Day 3.1

Scan of recent news in Serbia from B92 and thoughts generated by said news:

Since the beginning of the economic crisis, I have been curious as to what this would do for Serbian democratization. Looking through the news I am not suprised to see it mentioned as a destabilizing factor as well as being utilized for political gain.

VS (Serbian Army) Chief-of-Staff Miloje Miletić said that although things have improved within the region and Serbia in particular, “National, religious, political extremism, besides the existing economic hardships are hampering democratization and transition for states in the Balkans”.

Unfortunately the crisis coincides perfectly with the new government following the declaration of independence by Kosovo and collapse of the DS-DSS coalition...

Vojislav Koštunica is campaigning for local elections in Zemun and Voždovac to be held on June 7th as part of the DSS-New Serbia National Coalition. He is linking the poor economic performance of the past year with the new government. Stating:

We can safely say that the last year since the formation of the government has been a year eaten away by the locusts, eaten away by them. They've been laying waste to Serbia for a year—economically, morally and spiritually. Nothing was sacred to this government, everything that was done for Serbia’s well-being in the previous years has gone down the drain in the space of a year

The DS-DSS colatition between Boris Tadic (DS) and Kostunica (DSS) which had held at least in form since the overthrow of Milosevic finally collapsed in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008. In the May 2008 elections, Tadic's coalition "For a European Serbia" successfuly formed a governing coalition with the Socialist Party (formerly led by Milosevic) leading to the ousting of Kostuncia as Prime Minister.

Following the declaration of indepedence on the part of the Kosovo, Kostunica became outright anti-EU. Previously he was the poster-boy for Euro-skepticism and made no secret that he rejected what he percieved as meddling in Serbian internal affairs by the international community but it seems clear that for him Kosovo was the proverbial line in the sand.

April 2008, Kostunica said that anyone who signs the SAA agreement on behalf of Serbia (the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU which is a step allowing for greater economic aid, less travel restrictions, etc and moving towards EU membership) was an accomplice to the tearing apart of Serbia.


I was interested to find the following statement on b92:

"The president [Boris Tadic] said that he was sure that the enlargement process, covering the Western Balkan states, was likely to pick up pace once again once the economic crisis began to abate and following the end of this year’s election cycle in certain EU member-states"

Germany will have a parliamentary election on September 27, 2009.

Leading up to elections, politicians want to refrain from doing anything that would give fodder for their opposition. Consequently, EU issues are impacted by the election cycles in each member country. This is interesting to ponder. We have been looking at Obama's 100 days because we all know that the closer we get to the next election cycle the less he will be able to push through. Well imagine this happening in the EU where there are 27 election cycles to keep track of and within each state a much larger spectrum of political parties ranging from far right to far left.

As Tadic rightly notes, the fate of Serbia's progress towards the European Union (which contains in the form of the SAA much needed economic aid) is linked to the internal politics of all of these member countries-- but especially the most powerful such as the UK, France, and Germany-- although as the SAA process demonstrates even small countries can have immense sway. The Netherlands is the only country currenlty blocking the implementation of the SAA!

Regarding the economic crisis, Serbia is quite dependent upon Europe for trade. Really there is not too much else that can be said. Their crisis is hers as well. I am hoping to get a better idea of what the crisis is meaning for the average Serb while I am here. I am sure that like the US it depends where you live and in which sector you are employed.

Well on to conquer the day! I am hoping to take a walk today and I will take lots of pictures!

Cao!

-- PS just received two emails! one from a prof in Belgrade and the other (drumroll please) from my total idol Florian Bieber!!!! He's going to be in Belgrade this weekend OMG!!! Okay so let me explain-- I read a paper of his my senior year at GWU and it TOTALLY influenced my studies. He totally questions the stance of the international community with regards to how they are affecting nationalism within Serbia. I met him this past month at a conference at Columbia University and on a whim decided to send him an email this morning asking if he had any contacts here or any suggestions-- and. he's. coming. this. weekend!!! :-D

i'm such a nerd... but you all still love me yes???? :)