WORLD MUSIC: ETNO GLAZBENA RADIONICA

UPOZNAJMO GLAZBU ISTRE

Dobro dosao svaki glas i svaki instrument!

 

Ovom radionicom zelimo pribliziti tradicijsku glazbu Istre kroz suvremeni izricaj hrvatske etno glazbe

Napisala: MELITA MATIJEVIC

Hrvatska matica iseljenika pored tradicionalnih programa koji su vec sazivjeli pokrenula je i neke nove projekte. Jedan od njih je vrlo inspirativni World music: etno glazbena radionica Glazba Istre. Suorganizatori na ovom projektu Hrvatskoj matici iseljenika su Hrvatska glazbena mladez i Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku.
Etno glazbena radionica organizira se u Medjunarodnom kulturnom centru Hrvatske glazbene mladezi u Groznjanu, autenticnom istarskom selu, gdje ce se polaznicima pokusati pribliziti tradicijska glazba Istre kroz suvremeni izricaj hrvatske etno glazbe u terminu od 8. - 16. srpnja 2006. godine.

Svi nasi dosadasnji projekti koje smo ostvarili u domovini i izvan nje, kao i ovaj, usmjereni su k istom cilju; promicanju vrijednosti hrvatske kulturne bastine kako bi hrvatski covjek sacuvao svoj etnicko-kulturni identitet u sredinama u kojima zivi. Kako je glazba najsnazniji izraz prepoznavanja identiteta jednoga naroda, odlucili smo se za etno glazbenu radionicu. Etno glazba Istre samo je pocetak istrazivanja kojim zelimo obuhvatiti sve tradicijske glazbe hrvatskih regija.

Ovim projektom zelimo pridonijeti cuvanju i razvijanju kulturne tradicije u hrvatskim zajednicama diljem svijeta i predstaviti ovaj, za etno glazbu, inspirativni dio hrvatske kulturne bastine glazbenicima sirom svijeta.

Plurietnicka i multikulturalna sredina Istre mjesto je susreta i trajnog doticaja, razmjena, prozimanja, transformacija ali i odrzavanja kontinuiteta kultura Hrvata, Talijana, Slovenaca, Istroromunja i perojskih Crnogoraca. Ona nije puki zbroj razlicitih kulturnih sadrzajnosti koje, stjecajem povijesnih okolnosti, egzistiraju jedne pored drugih, vec se radi o visestoljetnoj duhovno-kulturnoj sedimentaciji i isprepletenosti u kojoj ono sto je posebno izranja plodotvorno iz svojevrsnog jedinstva kulturnog razlicja.

Radionica obuhvaca teoretski i prakticni dio te izvannastavne aktivnosti. Teoretski dio radionice osmisljen je tematskim predavanjima kojima ce biti prezentirana hrvatska tradicijska glazba po regijama, kao i veza izmedju world music i tradicijske glazbe. Prakticni dio zamisljen je tako, da polaznici steceno teoretsko znanje prakticno primjene sviranjem tradicijskih glazbala i izvodjenjem istarskih napjeva. Polaznike ove radionice ocekuju interesantni susreti s etno glazbenicima, KUD-ovima i posjet radionici glazbala. HMI organizirat ce takodjer obilazak kulturno-spomenicke bastine Istre, kao i posjet istarskim muzejima.

Kako nam je zelja okupiti sto vise mladih hrvatskog podrijetla i sve ljubitelje etno glazbe iz svijeta, pozivamo vas da dodjete u nasu radionicu koju ce voditi hrvatski etnomuzikolozi i etno glazbenici. Tradicija se najbolje cuva njenim zivljenjem i neprestanim njegovanjem, stoga su nastojanja da se posebnosti glazbe Istre ucine dijelom popularne suvremene kulture hvale vrijedna.

Dobro dosao svaki glas i svaki instrument!

Za sve prijave i dodatne obavijesti javiti se voditeljici projekta na adresu:
Hrvatska matica iseljenika, Odjel za kulturno-prosvjetne djelatnosti i sport,
Melita Matijevic, Trg Stjepana Radica 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia,
tel.: 00385 1 6115 116, fax: 6111 522, e-mail: melita@matis.hr
 

NAIVNA UMJETNOST: SLIKARSKA RADIONICA

ZARONITE U CUDESNI SVIJET HRVATSKE NAIVNE UMJETNOSTI
 

Ovom radionicom zelimo pobuditi zanimanje ljudi iz hrvatskih zajednica diljem svijeta, kao i prijatelja naive, za hrvatsku naivnu umjetnost koja je medju najprepoznatljivijim izricajima hrvatskog identiteta u svijetu, te ih u praksi nauciti tehniku slikanja na staklu

Napisala: MELITA MATIJEVIC

Hrvatska matica iseljenika vas poziva da sudjelujete u jednom novom projektu koji zasigurno zasluzuje pozornost; radionici naivnog slikarstva koja se odrzava od 18. – 25. lipnja 2006. u suradnji s Galerijskom zbirkom Josipa Cugovcana u Podravskim Sesvetama i Sunny Village/Etno selo u Jagnjedovcu, u Podravini.

Ovom radionicom zelimo pobuditi zanimanje ljudi iz hrvatskih zajednica diljem svijeta, kao i prijatelja naive, za hrvatsku naivnu umjetnost koja je medju najprepoznatljivijim izricajima hrvatskog identiteta u svijetu, te ih u praksi nauciti tehniku slikanja na staklu.

U hrvatskoj povijesti umjetnosti naivna umjetnost postoji od pocetka tridesetih godina prosloga stoljeca pod nazivom «Hlebinska skola» koja je iznikla u malom selu Hlebinama, mjestu u pitomom kraju Podravine smjestenom izmedju Drave s jedne strane i Bilogore s druge, koje je svoju svjetsku slavu steklo rodjenjem izvorne hrvatske naivne umjetnosti. Hrvatska naivna umjetnost nije slucajno nastala na selu. U mirnom i tihom krajoliku Podravine ona je izrasla na slikama nasih naivaca kao cudesan spoj pejzaza, zemlje i ljudi ovoga kraja. Ona svjedoci o zajednistvu, o neraskidivoj vezi prirode i covjeka.

«Hlebinska skola» okupila je mnoga imena slikarske naive a prvi medju njima bio je Ivan Generalic koji je svojom izlozbom u Parizu pedesetih godina prosloga stoljeca utro put nasoj naivnoj umjetnosti u svijet. Interes za nju ne prestaje o cemu svjedoci i izlozba nasih naivaca postavljena 2000. godine u Muzeju lijepih umjetnosti u Saint Petersburgu na Floridi. «Hrvatsku naivu nitko ne moze izbrisati. Njen pecat duboko je utisnut u podravskoj ravnici, u cijeloj hrvatskoj umjetnosti ...«, rekao je poznati slikar naivac Ivan Vecenaj.

Slikarska radionica obuhvaca teoretski i prakticni dio te izvannastavne aktivnosti. Teoretski dio radionice osmisljen je kroz tematska predavanja kojima se prezentira hrvatska naivna umjetnost od njenih zacetaka do suvremenosti. U prakticnom dijelu polaznici ce proci strucnu poduku u tehnici slikanja na staklu (skica za staklo, kompozicija, motiv, valer, zracna perspektiva). Polaznike radionice ocekuju i zanimljivi susreti s poznatim slikarima naive. Hrvatska matica iseljenika organizirat ce obilazak znamenitosti podravskog kraja, kao i posjete zagrebackim muzejima ( Muzej grada Zagreba, Muzej naivnih umjetnosti).

U zelji za povezivanjem i upoznavanjem mladih iz hrvatskih zajednica diljem svijeta, kao i prijatelja naive, s vrijednostima hrvatske kulture i tradicije sudionike radionice sa univerzalnom slikom svijeta hrvatske naivne umjetnosti upoznat ce povjesnicari umjetnosti i zivuci slikari naive i otkriti im jedno cudesno podrucje umjetnickog stvaralastva.
Dobro dosli u cudesni svijet naive!

Za sve prijave i dodatne obavijesti javiti se voditeljici projekta na adresu:
Hrvatska matica iseljenika, Odjel za kulturno-prosvjetne djelatnosti i sport,
Melita Matijevic, Trg Stjepana Radica 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia,
tel.: 00385 1 6115 116, fax: 6111 522, e-mail: melita@matis.hr 
 

I MISS COMMUNISM - One Woman Show by Ines Wurth

NOMINATED:
Amnesty International Award
Writer's Guild Award

Critics choice in Edinburgh 2005
DON'T MISS! ONLY 3 MORE SHOWS IN THE STATES BEFORE A BIG EUROPEAN
TOUR!

If you are in Boston at the end of the month or have
any friends in Boston please send them over. We'll
treat them well!
http://www.jtoffbroadway.com/

The next shows after that AND THE LAST ONES IN THE USA
are April 13-14th at Highways Performance Space, Los
Angeles.
For more info, tickets or contact please visit:
http://www.highwaysperformance.org/

And for more on the European tour you can visit:
http://imisscommunism.com

East goes West; communism goes capitalism; atheism
goes God. From Croatia to America and back, this
intense dramatic comedy solo show is about 3 women, 3
generations who lived through 3 wars, 3 concentration
camps, 3 governments, 3 countries and 3 currencies.
The story is about freedom of the spirit not the
political systems. It's about a woman coming of age.
It's about war, religion and God. It's about Oliver
Twist. Through music, tears and great comic timing
this story can't leave you untouched.

Ines

imisscommunism.com
818 760 2411

Croatian Naive Art Previews at Kellusion Art Gallery

 in St. Petersburg, Florida

Ivan Andrasic

Kellusion Art Gallery will host a grand opening celebration on April 8th
from 5-9pm at their new location at 538 Central Avenue
 

Good morning. Thank you for responding to my press release. I would greatly appreciate your passing my release on to your audience. The entire collection of art is approximately 200 pieces of extraordinary work that is going to be presented as part of a museum and gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida. The artists are working with gallery owner, Jim Nannen to bring these original, quality pieces to the US.

A growing cultural storm is moving into St. Petersburg, with international artwork never before available in the United States.

St. Petersburg, Florida
March 15, 2006

Kellusion Art Gallery will host a grand opening celebration on April 8th from 5-9pm at their new location at 538 Central Avenue. The gallery will feature two pieces of Croatian Naive Art as a sneak preview to the first public retail exhibit in May, 2006. "We have been fortunate to be part of the recent growth here in St. Petersburg," says gallery owner, Tom Kelly, "and excited to have two magnificent pieces of art to showcase." Kellusion will present, Ivan Andrasic’s "Fisherman" and Ivica Fister’s "Butterfly" along with fine art photographs and paintings by Tom Kelly. Regular hours are Monday through Saturday from 11am – 7pm. For information about the Croatian Naïve Art collection, as well as the upcoming May event information, contact Maggie Kelly at 727-820-9598 or by email at info@kellusion.com .

Thank you again for your interest and assistance.

Maggie Kelly
KELLUSION ART GALLERY
538 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
727-820-9598
727-820-9598
www.kellusion.com
www.artbodyphoto.com

mbarba@tampabay.rr.com

Call from the USA - The Best prices in the world !

Croatia 5.7 cents a minute. Hrvatska 5.7 centi po minuti.

Germany 2.8 cents. Njemacka 2.8 centa

USA 2 cents. SAD 2 centa

You support CROWN, www.croatia.org  by using this service.

Croatia's Tourism Has Great Potential - Austrian Minister

Croatia has great potential in tourism, Austrian Economy and Labour Minister Martin Bartenstein told a news briefing in Vienna on Tuesday at the end of a two-day conference on tourism.
The conference, called "Tourism and Culture - A Key to Development and Employment in Europe", pooled tourism ministers from European Union member-states, acceding countries, candidate countries including Croatia, western Balkan countries and officials from international organisations.

"The Dalmatian coast is splendid," Bartenstein said, adding that as soon Croatia joined the EU, the Dalmatian coast would enjoy great European prospects regarding tourism development.

The State Secretary of the Croatian Tourism Ministry, Zdenko Micic, who led the Croatian delegation at the conference, agreed that Croatia had much to offer as regards tourism.

Guenther Verheugen, the European Commission Vice President and Commissioner responsible for Enterprise and Industry, told the news conference that Croatia was making great headway in tourism development.

Verheugen stressed that tourists who had spent their holiday in Croatia last year were not only Germans or guests from other Western European countries but also those from new EU member-states, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

This is the secret of success and it contributed to Croatia's success in tourism, he stressed.

The conference was organised by current EU president Austria, Finland and the European Commission.

Tuesday , 21 March 2006

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=28346
 

Croatia at odds with Brussels over fishing policy
 

21/03/2006

Croatia's plan to modernise its fishing fleet has run afoul of EU officials, who say it conflicts with rules governing fishing in the Adriatic.
By Kristina Cuk for Southeast European Times in Zagreb-- 21/03/06

The Croatian government is planning to build 26 fishing boats to help the struggling fishing industry. However, the idea has run afoul of EU officials, who say it is a bid to compete with neighbouring Italy, which currently enjoys a near-monopoly over fishing in the Adriatic.

With its vast fleet, Italy now catches around 90 per cent of fish in the area, while Croatia catches around 7 per cent.

Mutual fishing policy bars an increase in the Croatian fleet. Money from the EU budget assigned for the fishing industry is to be used solely for education and modernisation -- or for converting fishing boats into vessels for tourism.

However, Zagreb argues that the building of new boats amounts to reconstruction and modernisation of its antiquated fleet, not an addition per se. Moreoever, Croatian officials say, the ships would be used for fishing of small bluefish, which are not endangered in the Adriatic, and thus the project does not conflict with the EU's environmental criteria.

Strengthening Croatian fishing is a part of the Sanader administration's stated goal of strengthening the maritime component of the country's economy. At the same time, however, the government has made a pledge to observe EU principles. Once it becomes an EU member, Croatian fishermen will be subject to regulations from Brussels that stipulate the type and quantity of fish they may catch.

The main thrust of the EU's policy is to protect the fishing industry from depletion, especially in the North Sea. Some 270,000 families on EU territory make a living from fishing, and vanishing stocks threaten their livelihood, as well as endangering biodiversity.

However, the policy has repeatedly come under fire by conservationists and other opponents -- who say it continues to set unsustainable quotas and is used by some countries to protect their interests at the expense of others.

Objections to the EU policy have been voiced in Croatia, with some saying it puts the country's fishing sector in a poor position. However, a working group tasked with studying the problem concluded that the country could move ahead with modernising its fleet up until the time of its entry into the bloc.

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2006/03/21/feature-03
 

EU expansion privileged partnership, not membership

Dear all,

The Germans are now mooting 'privileged partnership' rather than membership for the so-called Western Balkans, which includes Croatia. This could be something along the lines of what is discussed for Turkey and Ukraine. (see article below)

Both Germany and France are keen to work on internal EU matters rather than expansion, seeing expansion as secondary to ironing out the EU's problems.

The European Parliament is also questioning enlargement, with a report due this year about the EU's "absorption capacity" for new states. (see second article below)

Sorry to be banging this drum for nearly a decade, but it's about time the EU stops stringing Croatia along, and about time for Croatia to get serious about development regardless of EU membership.

regards

Sanja


Merkel moots 'privileged partnership' for Balkans
17.03.2006 - 13:49 CET | By Ekrem Krasniqi and Mark Beunderman
German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested a "privileged partnership" for the western Balkan states as an option for closer ties with the EU, raising doubts over Berlin's commitment to full membership for the region.

Ms Merkel made her comments at a press conference after meeting Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa in Berlin on Wednesday (15 March), DTT-NET.COM reports.

Asked whether the western Balkans' "European perspective" could also mean something less than full membership, she said "from my side I would like to say that we should not avoid the term ‘privileged partnership’."

Ms Merkel's statement represents the first public statement by an EU leader of a loose partnership option for the region, an option that so far has only been mooted for states like Turkey and Ukraine.

It also came just days after member states struggled to find common wording for their aims towards the region after a meeting of foreign ministers last week.

In the end, the words "EU membership as ultimate goal" were only included after strong pressure from the Balkan states.

Ms Merkel said "I think the question of full membership should not be the next question at all, it is rather about political stabilisation, for which Europe should feel responsible."

"Political stabilisation can of course never mean 'never full membership', but (...) other steps are more important now," she added.

Wobbly message
But although Ms Merkel did not rule out eventual full membership, her use of the term "privileged partnership" is likely to cause concern in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo.

The term has been frequently used by Ms Merkel and other politicians for Turkey and Ukraine as an alternative to full accession.

For it part, the European Commission is urging member states to stay true to their Balkan commitments. EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn urged member states not to "go wobbly" on the goal of full EU membership for western Balkan states, just as the region enters a difficult period of talks on Kosovo’s future status.

EU leaders promised western Balkan countries that they "will become an integral part of the EU, once they meet the established criteria" at a meeting in Thessaloniki in 2003.

Berlin and Paris: deepening first
However, Germany has now joined France in saying that the union should first sort out its internal institutional problems before expanding further.

Ms Merkel said that "without a constitutional treaty, in which institutional reforms are also anchored, enlargement of the European Union is hardly imaginable."

The remark echoes similar statements from Paris.

Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said in January that "Europe has no vocation to enlarge indefinitely."

"A balance has to be found between widening and deepening and now the priority lies with deepening," the French politician stated.
Š 2006 EUobserver, All rights reserved
*****
MEPs set to issue warning over EU enlargement
15.03.2006 - 10:16 CET | By Teresa KĂźchler
MEPs in Strasbourg are set to adopt a report criticising the limitless expansion of the European Union and urging member states to take the EU's absorption capacity fully into account before taking on more countries.

A report by German Conservative MEP Elmar Brok, to be debated in Strasbourg plenary session on Wednesday (15 March), urges the commission to meet with the "legitimate concerns of the European public regarding European enlargement and integration"

The commission should submit a report by the end of this year setting out the principles defining the EU's absorption capacity, the report states.

The report is a parliament response to a commission enlargement strategy paper from last year, and it is expected to be adopted by MEPs in Strasbourg.

Mr Brok writes that "the stalemate in the ratification of the European constitution is preventing the EU from enhancing its absorption capacity", and reminds that EU member states must, before taking a final decision on new countries joining the union, ensure that adequate budgetary resources are available to allow the proper financing of the Union's policies in these countries.

If necessary, the commission should propose an alternative close relationship to all European countries which currently have no recognised "membership perspective"- a clear signal to Ukraine, notes Le Figaro.

Mr Brok also urges the EU to take into account the aspiring new member state’s ability to protect their minorities, saying an UN special envoy has described inter-ethnic relations in Kosovo, especially with regard to Serbs and Roma, as "grim".

While EU foreign ministers at a meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg over the weekend underlined that the Balkan countries were destined to enter the EU, the parliament warns member states of making promises they cannot keep.

In an annex of the report, German Socialist MEPs Klaus Hansch and Bernhard Rapkoy, estimate that it is "impossible" to integrate the former Yugoslavian states as long as there are EU soldiers stationed there.

As for Turkey, the report welcomes the country's recent decision not to prosecute Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, but denounces the further prosecution of others for the non-violent expression of their opinion.
Š 2006 EUobserver, All rights reserved
 

A Petty Hitler

By Wesley K. Clark
March 13, 2006; Page A18
The Wall Street Journal
Slobodan Milosevic's death in The Hague is a real tragedy for the international community. But most of all it will be a tragedy for the Serbs themselves. It will likely be another step in a series of historic Serb failures, martyrdom and isolation, all of which Milosevic himself grandly evoked to gain and maintain his power. I knew him as a nationalist leader and wartime adversary.
Along with the other Americans on Richard Holbrooke's 1995 Balkan peace talks mission, I spent countless hours with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. As NATO's then supreme allied commander, Europe, I haggled with Milosevic about war criminals and the Dayton Peace Agreement implementation in 1997, delivered NATO's warnings and threat in 1998, implored his cooperation in heading off renewed conflict, and then, when all else failed, I led the NATO military campaign which forced him to end ethnic cleansing and remove his troops and police from Kosovo. In 2003, I faced him again when I testified for the prosecution in his war crimes trial at The Hague.
While his death at The Hague ends his interminable trial, nothing is resolved. His death only compounds many of the difficult issues still facing the international community, Europe and Serbia itself.
In his 64 years, Milosevic was an army officer, a Communist, a bureaucrat, a banker and, above all, a Yugoslav Serb who used his skills and harsh nationalist rhetoric to parlay himself into the highest office in Yugoslavia only to then alienate and attack his fellow Yugoslav citizens. In four successive conflicts which he all lost, Milosevic used war as a means of plundering and disassembling his own country. He forced millions from their homes and caused several hundred thousands of deaths. He was rational and sometimes cunning, often a brilliant tactical negotiator but ultimately a fool of a strategist, whose reckless crimes included murder and genocide, and who has cost humanity as a whole and his own Serbs dearly.
* * *
As a young man Milosevic was a dutiful communist and an outstanding student who scored top marks in school. His mother was a teacher who encouraged his studies but kept him away from sports. He fell in love with Mira Markovic, a personal favorite of Tito, who lost her mother during World War II in still unresolved circumstances. Her partisan mother was captured by the Nazis who interrogated, tortured, confessed and then supposedly killed her. More likely she was released only to be killed as a collaborator by fellow partisans. Milosevic himself lost both his parents and an uncle to suicide. But though he clearly had a dark side, I never saw Milosevic as a suicide risk -- he was too committed to himself and to his ideas.
During the many hours of our negotiations in the summer and autumn of 1995, we dined with him, chatted with him about history and geopolitics, and talked about everything from his experiences as a young man in America to his concerns for his family. Given his gruff, commanding manner, many joked during the Dayton peace talks that he was the real Godfather. But we quickly came to think of him more appropriately as a petty Hitler, an unlawful dictator capable of malice, murder and ethnic cleansing. Any arrangement with him had to be weighed morally: for its legitimization of Milosevic as well as its value in ending a bloody conflict.
During the Dayton peace talks, all of Milosevic's "qualities" were at display: his stubborn cunning and blustering outbursts, his often grandiose dreams of Serbia as one of the seven gateways of Europe, his patent disloyalty to his fellow Serbs and transparent lies about everything from Srebrenica to his attitudes toward other nations. He smoked and drank excessively, even as he complained about his blood pressure and his health. At the Paris signature ceremony for the Dayton negotiations, Milosevic was center stage, conversing with world leaders like President Bill Clinton. But he failed to deliver on many of his promises, especially regarding indicted war criminals like former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic. By the late summer of 1997, Serb resistance to NATO-led enforcement of the peace accords was rising and we called again on Milosevic for help. But he stubbornly refused to assist us. He still held dreams of a greater Serbia and he thought he had NATO's measure.
In the spring of 1998 he unleashed the next round of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, this time turning his Special Police against a prominent Albanian family in Kosovo, killing 60 of them, including women and children. For most of that year NATO struggled to find a balanced approach, alternating negotiations with intensifying threats to head off another war in former Yugoslavia. But Milosevic foolishly believed he could defy NATO warnings and launch a broad ethnic cleansing effort with impunity.
It was another strategic miscalculation by Milosevic. NATO followed through in its threats, unleashing a 78-day, gradually intensifying air campaign and threatened ground intervention. Coupled with Russian diplomatic assistance and his indictment for war crimes, Milosevic was forced to pull his forces out of Kosovo. It was yet another blow to his vision of a greater Serbia. When he tried the next year to win re-election, his opponents in Belgrade were ready -- demanding an honest vote and his resignation. Soon he was delivered to The Hague.
Predictably, his cause of death is being disputed by some of his Serb countrymen who blame the U.N. He will surely be lionized and glorified by the radical nationalists he so nurtured.
History's longest war crimes trial will never be concluded. Milosevic's many victims and their families will be denied justice. And the Serb people themselves will have one more escape from the awful truth of the crimes under Milosevic's leadership. His death comes at a bad time.
Serbia is struggling to acknowledge its past and face its future.
Indicted war criminals like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are still at large -- most likely living under official protection. The future status of Kosovo is unresolved and Serb participation in a resolution would be helpful. Another challenge will be Montenegro's upcoming referendum on its independence. And even as Serbia looks westward for help, its future alignment is still unsettled as the Serb people struggle to recognize how badly they have been deceived and misled.
Even during Milosevic's rule, many in Serbia yearned to join the EU and work with NATO. Its economic modernization would strengthen all its neighbors, including NATO members Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Its participation as a modern state would help promote political reconciliation and development throughout the Balkans. But all this means giving up the kind of hypernationalism that Milosevic trumpeted and fanned, and for many in Serbia, this has long been a mythology they have come to believe to offset the reality of deprivations, corruption and poverty.
Milosevic's death will likely bury the truth beneath another layer of charges and countercharges. His trial had been a long-running national TV drama in Serbia. The impact there of the evidence so painstakingly presented was blunted by Milosevic's star status at home and his grandiloquent and often irrelevant argumentation.
Now there will be no conviction and Serbia's weak leaders will have to cope with yet another obstacle in re-educating and reorienting their people. His death is as much a tragedy as his life. Both in life and in death, Milosevic has deprived millions of people of justice, hope and a better future.
Mr. Clark was supreme allied commander of NATO during the 1999 Kosovo campaign and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2004.

http://securingamerica.com/node/728
www.muhajabah.com/global/
phidoux.typepad.com/phidoux/

The green light of failure
By Tim Luckhurst

The Times March 15, 2006

"Britain gave him 'a green light' to use force. On that point alone the butcher of Belgrade was horribly right."

SINCE Slobodan Milosevic died some familiar stereotypes have been revived. Like the one that Serbs wallow uncritically in myths of national superiority and live with their backs to the world. And that Britain despairs because Serbia lacks the maturity to accept Milosevic’s guilt and to surrender his henchmen Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Yet these stereotypes conceal Britain’s culpable complicity in Milosevic’s crimes. It is pleasing to remember this country’s role in the events that ousted Milosevic from power. British forces performed heroically in the liberation of Kosovo. They contributed ably to the Nato airpower that stopped the killing in Bosnia. But it was all too little far too late.

The names Major, Hurd and Rifkind are spat with venomous fury in Bosnia. They are reviled in Belgrade too by the democratic minority, who said for years that Milosevic would buckle when force was deployed against him but were dismissed in Whitehall.

When Bosnian Serb shells were creating hell in Sarajevo the Bosnian Government considered taking Britain to the International Court of Justice. British influence was being deployed to deny Bosnia its UN-mandated right to self-defence. While powerful voices in Washington demanded intervention, Douglas Hurd and Malcolm Rifkind denied Serbian guilt. To them successive wars in Croatia and Bosnia were not caused by Serbian aggression directed from Belgrade by President Milosevic. They were manifestations of the age-old Balkan instinct for violence. Ancient tribal loathings were being played out. Each faction was as bad as the others.

Mr Hurd resolutely opposed international help for tortured Bosnia. Mr Rifkind fell back on the evasion that 'the furtherance of British interests ought to be the sole object of British foreign policy'. Mr Major took their advice. Between them these three are guilty of the worst dereliction of moral duty by a British government since non-intervention guaranteed Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War.

The men and boys of Srebrenica would be alive today if Britain had supported prompt intervention. So would tens of thousands in Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia. During his trial at The Hague, Milosevic claimed Britain gave him 'a green light' to use force. On that point alone the butcher of Belgrade was horribly right.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2086138,00.html