Incidents In Belgrade...

[vukotab]

Hello there.
I don`t know how many members watching news on their TV,but for those of you who are familiar with incidents in Belgrade,let me tell you few things.

As you know,today on February 21. we had large demonstrations in Belgrade against Kosovo`s independence.
That should be peaceful protest,but turns into a bloodbath!Some idiots attacked Embassy of USA and Embassy of Croatia,too.They tried to burn USA
Embassy to the ground,but the firefighters put out the flames.
Instead of Embassy,they burned ALL McDonald`s restaurants in town and RAIDED most of the shops and boutiques in center of Belgrade...Even the Eterna&Fortis shop in our main street!

What can I say?
First of all,MY SINCERE APOLOGY to all USA citizens for bullsh!t that my fellow Serbs did!I can`t believe that something like that happened in my city!I`m truly ASHAMED of people who did such things!That stupid jerks don`t realize that NOTHING can be accomplished by using a violence!And that NO ONE NATION can live ISOLATED from entire world,not even Serbs!

All of my fellow members must know one thing:your friend Vukota today stayed at home and did not participate in demonstrations at all.
SO,PEACE WITH ALL OF YOU,MY FRIENDS!

[jasonbellevue]

I'm sorry to hear that Vukota. Thank God you're safe. If only we have more more people like you in this world, then there would be less bloodshed.

Peace brother.

[Prince]

Thank you so much for your comments on this developing issue in your country. I am sorry that this is happening. It is ALWAYS a shame when people resort to this type of behavior.

Just know that we think very highly of you here on TRF, Vukota. You are a valued member, and we KNOW you would not participate in futile violence of this kind. Being a member of TRF and behavior like that are pretty much mutually exclusive, IMHO.

Cheers to you, Vukota!!! Here's hoping that all of this will work itself out more peacefully as time goes on.

[frostie]

If someone wants to protest it's ok with me but violence should not be used. Same thing applies here when there are protests in greece. Is it a coincedence that all the times in all balkan countries american embassies and american chain stores are getting burned and demolished?
It's a rhetorical question and i don't intend to offend anybody. As i said i am against violence

[seantk]

Thanks for the update. I did hear something earlier and I will read more about this tonight. My Aunt is in the US Government and she was supposed to be headed to Kosovo (if she is not there already) soon.

Be safe!

Sean

[Scooby]

Stay safe Vukota

[HYDROMAROC]

You don't need to apologize... There are alot of things that my fellow Americans do that I am not proud of either... It is always the few that screw it up for the rest of us...

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by Prince

Thank you so much for your comments on this developing issue in your country. I am sorry that this is happening. It is ALWAYS a shame when people resort to this type of behavior.

Just know that we think very highly of you here on TRF, Vukota. You are a valued member, and we KNOW you would not participate in futile violence of this kind. Being a member of TRF and behavior like that are pretty much mutually exclusive, IMHO.

Cheers to you, Vukota!!! Here's hoping that all of this will work itself out more peacefully as time goes on.

Agreed! Vukota, you're a class act and smart beyond your years. Stay safe,
dP

[roadcarver]

Thanks for the update V.

According to news reports, masks perpetrators and out of job folks are the ones that took advantage of thes situation.

[diversified]

Vukotab, You have nothing to apologize for. Keep posting and stay safe.

[cmr]

brother you have to keep one thing in mind, you can't be responsible for what your fellow countrymen do no more than we can here in the u s. lots of things go on here that a great many of us don't agree with also. all any of us can do is to express out disagreement with it. i seen the demonstrations on tv, i hope you are safe.

marcus

[Alcan]

Vukota, these things will always happen but I'm glad to read you weren't in harm's way.

[BLSampson]

Stay safe Vukota. Let us know if we can do anything. TRF members aren't bound by politics but by the love/interest we have in our watches.

[vukotab]

Thanks for nice words,my friends!
Me and my family are o.k.,we just still cannot believe what happened.Belgrade looks devastated tonight,which is really sad.USA Embassy is demolished,just as many stores in Belgrade.
The famous sentence from Gone with the wind says "Tomorow is another day".
I just hope that will be better than this one!
And I hope that tomorow I`ll be back to post comments on some nice watches on famous TRF!
Thanks again for your support!

[Letsgodiving]

We have had our share of violent protests here over the years. There's always a small element that instigates these things and then it gets out of hand. Stay safe.

[mdx77]

Been busy at work buddy....glad to hear the fam is safe.....didn't hear much of whats happening but I'll be sure to check the news tonight!

Stay safe!

[CPTL]

Vukota, good luck and stay safe. We can only hope for the best.

[fear]

Vukota. Stay safe!

Many Serbians(?) are angry that President Bush, U.S. foreign policy supports Kosovar independence. Other Balkan countries as well as China's suspicious with U.S. support.

Tense indeed.

[JJ Irani]

You're a good man, Vukotab. Maybe your country needs more people like you!!

[Arby]

Well, here's a picture of one of the McDonald perpetrators...


I hope you can tell I'm joking here. Vukotab. I hope the situation is better today over there. I'm also sorry to hear of someone burning to death at the American Embassy last night.

[frostie]

Originally Posted by Arby

Well, here's a picture of one of the McDonald perpetrators...


I hope you can tell I'm joking here. Vukotab. I hope the situation is better today over there. I'm also sorry to hear of someone burning to death at the American Embassy last night.

[Welshwatchman]

You are a good bloke Vukotab, a fellow "TRF'er" and that is all that matters.

I just hope that you stay safe with all the arguing going on at the moment.

[vukotab]

Hello again.
Today,two days after protest,situation is quite calm.
I was in center of town yesterday and I saw demolished stores,broken window glasses,trash cans,car wrecks...It wasn`t nice sight,but city`s government are trying their best to fix and clean up the things.
What cannot be fixed is the fact that one person died in USA Embassy!
Whoever he was(it seems that he was among mad demonstrants),it`s a tragedy.Tragedy because I was hoping that after fall of (bloody)regime of Slobodan Milosevic in year 2000.,Serbian people will learn some new ways of living instead of mindless violence and self-isolation.
It seems that I was wrong!
I don`t know what to say now,my friends...here in Serbia there are lot of good,smart,European-oriented people,but there are also very much of those who consider EU and USA as their major enemies(which is ridiculous to me,BTW).

I pray(and you with me,I hope so)for peace in this small part of Europe,for things to calm down and for people of this country to start thinking with their own mind(it can be useful sometimes,you know),not to be manipulated by some almost fascistic political structures!
Cheers,my friends.

[arttay10]

Stay Safe Vukota - sometimes you can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Good to hear that both you and your family are safe. I hope things calm down and some form of normality is restored soon.
You cannot change free will, people will do what they do for whatever reason they see fit. Its not for you to appogogise for the actions of others.
You are a respected and valued member of this community here.

Stay safe my friend.

[cmr]

keep your self and your family safe brother.

[frostie]

Stay safe Vukota

[astcell]

Well my family is totally freaking out. Dushanbe is not Belgrade!!! But being typical Americans they believe it is is not US/Mexico/Canada, it is all the same. I work at an Embassy, hence I am the one being attacked. Sigh.

By the way I heard rumors now that Mexicans in southern California want to do the same and declare independence from the USA.

[samsung82]

Who Cares

[fear]

Originally Posted by samsung82

Who Cares

Sorry you feel like that. Vukotab's facing a crisis and we are his online friends.

Also (very condensed):

As a country we should care. After we won the Cold War, certain former Soviet satellites started to war against each other.

Since the 90's we've been involved in that region with peacekeeping to stop violence and "ethnic cleansing." Yes people despite modern fantasies about (evil) US intervention, America did get involved in a war that had "nothing" to do with us.

Fast forward to today. US "led by example" and now supports an independant Kosovo. A poor "country," mostly Muslims. Serbs also have stake in the area. Many Serbs are angry of US support and mobbed the U.S. Embassy. Also remember, the Christian and Muslim populations there have been at it for a very long time.


Ramifications. This new muslim country needs help. It's a breeding ground for muslim terrorists. Many countries like China refuse to follow America's lead, partly because of the terrorist situation.

Some people say don't get involved the problem is local and we don't want the US to be bogged down into another war. The consequences may be Kosovo becoming a terrorist state; Kosovo and Serbia once again beefing it out....

Others say we need to get involved, help Kosovo create a viable democracy (like Turkey) and thriving economy. This will help stop global terrorism.

We're in a war folks. Many people are fighting this war for you: our troops, President, diplomats.

You should care.