Friday, February 22, 2008

Tax Dollars at Work: Protest Sunday in Ljubljana


I guess I live closer than I thought...

Just got this nervous message from the US Embassy email list....I don't know the details of this protest (for or against or what?) and I'm kind of in the mood for some action, but I guess I better take heed this time.

Warden Message February 22, 2008: Kosovo Independence

Following Kosovo’s February 17, 2008, declaration of independence, street protesters caused damage to the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. A large, organized demonstration is scheduled for Sunday, February 24, at 12:45 p.m., near the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, which reiterates its longstanding guidance to American Citizens to avoid large crowds or demonstrations. American citizens are urged to maintain security awareness.

In the event further information is obtained regarding this or any other security or safety situation in Slovenia, the U.S. Embassy will provide updates via this same channel and on the Embassy's web site: http://slovenia.usembassy.gov.

6 comments:

Camille Acey said...

This email was soonafter followed by an SMS, oh dear.

From now on, I am claiming my Ghanaian heritage. AKWAABA people!

Tina. said...

There's probably nothing to worry about, Camille, but please stay safe anyway, OK?

Camille Acey said...

Thanks Tina. I am sticking by the homestead this weekend. I actually cancelled tentative plans. I'm not usually so careful but I think this time it was better safe than sorry.

Lisa said...

It's definitely a good idea to take care, but I don't think this will be a big deal ultimately (of course, saying that probably jinxes things, yes, I am supersticious ;).

There's way too much at stake for the EU presidency if things go south in the capital. The border is already tight (especially so since the 21st of December), so it won't be a case of people showing up in droves from other countries to stir trouble. Belgrade got so out of hand b/c the government gave free trips to the capital, inflamed the crowd with nationalist speeches, and then had the cops stand back while hooligans descended on embassies. Foreign soil that the government is sworn to protect, no less (they threw rocks at Canada's embassy too, apparently, even though we haven't recognized Kosovo yet). Some in the opposition are saying that Kostunica is guilty of murder, because of his inciting actions yesterday.

If something goes ahead Sunday, the problem might be police overreaction, rather than crowd unruliness...

Anonymous said...

no worries, most Serbs are nice and decent people, a few hundreds of drunk ultras who burned embassies in Bg cannot be considered a representative sample of 10 million Serbs living in Serbia, and even less of those 30,000 living in Slovenia.

Anonymous said...

Agree with the previous poster. Serbs are wonderful people, and there's nothing to be afraid of.

And they said on the news that the protest for tomorrow is canceled.