Protesters Break Into U.S. Embassy in Serbia

MrSmith wrote:

whats that? we're being invaded by serbs now?

Yeah they just swam the Atlantic, bet you you won't sleep soundly tonight!

I never wanted my first post to be abut this. Really. I am generally shy when it comes to posting, but I just love to be part of PJ community.

Now, perhaps I can tell you a bit more about what happened here tonight. I live in Belgrade and yes, there were riots on the streets. Violence emerged among a relatively small group of people after the peaceful protest against Kosovo independence. You see, the peaceful meeting brought people from all over the country to Belgrade and that was supposed to be news of the day.

However, a group of idiots started those riots after the meeting. I honestly thing it was bunch of hooligans who came to the meeting but destroyed everything along the way because the were so drunk. Most of them were kids, 17, 18 to 20 years old. It happens everywhere. As far as I know, US embassy and all the other embassies were evacuated long before the meeting, as a precaution. From what I've heard, person who died was not a US citizen, it was one of the hooligans. This is not confirmed, though. There were riots outside Croatian embassy as well, and some others, along with stores and local McDonald's.

So, why protesting in the first place? It's because of Kosovo independence, which is a really dark story that can not be explained in two words. You simply can't trust everything you see on the news. The story of Kosovo independence is not a "fight of poor, innocent people who did not have their own country and lived under the evil Serbs government, until finally gained its freedom and country they never had".

I don't think any country would be happy to see cutting of its territory, an important cultural center, and, of course, its people who still live there. So, anxiety and mixed feelings and anger are understandable.

But those people who started riots are idiots. There were about 500 of them, and over two million of people live in Belgrade, several millions in whole Serbia. So, 500 morons sent a totally bad message to both Serbia and the world. They made us look like monsters, and journalists just love to make it everything look even worse than it was. So, 500 idiots are identified with the whole nation- that's not fair. I honestly don't know who those people are or what happened in their brains (if there is a brain to start with). That is precisely the OPPOSITE way of protecting your own country, and honestly, most of the Serbs do not agree with that, which does not mean Serbs agree with Kosovo independence.

Thanks for listening. Once again, it really sucks that my first message had to be this one.

olivine wrote:

I never wanted my first post to be abut this. Really. I am generally shy when it comes to posting, but I just love to be part of PJ community.

Now, perhaps I can tell you a bit more about what happened here tonight. I live in Belgrade and yes, there were riots on the streets. Violence emerged among a relatively small group of people after the peaceful protest against Kosovo independence. You see, the peaceful meeting brought people from all over the country to Belgrade and that was supposed to be news of the day.

However, a group of idiots started those riots after the meeting. I honestly thing it was bunch of hooligans who came to the meeting but destroyed everything along the way because the were so drunk. Most of them were kids, 17, 18 to 20 years old. It happens everywhere. As far as I know, US embassy and all the other embassies were evacuated long before the meeting, as a precaution. From what I've heard, person who died was not a US citizen, it was one of the hooligans. This is not confirmed, though. There were riots outside Croatian embassy as well, and some others, along with stores and local McDonald's.

So, why protesting in the first place? It's because of Kosovo independence, which is a really dark story that can not be explained in two words. You simply can't trust everything you see on the news. The story of Kosovo independence is not a "fight of poor, innocent people who did not have their own country and lived under the evil Serbs government, until finally gained its freedom and country they never had".

I don't think any country would be happy to see cutting of its territory, an important cultural center, and, of course, its people who still live there. So, anxiety and mixed feelings and anger are understandable.

But those people who started riots are idiots. There were about 500 of them, and over two million of people live in Belgrade, several millions in whole Serbia. So, 500 morons sent a totally bad message to both Serbia and the world. They made us look like monsters, and journalists just love to make it everything look even worse than it was. So, 500 idiots are identified with the whole nation- that's not fair. I honestly don't know who those people are or what happened in their brains (if there is a brain to start with). That is precisely the OPPOSITE way of protecting your own country, and honestly, most of the Serbs do not agree with that, which does not mean Serbs agree with Kosovo independence.

Thanks for listening. Once again, it really sucks that my first message had to be this one.

Wow, welcome to the community. Your post was very insightful.
FYI.....Beware of this room.

Thanks for your welcome, acoustic guy.

Hinny: Australian embassy was not on their way, it's located in a small street (in my neighborhood, actually). Plus, not many of those kids knew Australia declared Kosovo independence.

They trashed local stores, and stole sneakers and stuff. Now we have to pay for the damage, both political and material. But, like I said, there were at least 200 000 people on the meeting (not the mention couple of millions in the city) and 500 idiots made it look like we're all morons.

Oh, another thing: peaceful protest was not anti- US, it was a protest against Kosovo independence. Belgrade, Serbia is not the only place on Earth where people are not big fans of US government, there are many such places. Personally, I'm not one of those people who will identify the whole nation with couple of its idiots (presidents included).

olivine wrote:

I never wanted my first post to be abut this. Really. I am generally shy when it comes to posting, but I just love to be part of PJ community.

Now, perhaps I can tell you a bit more about what happened here tonight. I live in Belgrade and yes, there were riots on the streets. Violence emerged among a relatively small group of people after the peaceful protest against Kosovo independence. You see, the peaceful meeting brought people from all over the country to Belgrade and that was supposed to be news of the day.

However, a group of idiots started those riots after the meeting. I honestly thing it was bunch of hooligans who came to the meeting but destroyed everything along the way because the were so drunk. Most of them were kids, 17, 18 to 20 years old. It happens everywhere. As far as I know, US embassy and all the other embassies were evacuated long before the meeting, as a precaution. From what I've heard, person who died was not a US citizen, it was one of the hooligans. This is not confirmed, though. There were riots outside Croatian embassy as well, and some others, along with stores and local McDonald's.

So, why protesting in the first place? It's because of Kosovo independence, which is a really dark story that can not be explained in two words. You simply can't trust everything you see on the news. The story of Kosovo independence is not a "fight of poor, innocent people who did not have their own country and lived under the evil Serbs government, until finally gained its freedom and country they never had".

I don't think any country would be happy to see cutting of its territory, an important cultural center, and, of course, its people who still live there. So, anxiety and mixed feelings and anger are understandable.

But those people who started riots are idiots. There were about 500 of them, and over two million of people live in Belgrade, several millions in whole Serbia. So, 500 morons sent a totally bad message to both Serbia and the world. They made us look like monsters, and journalists just love to make it everything look even worse than it was. So, 500 idiots are identified with the whole nation- that's not fair. I honestly don't know who those people are or what happened in their brains (if there is a brain to start with). That is precisely the OPPOSITE way of protecting your own country, and honestly, most of the Serbs do not agree with that, which does not mean Serbs agree with Kosovo independence.

Thanks for listening. Once again, it really sucks that my first message had to be this one.

well put Olivine - People's ignorance is just amazing...i copped shit at work today over it. I would've thought that after everything that's going on in the world, people would realize by now, not to take everything they read for gospel...or atleast do a little research themselves...

I tried to explain everything that happened last night, from a personal point of view:
http://www.squirrelism.net/archives/135

And I apologise if my prior reaction was a bit too harsh, I don't joke much, so I don't take jokes well, either.

what we saw on tv, of the serbs is real. I've lived in kosova from 1986-1992, and I remember first hand the treatment of serbs towards the Albanians and let me tell you the way they behaved on tv was just the same, if not worse when I was there.

I guess truth is seen in diffrent ways.

But I don't think the international community got involved because the Serbs were so civil, and it took them a long time before they actually did respond to what happend there.

I mean think about it not even one republic eneded up staying with the serbs, there has to be a reson for that. It has to be their overwhelming hospitality, or maybe their blood sucking hatred for all.

anyway ... justice shall prevail!!!