Visa Woes

bladerunner i live in canada and i come to serbia all the time and i think in many ways serbia is a better country. The main problem in serbia is the government like in all countrys its corrupt but serbia is a little more than it should be. But it its getting better the problem is its taking a little more time than it should. I personally am moving to serbia and think it is a great place to live. The problem in serbia is its a little harder to get rich but thats in all countrys. The great thing about serbia is you can have a descent life but not be rich and money is evil so if you have good family and friends thats all you need. yes if the usa didnt bomb us it would be a much better place it put serbia back in time!!!!!

Frankly, I understand Lucy's comment as "businessmen & businesswomen" rather than businessmen and females :)

V.

my mistake :) Somehow I have managed to read "businessmen" as "students" :D:D
What a dyslexic irony....

And this is true because we all well know that US and other "evil" western countries are incapable of any wrongdoing and meddling in other countries' affairs. They would never cause an armed conflict, overthrow a government, finance terrorism, or do anything to this effect outside of their borders. They would never fabricate a story in order to justify bombing the crap out of some country and invading it. No sir. They can do no evil.

Dude, you need to wake up unless you're just trolling here. Serbs are as capable of dealing with their mistakes as anyone else. However, they are stubborn people and, with every right, they feel they've been treated unjustly. You're simply echoing the same old line that Serbs somehow need to be collectively punished like a bunch of misbehaved children. Should all Serbs somehow feel responsible for actions of a certain regime? Even those who were 5 years old at the time? Even those who fought that same regime and never voted for it? Should all Americans feel responsible for the actions of their government in Vietnam, or for exterminating native Americans? Should all Brits feel responsible for killing few hundred thousand Kikuyu of Kenya? Examples are countless.

You need to grow up and realize that the difference between genocide and war on terror lies in who's got bigger guns. Size does matter in the world and that game Serbia can't win.

Quote: "You need to grow up and realize that the difference between genocide and war on terror lies in who's got bigger guns. Size does matter in the world and that game Serbia can't win."

You're quite right, so don't start a fight you can't finish. Consequently, Serbia should have settled for a peaceful break-up of the former Yugoslavia instead of going for its forceful preservation. That was a horrendous error in judgment by Serbia's inept and autistic leadership headed by Milosevic and we paid dearly for it. Other than that, your perception of worldwide double standards is spot on but I am afraid it amounts to little more than stating the obvious. Which, in turn, is not going to help us come any closer to free travel or semi-free travel. Best regards.

Just a quick comment to your reply to bladerunner and the ILEGAL ATTACK ON SERBIA FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is dispickable and was uncalled for HMMMM YES THEY ARE DOING IT IN -------IRAQ------

daj molim te,da li je Hrvatska ista od toga navedenog uradila kada su im ukinuli vize?Jel su Gotovina,Cermak,itd bili u Hagu?Jel im predsednik bio covek koji se nalazio na medjunarodnoj optuznici?Jel im bila demilitarizovana granica?O cemu pricamo mi?

I simply cannot believe that, while a young woman might be plummeting to hell, someone here has the ignorance to discuss what "the West" did to poor Serbia or how any highly thoughtful foreign contemplation of Serbian isolation is a step towards understanding of "the Serbian problem."

However, if that young woman is indeed plummeting to hell (and I sincerely hope she isn't), bear in mind she has herself and her naivety to blame first before you point your finger at anybody else. Also, don't forget it's the 15-year long isolation with no end beckoning that has made young people in Serbia unaware of the dangers that lie in quick-fix trips to "promised lands" and susceptible to making thoughtless and costly decisions.

It is the 15-year-long isolation that made people unaware of such dangers, therefore she has herself to blame?

This would be an opportunity to blame the infamous evil Western powers for her fate.

said colensky in lack of better judgement

Or maybe not?

yes that was sarcasm in lack of a better judgement. got it?

Yes, it's the 15-year long isolation that has made young people in Serbia unaware of the dangers because the vast majority of them have never travelled abroad.
Those doing so for the first time, yearning to make new friends, may therefore be unaware that not everyone they meet is a friend.
Yes, she has herself to blame first and foremost for not thinking twice about the helping hand or "helping hand" offered to her. If she is in trouble in the first place.
Lucy was not entirely specific about her friend's field of expertise. Hopefully, the people this young woman met do actually want to help her move to Britain and get a good job, although their instructions to wait in Amsterdam for a British visa and work permit do sound fishy to say the least. But hopefully, they told her to do so thinking she may not be able to get a visa and leave Serbia again if she returns.
And one more thing: if you really are concerned over this issue to the point of taking concrete action, stop ranting at everyone else at this blog, get off your rear end and do something about it.

Colensky,

Your posts are not something that anyone wants really to respond to, so I'm sending this "unresponse".

Sentence above proves you a bigot. I guess it's easier to nurture prejudice, than deal with it.

Yes, there was a regime here in Serbia, which has allegedly committed terrible war crimes (where did you get the part "against humanity"?; read the Convention), it was more than wrong and we regret it and we will teach our children about all war crimes that happened in the past, including but not limited to: WWI, WWII and Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Turkey, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan (Darfur) and Kosovo. Just to make it easier for you, I admit my responsibility for every crime I committed during the wars in ex-Yugoslavia region. Note: I was 11 years old when all of that happened, couldn't vote, wasn't in the army, fought to overthrow Milosevic from 1997 through 2000, had been arrested by Milosevic's police (you've read correctly, not Serbian, but Milosevic's police forces), tortured and maltreated. Presently working with a whole bunch of people from all over the world, including Americas. :)

Lucy,

I also fear your friend's situation is quite undesirable and urge you to call and report an incident to the police.

Best of luck!

Yes, if you read Lucy's post it is clear how she used this event as an example to "highlight the problems related to years of travel restrictions." But you call me "myopic" for saying that you cannot just sit and blog if you know that someone you know might be in danger? I think this is the question of ethics, colensky, not my mental distortion. And I did not call for class action but was simply alarmed that this is happening in spite of other people knowing that it is as dodgy as hell.
By and by, please notice that I am not attacking Lucy nor I see any purpose in doing so.

Sorry, but a blog is not exactly 911. For clarification, myopic is not exactly a mental disorder, but simply shortsightedness, i.e. when you can not see the forest because of the trees. I was far from trying to insult you, but apparently 15 years of isolation has taken its toll on some.

Dear colensky, I know what you were saying. "Mental disorder" was a play with words as myopic is also a medical term relating to a visual disorder. So when I said mental disorder I didn't mean to say you were insulting me. Also, I haven't lived in Serbia for a looong time and am not isolated at all.
I suggest you retake your high school Logic class.
Ciao

Sorry deliah, I was sarcastically again. I know very well that this isolation story is a bid overblown. Serbs can and do travel abroad, maybe not as much as they would like, but they do get around. So I do not buy into this 15-years prison story and was trying pock fun of it.