B92 Blog

It looks like Lichtenstein is in a spot of bother. Somebody's been selling it's secrets to the German intelligence service - and to the British and Americans, and probably to a few more lower-profile receivers of stolen property.

What secrets? Just the names and bank records of about 1400 people, most of them from Germany who've had the foresight (or the criminal instincts, depending on your point of view) to invest large amounts of untaxed income in the helpfully anonymous accounts provided by Lichtenstein's banks.

Apparently, the 5 million euros paid by the German spooks for the low-down on their tax-dodging citizens may help them recover up to 150 million euros in unpaid tax and fines. So maybe five million euros is not a such a bad investment after all. The British got a better deal; they only paid 150,000 euros for their share of the loot and the Americans have got their slice too. I expect they were not nearly such good negotiators as the British though, and

What a surprise! Suddenly, some in the ‘court of international opinion' seem to be waking up to the implications of Kosovo's threatened independence declaration.

But its such a pity they waited till now. Governments who've committed themselves to supporting the creation of an ‘independent' Kosovo are unlikely to change their minds at this ‘eleventh hour', no matter how valid Serbia's arguments might be, to work for a solution within the letter and spirit of UNSC Resolution 1244. If you are a powerful wealthy nation or community of nations, apparently you need not be troubled by the fine details of international law and precedent. You can close your eyes to the implications of a flagrant breach of international law because after all, the illegal invasion of Iraq hasn't led to economic or diplomatic sanctions being imposed on members of "The Coalition of the Willing" has it?. If you can get away with something that big, who's really going to care abou

Most mornings, I take my dog for a walk in the park.  It usually involves being pulled from tree to tree to investigate who's been where and what they've been doing.  Because I'm not very interested in the  things that fascinate my dog, his stop-start progress lets me look around and see what's happening in the world.  One morning recently, the day of the Orthodox Theophany - the Epiphany, there was a lot of religion happening in the park. 

Just for the record, it was also Timket, the feast of the epiphany in Ethiopia and the Sunni Muslim festival of Ashura, so the Americans were busy protecting religious freedom in  Karbula.  So far as I could tell, neither Timket nor Ashura were being actively observed around here.

Now I've noticed that there's often a lot of Religion happening in Serbia and it's not just that there are more festivals or feast days here than I'm used to.   I'm from the UK, a country where organised religion no longer seems to be a major p

It’s just like being back in the UK! In Belgrade we’re told, this week’s snowfall caused ‘traffic chaos’. The roads were gridlocked, there were accidents everywhere and the City authorities advised drivers to “…stay home unless they must make the journey, in which case they should not exceed the speeds of 60 kmph on the highways and 40 kmph on other roads, with obligatory winter equipment for their vehicles”. Good advice – I wonder if anyone takes any notice? Sadly, I didn’t see any warnings about the need to put on warm underwear and two pairs of socks, or to have a hot breakfast before venturing outside, but maybe that’s a good thing too. I’d have been at risk of nostalgia overload!

British people (or should I say, British people who live in places which don’t get much snow – which is most of them) invariably react to its arrival with a mixture of disbelief and unbridled joy. The people responsible for transport and public utilities (who are not normally the joyful ones) are almo

So many people have had so much to say about the future of Kosovo, its relationship to Serbia and its place in the international community. Right or wrong, it looks like the ‘formal debate’s more-or-less over bar the shouting, and the Court of International Opinion is now going to hand down its judgement. Serbia is almost certainly going to lose Kosovo. It’s probably inevitable and both sides will have to live with it.  Whether or not it’ll be a ‘Just’ decision doesn’t really matter.

140 years ago, Germany’s ‘Iron’ Chancellor Bismarck said that “…politics is the art of the possible”. He was right then and he’s still right, but it seems that some of those closely involved in the Kosovo negotiations don’t agree. From where I sit, as an ‘impartial’ foreign observer living in Serbia, there seem to be some frankly unrealistic demands being made about the future of the province. Of course, there’s more than one audience for the negotiators in both camps, it’s not just the UN or EU they’ve got to p