on. The US embassy was burning and kids had climbed inside the building. They had also damaged the Croatian embassy. There was not a policeman to be seen. We were there for about 15 minutes (but rioters had at least 40 minutes to do as they pleased) before word came that the police were on their way, soon after that tear gas was fired and we all ran for cover. We kept falling back from one position to the next as the police advanced. They were firing tear gas from long distance, not confronting us or arresting anybody. It was a relatively successful tactic, but it was obvious they could have done this a lot earlier. They pushed us uphill into town, which meant that vandals could regroup and continue their destruction elsewhere.

    Later in the evening we witnessed more vandalism and also looting, although every once in a while one hooligan would attack another for stealing, most just joined in. We saw girls taking part in this as well.

    The conclusion is that this could have been prevented, without any question – that the police were deliberately moved out of harms way. On top of this senior police officers (upon instruction from their ministry) had deliberately left their policemen unprotected by not calling in reserves. Riot police were hugely outnumbered and could have quite easily been overwhelmed. We pitied the police, which in Serbia, is not a natural instinct, after all in the 1990’s the police had a habit of beating the living daylights out of protesting students. (who did not indulge in crime) They were under strict orders this time. And their master Minister Dragan Jocic, the bedridden Police Minister, will be even less popular among the rank and file police officers than he was previously, if thats possible. Alternatively if Jocic wasnt in charge, it begs the question as to why a new Police Minister has not been named. Another minor point perhaps – why didnt the protest take place earlier? Rather like football (soccer) matches, people are well aware that playing matches early on reduces the chances of drunk supporters. In this case it might have meant that the mob might have cleared off by the evening time as well.

    I should also point out that the main crowd itself had little to do with the vandalism, although were you to ask them, they would probably say that people were angry and that this was only reaction to the theft of Serbian territory.

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

15. Viktor on 22/02/08 10:43 PM

    The riots are the main story, but with speeches like those, maybe that’s the good thing… the protest was about as dignified as Putin’s national TV

16. Frederik on 23/02/08 12:13 AM

    i know i should just google it, but any of you people with a link to a translation of the speeches (english or german (or danish))?

    and thanks for the allways good and now even better blogging from Belgrade, enjoyed it silently for a long time, and very glad i’ve got you now.

17. Marko on 23/02/08 12:23 AM

    I knew things were rotten in Serbia but I didn’t realize we were this close to breaking point. I’m horrified and ashamed and what is worse I am afraid this is only the beginning of a new chapter. I have no idea how Serbia is going to pull itself out of this mess. With so much passion deliberately inflamed how do you get things back to normal. This is a plot by very sinister people to take absolute power abusing the countries misfortune and feelings of resentment. To all you guys who are there good luck.

18. John on 23/02/08 04:14 AM

    Nemanja (bg 2.0):

    Thank you for the reply! Rumor has it these deaths were from a bomb due to the riots. It has already spread through Serbia and into the Srpska Republika of Bosna. It is tragic indeed to learn the truth after hearing the rumors.

    Sadly, the rumor of the bomb by the “enemy” only makes things worse by the truth of this incident not being known. It would not surprise me if in a few years this incident turned into an “urban legend” of sorts. I’ll do my part to stop the rumors and tell what really happened! And I totally agree about the overblown hysteria! :-(

    Havala!
    chat.with.john@gmail.com

19. Viktor on 23/02/08 05:01 AM

    Frederik, I’ll try to translate the most interesting parts tomorrow night if someone doesn’t beat me to it.
    Marko, thanks, we’ll need it.
    John, I don’t know how did the rumor about the bomb spread, the truth about the whole event has been all over medias here in Serbia and not at one point did someone mentioned bomb in medias…
    Harry, Belgrade seems safe now, so I guess you won’t having problems. Also, all the hostels are empty so you won’t be having a problem finding a room if you already don’t have one. But if you do get into trouble, I deny all responsibility! :)

20. Carine on 23/02/08 12:11 PM

    [quote]Kostunica said after last night that those kids were only reacting because the West breached the international law. The man is evil and insane, I keep telling you.
    It all seems to me that the government will break apart very soon.[/quote]
    Yes, I agree… and I expect the same thing too. I’m very unhappy with that guy – by the past I though he was honest and ok – I was wrong and I’m very disapointed.

    Harry,
    you can come in Belgrade. I dont think that anybody can harm you! Of course, try to avoid to speak about last things which happened, and try to show how much you care for this people here, and you will be treated like a big friend anywhere! I’m french, all of our neighbors knows that and we did not have any problems, even if we usually speak french in the streets! Belgrade people know how to distinguish their friends :)

21. Carine on 23/02/08 12:25 PM

    Yes Marko it’s a big big mess! And I hope, with all my hearth that it will be fixed soon, but… There is a need that all people understand, and quickly, that we have no choise, and that we have to go on. As soon as all the folks understand that we have to look forward and not the past – it will be best for all! Of course, I continue to believe that all precedent happenigs which was leading to the meeting and riots which arrived with it, could be bypassed, if only the world showed a little beat of diplomacy.

    Of course, I’m very sad for Kosovo, but… on the other way, I think that is much more important to help those people there, thant to use them for politics, and for gaining or keeping power.

    Fortunatelly for Belgrade, it seems that the Board of the Eurovision song contest, thinks that we are capable to organise it, and that the security will be on a satisfactory level. It’s a stupid thing (really very light compared to last things which happened here) – but, on some way it’s great for us, because it means that we’re not isolated already. It is very important. I think also that it will be a big test for us, to see if Belgrade is capable to host people from Europe – friendly and without politics or nationalism. If this country and this city succeed on this task, I think that we have a little chance to go forward to some much more calming period.

    Ok… Viktor – the french version is for when? hihihi – I’m trying to write english, but it’s much easier for me on french ;)

22. aleksander on 07/03/08 07:01 AM

    Eurovision song contest, will be very bad many fights. i can just see it. if your serb you understand we dont forget things so easy like the rest of the world. our memories go deep and hate will always be there. no doubt about it, i would like to see new war in kosovo i believe these muslims and west have destories our soul

23. Nemanja (bg 2.0) on 08/03/08 09:54 AM

    We’ll, they’ve certainly destroyed your English…