Global Voices » Croatian

Balkans: Online Platform Tracks Reports From Areas Hit by Record Snowfall

Danica Radisic — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:12:22 +0000

Since last week, the Balkans have been hit by massive snow storms, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade, if not longer. After an unusually long period of nearly no real signs of a typical Balkan winter, last week brought what seems to be non-stop snowfall throughout the region, including the seaside areas around the Adriatic that seldom get any snow.

Men shoveling snow from a street in Sarajevo. Record snowfall has paralyzed transportation in the Bosnian capital, where a state of emergency has now been declared. Photo by Sulejman Omerbasic, copyright © Demotix (5/02/12).

Serbia's national television network, RTS, and other media reported on Friday 3 February, 2012, that a state of emergency has been declared by the government, while citizens have been reporting critical situations throughout the country and that municipal services have been doing a poor job of tackling the snowfall in many urban areas.

In an article titled “Serbia Blocked by Snow, State of Emergency in 27 Municipalities, Recommendation to Call Off School Attendance” [sr], the Head of the State of Emergency Sector of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Predrag Maric, is reported to have stated on Friday:

27 municipalities in Serbia have declared a state of emergency due to heavy snowfall. Maric has told Beta news agency that the most difficult situations are in Sjenica, Ivanjica, Prijepolje, Crna Trava and Surdulica, where the height of snow has reached approximately 2 meters. According to him, power supply is “relatively good,” outages are being fixed quickly and there have been no long power outages.

Maric also announced the possibility of declaring a full state of emergency nationwide, which the Government did on Sunday evening, cancelling school throughout Serbia at least until Friday, February 10, among other things.

Several actions have been organized by the online community in Serbia and the region to fend off the snow and to attempt to regain a functional state in urban areas at least, such as a #lopataup (”#shovelup”), organized by one online community leader, Zoran Torbica, and other local Twitter users.

In the meantime, Al Jazeera Balkans, the recently established regional office of Al Jazeera news network in the region, has joined forces with the team from Ushahidi to set up a platform for tracking verified information on everything from road blocks, power outages to other critical points and information in the entire region.

Ushahidi is an open-source platform for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping, which was also used in Serbia just after the earthquake in Kraljevo in November 2010 to map and track damage in the area.

Haris Alisic, who heads the New Media team for Al Jazeera Balkans, launched the platform on Sunday evening, and many members of the online community, including some of the region's GV authors, have joined the Al Jazeera-Ushahidi team in curating, tracking and verifying reports from the region.

The adapted Ushahidi platform can be located on Al Jazeera's official site, while reports can be sent in by anyone using the following channels:

- via SMS to +387644218661
- via Twitter by using the hashtags #kolaps #sneg #snijeg #lopataup #iskljucenje
- via email to oluja2012@aljazeera.net
- or by entering information directly into the form on the”pošaljite izvještaj” tab on the Al Jazeera page

If you would like to volunteer your time to help map critical areas and are familiar with using online tools, please contact the author of this article, or Haris Alisic via Twitter, or leave a comment here on Global Voices, and we will contact you for more information on what you can do to help. We also ask that you all begin reporting from your area on Twitter and using the above-mentioned hashtags on Twitter, which are automatically collected by the platform and then reviewed and verified by Al Jazeera and volunteers.

Macedonia: Veles Says “No” to Lead Poisoning, Government Remains Ambiguous

Filip Stojanovski — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:12:54 +0000

After the massive protest against restarting of the lead smelting factory in the city of Veles, the citizens feel cheated by the declarative support shown by the politicians from the ruling parties, and demand clear answers from PM Nikola Gruevski on whether the poisoning will continue.

The protests announced in the previous Global Voices article took place on November 9, 2011. Estimates of the number of the protest participants range from 10,000 to over 15,000 [hr], a huge turnout for this community of less than 44,000 inhabitants.

Samoglaska and Vancho Dzambaski published Creative Commons-licensed photo galleries from the event:

Protest march through Veles streets. Photo by Samoglaska (CC-BY).

People gathering on Veles square. Photo by Vancho Dzambaski (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Twitter tags #Veles or #Велес are still in use, and the seasoned local blogger Jovan Petrov provided comprehensive coverage of the protest:

…the families, school children and elders joined forces. Being there I saw people from all backgrounds - the non-governmental sector, doctors, blue collar workers, politicians including former and current mayors and members of the parliement and local council, mothers and daughters, from all ranges of age, social and ethnic background. They protested in unison, NO RESTART! for the smelting factory.

I was never good at guessing numbers, but the group of NGO's called “Green coalition” have managed to gather more participants than any party on a political rally even when they want to boast with numbers carrying people from other cities to enrich the scenery. Some guesses were in the range of 10.000 participants.

The organization was quite good, the people were loud but very polite, the whole process finished without any recorded incident. The protest was lead by an excavator, symbolic image of the vision of the citizens - to dig up the old shadow factory and plant the perimeter with trees in order to decontaminate the land from cancerogens and active chemicals that modify the DNA of the unborn children.

The message was clear and far-reaching - NO MORE POISONING! Now, the state should show its support for the locals not only by speeches and through columnists, but by clear actions. And the solution is simple - rejecting the application of the investor to restart the factory - which everyone is sure that must be done based on strict following of the environmental legislation. Even the investor has admitted that they will pollute in their environmental impact study submitted to the Ministry of environment of Republic of Macedonia (image of the table follows, and remember the fact - the author of this document is the investor itself):

Table on environmental impact from the study with added explanations in English.

After this night - it should be clear to all, whoever tries to do more harm to the citizens of Veles will be punished severely.

A short documentary about the protest [mk] is available on YouTube:

And while the area's politicians and religious leaders turned out in force for the photo-op, they expressed declarative and noncommittal support for the Veles' cause. However, not all protest supporters received media attention, and were not credited at the event.

Vladimir Milchin, the executive director of the Foundation Open Society Institute, wrote [mk] on his Facebook profile:

Yes, members of GEM (Citizens for European Macedonia) were at the protest. And the Soros' foundation supported the NGOs that organized it by supplying funds for 2,000 vests. Just like it supported them in the long bygone year of 2003 with a USD 6,100 grant for the first analysis that proved presence of the toxic materials in the hair of 80 local children.

Dimce Velev, one of the organizers, added a comment:

A reason for this is that road to the truth around the environmental exodus started with FOSM support at the point when the smelter was a taboo topic!

Milchin concluded:

And now some people want to use the protest to build their careers.

GEM activists in the crowd during the Veles protest. Photo by Vancho Dzambaski (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Several Twitter users shared a screen capture of a statement [mk] by former Mayor, Ace Kocevski, published on his Facebook profile [mk]:

Citizens of Veles expressed their position against restarting of the smelting factory with dignity. But statements of the representatives of the Ministry of the Environment indicate that the appeal has not been taken seriously.
Self-censorship of the speakers at the protest and pointing fingers at Metrudhem only did not produce the expected results.
The goal is clear: Veles without a smelter.
The battle for healthy living environment in Veles must continue in more organized, more realistic manner, without improvisations, through the institutions of the system and if needed outside of them.
The municipality must urgently change the General Urban Plan and enact an Detailed Urban Plan to change the zoning of the area into light nonpolluting industry only.
The court process of Veles and the Green Coalition against Republic of Macedonia must continue. EUR 50,000 must be found for judicial analysis of the impact of pollution over the health of the citizens, and the level of intoxication of the soil and waters.
Ask the [Macedonian Bar Association] for pro bono representation.
The pressure must be directed towards the Ministry of the Environment and the Government - they must stand on the side of the people of Veles, to correct the errors of decade-long pollution and selling of the smelter, and to prevent its restart. They must provide funds from the state budget and from international donors to solve the problem of the slag landfill, and to clean the poisoned soil.

In the days after the protest, organizers and participants started expressing concern via the official Facebook group. Nenad Kocic shared the above video and asked the following questions:

1. Is Veles in Macedonia?
2. Does this state have a Government?
3. Does the Government work for the people or not?

After the Minister of the Environment failed to come to the protest and stated [mk] that it was too early to say that the request for license by the factory owners would be denied, the Green Coalition of NGOs asked to hear the truth in person from the “big boss” - requesting a meeting with PM Gruevski, who keeps maintaining detached, eery silence on the matter.

The news [mk], that the PR agency Republika will commence an advertising campaign on behalf of investor, has been taken as a clear sign of support for the investor by the government. During the past few years, this company has been the dominant implementer of numerous advertising campaigns that funneled millions of Euros from the state budget to pro-government media and other beneficiaries (in a setup compared [mk] to the collusion of the Croatian ruling party and Fimi Media).

Veles protester holding a cartoon. Photo by Samoglaska (CC-BY).

In other news: another Macedonian city has been subjected to a similar environmental disaster [mk], apparently due to criminal negligence. On Friday, Nov. 11, Kriva Palanka received an influx of poisonous slag full of lead, arsenic, zinc, cadmium and other toxic materials from the upriver mine Toranica.

Croatia: Court Forbids Homophobic Priest From Blogging

Marietta Le — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:49:51 +0000

Serbia Insajd, a Hungarian blog about South-Eastern Europe, reports [hu] that the Rijeka Court has banned Franjo Jurčević, a Kastav-based Catholic priest, from writing homophobic blog posts [Jurčević's blog, hr: http://zupnik.blog.hr/]. The court has also ordered Jurčević to publish the court decision in two national dailies at his own expense.

Macedonia: Euphoria After Basketball Victory Over Greece

Filip Stojanovski — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:44:39 +0000

Celebrations erupted among Macedonians worldwide after the national team beat Greece at the European Basketball Championship of 2011 - EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania - the first such victory ever in the history of international sport.

The victory for the Macedonian national team with 72:58 at EuroBasket 2011 was a big surprise, since the Greek national team “is considered among the world's top basketball powers; they were runners-up in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and they have won the European Championship twice, in 1987 and 2005,” according to Wikipedia.

Soon after the game ended early Satuday evening, the jubilant flag-waving fans filled the public spaces of Macedonian cities and towns. Sport!Denes (Sport!Today) published a photo gallery [mk] from the main square in Skopje.

A Croatian media outlet 24 sata (24 hours) reported [hr] immediately after the match:

The story of the day is the Macedonian win over their southern neighbors, whose [political pressure] forces them to use the designation “Former Yugoslav Republic of” in front of their name. Even though the players do not want to talk politics, they claim this is the dearest victory of their careers.

- “It's crazy now in Skopje and the whole Macedonia, everybody goes to the main square to celebrate this” - Todor Gečevski said, while Pero Antić added:

- “We shall celebrate Independence Day on September 8, and they might build another monument for us on account of this.”

The best player of the game for Macedonia was African-American Bo McCalleb. Specialized basketball blog NBA Macedonia declared [mk] that he's “The Greatest Macedonian.” *

A screenshot from MakNBA blog featuring Bo McCalleb.

Twitter (the main hashtag: #makbasket) and Facebook buzzed with comments. Many Macedonian social media users expressed joy with dignity, while others used triumphant nationalist “in your face, Greece” rhetoric.

Right after the game, Azder wrote [mk]:

#makbasket should be celebrated with going to a town square. Please suggest a square with space for people, instead of statues.

Davorvori9, who changed his profile photo to one with Bo McCalleb, wrote [mk] a few hours later:

I can't remember when I was so euphoric and happy, possibly never. Thank you for this, guys! #makbasket

Roberto Belicanec wrote on Facebook (reprinted with permission):

YEAAH ! We won! Hm - let me explain something to you. Five athletes won over five other athletes while you where turning beer into the piss. - Bill Maher!
But still, this is quite nice :)

And Ivica Anteski retorted (also reprinted with permission):

Our diplomacy will be as strong when we take a Black person for Minister of Foreign Affairs :)

Cchevymk proposed [mk] a new basketball-inspired country car sticker, using [mk] clipart by Rosie Piter, and DzikiKikiriki refered [mk] to the first Greek reactions, linking to an article in E Kathimerini:

Well now it is not our fault that the Greek Government did not have money to send Greek fans to Lithuania…

Border blockade

The next morning, a group of several dozens angry Greek citizens, who allegedly came on several buses, blocked the main border pass towards Macedonia. Reports [mk] by PlusInfo.mk portal claimed the mob consisted of nationalists (according to the signs they displayed), including neo-Nazis or skinheads.

The Greek police redirected Macedonian travelers to other border crossings for a few hours to prevent confrontations, and the crossing was unblocked [mk] without additional incidents.

Victory over Finland, too

During the afternoon, Macedonia also won the game with Finland, and darko_avr refered to an old internet joke based on famous advertisement (”Nokia - Connecting People”) and a favorite Balkan spirit when he tweeted:

Rakia 72 - Nokia 70

Karakash_MakNBA commented [mk] on this much harder won game:

Either due to fatigue, or due to physical or emotional effect of yesterday's victory, or maybe due to getting wasted last night (who knows), the Macedonian team had a hard time with Finland. Even though they are not as weak and naive a team, as everybody thought so before the match. Especially if they start a good shooting series, they are no joke.

Teams that are hard to define and and play fast basketball, without much boloney, are the hardest opponents.

As both Greece and Finland are EU members, Parmakovski joked [mk]:

After today's blockade of [Evzoni], I'm afraid if we win the championship, EU could forever block us from the [Schengen Area]…

This victory, alongside the previous unexpected win over Croatia and continued good showings could result in participation at least in the quarter-finals, according to the analysеs (1, 2) [mk] by angelov480048.

Kuzevski also provided [mk] some applied analysis:

Let's all jointly support Greece and Croatia, since if they win their next games Macedonia would get 4 points in the next group…

Sead93 concured [mk]:

We survived the Hangover Game well enough, we should all most patriotically root for Greece (because it suits our score in the tournament)…

In conclusion MarjanIvanovski informed [mk] about a unquestionably positive consequence, regardless of nationality:

The neighborhood kids immediately gathered to play some basketball :)). There's no better advertisement and greater motivation than an achieved result…

* Note:

Success of multi-ethnic Macedonian national team runs contrary to the ideology of ethnic nationalism, and the irony seems lost on the Macedonian nationalists, who wholeheartedly partake in the celebrations. Like their other Balkans brothers-in-hate, they often use slogans such as “clean Macedonia,” and value “purity” of assumed genetic lineages. Even though the mainstream Macedonian nationalism is not explicitly racist in the color-of-skin sort of way, some of its propagators lean toward white supremacy, like in the film about God's message to Macedonians [mk] by Niche Dimovski, repeatedly aired on the state TV after the current regime took power. It includes claims that prehistoric Macedonians are progenitors of the “White Race”:

[Voice of God:] “I inhabited your Mother Earth with three races: the White - Makedonoids, the Yellow - Mongoloids, and the Black - Negrids. The rest are all mulattoes. I started the White race from you, the Macedonians, descendants of Macedon, and from you all began, till the Japanese Sea.”

Other nationalist products often refer to a genetics study about “Sub-Saharan” (i.e. recent African) origins of modern Greeks to “prove” that Macedonians are older and more indigenous people.

Still, examples of racial violence have been rare in the recent Macedonian history, possibly because not too many dark-skinned people immigrate to Macedonia on account of its depressed economy. There have been football incidents of racial abuse, though, and a chant mentions “Goce's race.” Most regular citizens would say [mk] that “there's no racism in Macedonia.”

Croatia, Serbia: A Flag of Friendship

Sinisa Boljanovic — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:22:05 +0000

Just a few weeks after Croatia officially marked the 16th aniversory of the military operation “Oluja” (the Storm), when more than 200,000 ethnic Serbs were expelled from their century-old homes, two young adults from Croatia and Serbia created a mixed Serbo-Croatian flag, as a gesture of reconciliation between the two countries.

Anja Blazevic and Stefan Guzvica, who are taking part in a regional art camp in Gvozd, Croatia, where the flag has recently been created, explained [hr] to Vecernji.hr, a popular newspaper in Croatia, their motivation to do it:

We’ve had enough conflicts based on nationalism […] permanently evoking the past bothers us, while no one is thinking about the future. We feel frustration because of that, and so we decided to make an effort in order to build, at least symbolically, more friendly relationships between the two countries.

We have created the flag in order to call our peoples to love and tolerance. We are aware that the flag will provoke a lot of reactions and polemics, but it is so desirable in democratic societies. We have made a few copies of the flag. One of them is fluttering in our camp in Gvozd, one copy will be taken to Serbia and others have been given to our friends.

More than 850 readers have commented on the article. Below is a selection of some of these comments.

pLoto* wrote:

Behind that are NGOs financed from abroad aiming at some new community to Croats’ disadvantage. But, after two former Yugoslavias that were a failure in blood, they who are working on it did not learn anything. I have nothing to do with Serbs, I’ve never been to Serbia… and I don’t want someone uniting me with them.

Jolly-Roger wrote:

The first step is that Serbs recognize Croatia, especially those who have lived in Croatia for a long time.

The second step is that they ask for forgiveness for all the crimes that they commited in Croatia, not only during the last war.

The third step is that all of them are moved out of Croatia.

Then we can have good relations, and the flag of Croatia will not be changed. We were fighting and dying for it.

cro1com wrote:

[…] We don’t need to be friendly people at all. We have to be very cautious of each other, especially Croats toward Serbs, because Croats have never waged a war against Serbs in Serbia but all of us have witnessed the aggression from the East […]

bilikamen wrote:

They should be killed immediately so that our children and grandchildren are not killed later.

21 KK Kobra wrote:

You are stupid… do you think that we like the flag and that it is OK? I have no words.

Andreeejjj wrote:

[…] Why so, my dear Croats? It will not be excused by anyone from the world! […] The future is the most important, not the past, whatever it was. If the politicians from all former Republics [of Yugoslavia] had wanted to prevent the war, it would have been done. Unfortunately, there was no interest in it because no one of them could become so rich. That’s all and brutally true, my people, be wiser just once. It’s the time.

Serbian daily Blic re-published [sr] the news, which has generated more than 600 comments. Below are some of them.

Persa wrote:

I support each initiative which contains a desire for well-being of the people, for mutual understanding, for love, for kindness, for offering aid… I’d like that everything that was bad does not happen anymore […]

Nikola Radovanovic wrote:

Hey, people, what’s the matter with you? Let’s forget once what happened! Look into the future and allow our children to live in peace and without hatred.

per-aspera-ad-astra wrote:

It should allow everyone, regardless of nationality, who hates and chokes in their own hatred, but I don’t understand how they want to go to Europe?

Serbian blogger Strongman also re-published [sr] the news and more than 80 people commented on it.

Mariopan wrote:

Bravo to the young people. A little bit normalcy in the crazy Balkans.

Looping wrote:

I believe the motive is good, but the creators should be taking care of their lives.

ivanivica wrote:

I am only reading and thinking of how many times the young Israelis and Palestinians meet up. And?

newyorkcity.boy wrote:

All honors for maturity and courage. I support it. Finally, someone has tried to make an effort of reconciliation. I hope the move will be just the beginning. All honors to you. How much further will we hate each other?

This issue has drawn attention of several thousand people from Croatia and Serbia, as well as the rest of the region, who have left their comments on many other internet platforms and forums in the past few days.

Serbia: Disgruntled Community Vs. Disgruntled Politician on Twitter

Danica Radisic — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:53:42 +0000

While social media is becoming ever more popular in politics worldwide, the Balkan states and their officials seem to be struggling with the very notion of social networking. Just weeks after an event promoting local blogs and citizen journalism, organized by bloggers and attended by a few rare officials, Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Jeremić, instigated a situation that may very well seriously damage any relations that local citizen media and some politicians have been building in recent years.

Minister Jeremic not only noticed a satirical, “fake” Twitter account partially bearing his name and image, @vookjeremic, but decided to report the matter of this account to Serbian police and influenced authorities to contact Twitter's administrators and have the account removed from the network. He then proceeded to take legal action against the creator of said account. Jeremic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claim that said account and what was being tweeted from it was insulting and damaging to Minister Jeremic and his foreign colleagues.

‘Stuck in the age of unilateral media'

Twitter accounts (mis)representing politicians and celebrities, usually in a satirical, sarcastic and often comedic fashion, have been popular on Twitter and other social networking sites for a while, which is logical as these are channels that allow individuals and groups of citizens to freely state their opinions. While a few rare southeastern European political figures have taken to social networks and learned to use them to their benefit, both personal and professional, Vuk Jeremic seems to be stuck in the age of unilateral media.

It is true that insults and defamation should be sanctioned and are illegal. Dragan Pleskonjic, a b92.net blogger emphasizes that “Twitter Rules” clearly state that users “may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others.” In this blog post [sr], this blogger goes on to say:

I would rather not place myself on the side of the Twitterer Vuk or Vook, real or fake Twitter account, or analyze the humoristic, social (un)reasoning, nor the action and reaction to the writings there and closing of the account. However, what I would like to say with this text is: if a company on the Web offers its services under certain terms, then it would be advised to read those terms well, before using their service. In the end, by the very registration of an account, you have agreed to the terms of service…

This brings about another question and one that is elementary in proving whether or not Mr. Jeremic and those like him have an adequate comprehention of social networks or the way people use and understand them. Are such “fake” accounts intended to mislead, confuse or deceive others? Or are they another tool that citizens use to demonstrate lack of satisfaction with their government officials?

In February, the New York Times, published an article on the very same subject, regarding fake accounts of United States politicians. The article says that “Twitter allows parody accounts as long as they are labeled as such…”.

Would the blatantly obvious misspelling of the Minister’s name, Vook instead of Vuk, and ridiculous tweets exchanged between the @vookjeremic account and the @FakeQaddafi account be obvious enough?

Weltschmerz, a Croatian living in Serbia, commented on this matter on his blog [hr]:

I don’t understand how many permilles (aproximately) of reasonable people can’t tell the difference between ‘Vook Jeremic’ and ‘Vuk Jeremic’. Nor how that can be defined as identity theft.

The aforementioned New York Times article also carries an interesting quote from a GOP consultant, Matt Mackowiak, for whom a fake and mocking account has been created on Twitter. Mr. Mackowiak, obviously undisturbed and even a little flattered by the account and what its authors tweet, stated:

The one thing everyone in Washington can use is a check on their own ego.

From the Sisala Vesla blog

The same would apply in this case. Serbia’s government can use a check on its own ego, and Vuk Jeremic may be first in line. Mr. Jeremic is getting that check these days as Serbian bloggers are in an uproar about his reaction and the actions taken by the authorities in this matter. According to Alo.rs [sr], the portal of the local mainstream print edition of the same name:

After the request of the Minister of Diplomacy, Vuk Jeremic, to remove the profile ‘@vookjeremic’ from the social network ‘Twitter’, Twitterers have been more active than before, opening accounts with the names of almost all the leading politicians [in Serbia].

Active participation solution

In that same article, Jasna Matic, former Minister of Telecommunications and Internet Society and current Secretary of Digital Agenda of the Republic of Serbia, also a very active member of the local Twitter community, recommended that active participation on social networks is a solution, rather than closing profiles and implementing bans:

The general attitude of people who are in the business of digital communication is that the proactive system is better than banning, but it is also as important to allow less room for misinformation. Worldwide, a high level of informedness is expected, in particular of government officials. Whenever that isn’t the case, a window for manipulation is opened.

Vladimir Stankovic, an elementary school principal and one of Serbia’s most popular bloggers, wrote a post ranting, within reason, about this case. DedaBor, as he is more commonly known in the regional blogosphere, concludes in a blog post of his own [sr]:

My advice, and the advice of the larger portion of people who regularly use social networks and know anything about crisis PR, crises in communications, is for Vuk Jeremic himself to tune in and begin using social networks.

If he [Vuk Jeremic] can sit and watch Novak Djokovic [at Wimbledon], then he can ask him to explain how to tweet. [Novak Djokovic, currently world no. 1 tennis player, is an avid Twitterer with over 230 thousand followers on his official and personal @DjokerNole account]. Should Nole refuse, he has several political colleagues that are more than solid examples: @jasnamatic [Secretary of Digital Agenda], @gordanacom [Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly], @cistacica [Oliver Dulic, Serbian Minister] and a few others….

Other social media users and leaders of the local online community have similar things to say, like Zoran Torbica, co-founder and vice president of the Center for Internet Development and a formidable regional Twitter evangelist among politicians, local celebrities and high-level corporate executives, who recently gave a statement to Moja portal [sr], saying:

It [the reaction of the online community] isn’t a war against Jeremic, but simply the fact that he irritated people by the way he requested that the account [@vookjeremic] be shut down…

I don’t deny that they had the right to shut it down, it may have been better if Vuk Jeremic had been taught to run a Twitter account of his own and, in that case, all other accounts that resemble his own wouldn’t be less followed and would close with time.

Another favorite local blogger, the highly opinionated Mahlat, often uses vernacular to depict any situation and puts things into a “people’s” perspective in this case as well [sr]:

Now I wonder, how much of an optimist does a politician in Serbia need to be to think that noone will mock what they say, when they know that they say nothing. We’ve all learned the tune, we’re bored with it. And he [Vuk Jeremic] complains that someone is dragging his image and work through mud. Politician commrades, you can only ask for the respect of your image and work, whatever it is that you do, from your immediate families, those who share a bed and coalition partners with you. Those with whom you have deceived all of us.

You’re just lucky that most Serbs are still offline, were it different you wouldn’t be doing as well… Every love has a price, consider yourselves lucky that you are paying merely with mockery, it could be worse, history has already proven that.

And in regards to that, were it not sad, it might be funny. All that has been written.

Concluding with ‘Vuk Jeremic the Target of Fraud on Twitter’…

It seems that the issue of freedom of speech in the online community will remain a subject of debate in the days and weeks to come in Serbia and the region. What is clear so far is that politics, with disgruntled citizens on the one end and seemingly equally disgruntled politicians on the other, is still a hot issue in the Balkans.

One of the initial reasons that the Internet quickly became popular in the late 1990s in Serbia, was the political state in the country. Rectifying the image the world had of us, getting information out and getting information in, criticizing the regime of the time and having our voices heard outside of the walls of a damaged country and society - those were the driving forces behind the expansion of Internet usage more than a decade ago.

The current regime should know that, as many of its members were actively participating in the online conversations of the time. Many of those in power in Serbia today, employed the Web to their and our collective benefit. It may be high time they learned to cope with Web 2.0.

Croatia: EU Membership Approval

Miquel Hudin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:47:56 +0000

On June 10, 2011, Croatia was cleared to become the newest member state of the European Union. There is still a long road before Croatians are officially a part of the EU, and the timing at the moment is, at best, precarious, creating many skeptics.

Beyond the current state of the economy in Europe, there is also the fact that on April 15, 2011, the ICTY convicted former generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač of war crimes.

As noted on This Just In:

The verdict was greeted by boos and hisses from crowds gathered in the central square of Croatia's capital, Zagreb, the BBC reported. The generals are regarded by some as national heroes.

Anti-EU protest on the day of ITCY convictions. Image by Flickr user Sophie Guesné, used with permission.

This public opinion is important to note, as prior to joining, Croatia will hold a national referendum which, if held currently, could fail with approximately only 38 percent voting “yes” or could pass easily with 64 percent voting in favor of joining, depending on the source.

Despite this electorate uncertainty, the Croatian government has continually pushed forward on the joining, as noted [hr] on Jutarnji List:

[Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor] said that the decision of the European Council is a joyful moment for Croatia, especially as Croatia this week marks the 20th anniversary of independence. “I have always said that this would be the greatest reward for the anniversary of independence,” stressed the Prime Minister.

Of course, most of the accession frustration in this country of 4.5 million people revolves around the length of time it has taken to get to this point, as was written [hr] on gospon profesor:

So, these six so far and two more? And I thought that when we finish negotiations, hop, here we are in the EU. But, no.

A commenter on that post by the name of Kinky Kolumnista [hr] approaches the pending accession from a practical standpoint:

Let's face it, if there was no pressure from the EU, none of these minor [country] improvements would have happened and we were the same quagmire as before […] EU countries are definitely more successful than we are, and those who are bypassed are at a disadvantage.

Much will still be expected of Croatia in the next two years, but currently everything points to their becoming the 28th member of the EU.

Serbia: Gaddafi's Cyber Army Oppose Rebels and NATO

Sasa Milosevic — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:51:34 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

A Facebook page entitled “Support for Muammar al-Gaddafi from the people of Serbia” has become a show of support for the controversial Libyan leader, with over 62,500 members. Libyan opposition activists have also reported cyber attacks on opposition websites coming from Serbia.

The cyber war has been initiated by pro-Gaddafi Serbian citizens, recruited mainly from Serbian ultranationalists, has been reported in the international media.

Over 60,000 people in Serbia have joined a Facebook group to publicly support Gaddafi's regime. Credit: 'Support for Muammar al Gaddafi from the people of Serbia', a Facebook group

The news has panicked the Libyan Youth Movement (@shabablibya), a “group of Libyan Youth both in and out of Libya inspired by our brothers and sisters in Egypt and Tunis.”

Mohammed al-Sabah, a Libyan Youth Movement representative, said [sr] to the Serbian media:

Hiljade internet korisnika iz Srbije svakodnevno napada i obara naše sajtove ili ih toliko zagušuju sa anti-NATO i EU parolama, da su potpuno neupotrebljivi. Ne tvrdimo da su svi oni hakeri, ali je jasno da se radi o organizovanoj akciji. Ukoliko se nešto uskoro ne preduzme, stvari će postati sve gore po nas

Thousands of Internet users from Serbia are attacking and infringing on our sites daily with anti-NATO and anti-EU slogans, so much that [the sites become] completely useless. We do not claim that all of them are hackers, but it is clear that it is an organized campaign. If something is not done soon, things will get worse for us.

According to Milan Kovacevic [sr], a web administrator and author of the book “Cryptography in Electronic Banking,” Serbian hackers are not independent in their actions, but are a part of international groups:

U pitanju su dve hakerske grupe „C1337ORG“ i „Crna ruka“. […] Dobar deo napadača su zapravo stranci, koji se kriju iza internet adresa običnih korisnika iz Srbije…

These are two of hacker groups: “C1337ORG” and “Black Hand.” […] A big part of the attackers are actually foreigners who hide behind Internet address of ordinary users from Serbia.

He adds that it is possible that among the Libyan rebels there are insiders who are informing Serbian hackers where and how to attack.

The administrators [sr] of the most popular Serbian Facebook page deny any connections with ultranationalists, explaining the essence of support for Gaddafi:

Ako se neko pita zašto podržavamo Gadafija evo odgovora.
Gadafi je slao naftu nama dok smo bili pod sankcijama.Gadafi nije priznao nezavisnost Kosova i prvi se pobunio.Gadafi je posle bombardovanja ‘99 slao pare za oporavak nase države.Gadafi je zapošljavao naše ljude kad' ovde nisu imali šta da jedu.Gadafi se bori protiv ljudi koji su nam uništili detinjstvo.

Zato smo uz njega!

Pukovnice,pobedi zbog svih nas!

Gaddafi was sending oil to us when we were under economic sanctions. Gaddafi did not recognize Kosovo's independence. After the bombing in 1999, he sent money for Serbia's recovery. Gaddafi was providing employment to our people while they had nothing to eat here. Gaddafi is fighting against the people who have destroyed our childhood.

So we are with him!

Colonel, win for all of us!

Daniel Vidal wrote in a comment to this statement:

I heard that Gaddafi gives €2500 to each student who wants to study outside Libya. He also gives them a car…

Milan Veris added:

Gaddafi is a living legend. Twenty years ago, this man built the most modern plumbing in the world. He brought water to Libya directly from the Nile.

(Because of this desert irrigation project, Belgrade's private Megatrend University awarded Gaddafi an honorary doctorate in 2007. Some of Gaddafi's opponents in Serbia however, considered the move a marketing trick to attract Libyan students to this university in the Serbian capital.)

Gorica Pukmajster wrote:

I am one of those whose family was fed by Gaddafi's salary, which, back then, was ten times what I was making when I worked in Belgrade.

Below are some more Facebook comments from the “Support for Muammar al-Gaddafi from the people of Serbia” page.

Dusan Duda Stevanovic:

An army of monkeys led by a lion worth more than an army of lions led by a monkey.

Pathos Ydoni:

To the east of Libya, in cities that are controlled by the rebels, mobs and gangs, according to several human rights organizations, are virtually committing a crime against humanity. […] Rape, murder and torture are normal for rebels…

Trese Babe Oraje got this information from friends in Libya:

The rebels intercepted four buses from Tripoli to Benghazi, with people who started the peaceful protests in support of the Libyan army and stopping the NATO aggression. They took them hostage, and they beat even the women.

The NATO action in Libya has caused some young Serbs, who still live with the memories of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, to react with hatred.

Burek Pekaric:

These are the disturbed minds, and I really think to go to the French and Italian embassies and kick them with empty beer bottles on their heads. Monsters.

Ljubomir Popovski suggested this:

First, it should start from the dead. All French soldiers should be dug out from the New Cemetery and sent to France in cattle wagons. Second, all French monuments from Kalemegdan should be removed. Third, the French embassy in Belgrade should be closed and turned it into a museum of the NATO aggression.

Will exchange Tadic for Gaddafi. Credit: Vujaklija.com

The most rigorous critics are those Serbs who are disappointed with the decision of the Serbian president Boris Tadić to publicly distance himself from Gaddafi's government, “washing his own hands” of the long-term arms trade with Libya.

Vladimir Speed Savic urges:

Gaddafi, take from Tadic the Persian carpet you gave him last year for the Day of the Libyan revolution. And the honorary medal… Let Sarkozy weave him a new one at his own expense…

The administrator of the group posted a video uploaded to YouTube by Radio Television Vojvodina of the time when the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affair paid a visit to Gaddafi, thanking him for not recognizing Kosovo. Foreign minister Vuk Jeremić and his group performs a deep bow for Gaddafi in the clip.

Some of the Facebook page's members warn that the Serbian police and the Serbian Inteliigence Agency (BIA) are monitoring online activities in the well-known dictatorial style.

Marko Nikolic posts this alarm:

Twenty of them from BIA are here in this group and they are posting messages to the wall.

Jebes Chuck Norris, Gaddafi ujedinio Srbe reveals:

We welcome the night shift of MUP [Ministry of the Interior] that monitors our group with fake profiles.

Bloggers on Vujaklija.com also offer public support to the “defiant” Libyan leader, as the Western media describe him.

Cho-Seung Hui says:

The president who would welcome us to free ourselves forever from joining the European Union, democracy, the rule of human rights, privatization, globalization, capitalism and other disasters that have befallen us after the October 5, [2000].

As_basket_player_5 concludes:

Until a few days ago, a totally irrelevant figure in our lives, and now a hero in Serbia. Nobody knows why.

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

Macedonia: Personal Steps Against Economic Crisis

Filip Stojanovski — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:06:07 +0000

Bojana Jankovska blogs [MKD] on how she deals with the economic crisis at a personal level: make a deal with family members to use electrical appliances during “cheaper” hours of the day, possibly cancel central heating, locate the cheapest neighborhood store for regular grocery shopping, and lock your credit card in a drawer. Influenced by the Croatian self-help book, “Financial Rebirth,” [CRO] she considers canceling the credit card, so she would “no longer pay interest on things she can comfortably live without.”

Europe: “Mapping Stereotypes”

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:17:32 +0000

Via Dr Sean's Diary, “a series of maps of Europe mapping the (supposed) prejudices of various nations […] and, for some reason, also of gay men” by “Bulgarian visual artist, graphic designer and illustrator Yanko Tsvetkov.” Also, “What European Tribes Think About One Another” - at eXile.ru; a similar map of Europe as seen by Croatians (HRV); and by Ukrainians from Western Ukraine (UKR; via Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow).

Slovenia: Severe Floods and… Surfing?!

Filip Stojanovski — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:07:43 +0000

While severe floods plague Slovenia [SLO], Balkan portals from Croatia to Macedonia keep republishing a video clip named “wakeboarding in Ljubljana at 1am,” showing a car towing a surfer through the streets and passing by a dry cleaning sign.

Bosnia: Puppy drowning Video Girl Caught by Police

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:11:30 +0000

Bosnian police have found the girl who appeared on YouTube video throwing puppies to a river, thanks to animal protection organization's tips and online citizens who helped pinpoint location and identity of the young girl from video footage.

Croatia: Official Zagreb Protest Blog

Filip Stojanovski — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:36:25 +0000

We don't give Varšavska is a blog in Croatian and English set up by the civic activists who object to usurpation of public space in Zagreb with latest information about mass arrests from the perspective of protesters.

Croatia: Protests Continue Following Mass Arrests

Filip Stojanovski — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:35:17 +0000

Protests in Zagreb continued in spite of the attempted crackdown on Thursday. Croatian state TV reported [CRO] that police arrested 142 protesters so far, including some who returned to the controversial construction site after being released from detention. Marcell Mars, one of protest leaders, scheduled [CRO] a rally and march to the seats of major political parties for Friday evening. Bloggers such as Mihela Hadrian call [CRO] for civic disobedience towards the “corrupt gang” of politicians who cater to war profiteers.

Croatia: Police Breaks Up Peaceful Protest in Zagreb

Filip Stojanovski — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:04:30 +0000

Croatian police earlier today broke up a peaceful protest against usurpation of public space in the center of Zagreb and arrested at least 11 civic activists. The Twitter feed with the street name #Varsavska is the main source of immediate info and photos.

Civic associations Right to the City and Green Action have been blocking the Varšavska [= Warsaw] street for months in order to prevent the demolition of this public space — a pedestrian zone — in order to build a ramp for the underground garage of a private ‘lifestyle centre' [CRO] at the very center of Zagreb. Their work has been supported by thousands of citizens who would show up at numerous protests, and cultural events organized in the reclaimed public space.

This morning the Police arrested the core group of protesters to make way for construction crews to cut down the “undesirable” trees in this pedestrian zone. Protest participant tmedak tweeted [CRO]:

News from the police van: 11 persons arrested for passive resistance #Varsavska

He also posted a photo of the police moments before they started the “enforcement.” Other participants and witnesses used phone calls, Twitter, Twitpic and yFrog to share immediate info and photos from the event.

Croatian police deals with the protesters. Photo by Mario Mikic.

Twitter user topssy documented the event through photos:

disposition of protesters who blocked the traffic of nearby streets
forming of the police cordon, and preparations
surveillance on the spot
policeman lecturing the protesters that “obstructing police action is a criminal offense”
and the arresting procedure

Infopunkt published a video clip from the scene on YouTube

Twitter user krunovidic addressed [CRO] the selective use of force in this case:

I expect the police to do the same to the peasants when they block the roads next time, and use the same methods as with the crew of #Varsavska

Macedonian blogger Andrej also spread the news [MKD] and a link to a live video feed [CRO] using them as an example of how citizens should fight for their rights.