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Looks like it's only on the outside. Serbian police reacting slowly.
Doesn't look too bad. They should extinguish it though.
No link. Just saw footage of it on our local news.
Looks like it's only on the outside. Serbian police reacting slowly.
Doesn't look too bad. They should extinguish it though.
CNN.com running a banner stating that it was protesters that broke in and set fire to the facade.
Yes that's it. While the fire didn't look too bad, the worrying part was that there was no reaction by the local police for a long while. The protesters dispersed after the police started throwing tear gas. This was a small group of protesters - not the main group of some 150.000 protesters that are currently attending mass at the main Belgrade cathedral.
There's no current video coverage of the situation on Embassy row on any of the local channels (at least not on any of their satellite feeds).
150K worth of protestors? What are they all fired up about?
Kosovo... what else
Are you serious?
Kosovo declared independence on Sunday and their independence has been recognized by quite a few western countries (USA among the first to do so).
On Saturday there were bomb threats in some shopping malls owned by a Slovenian corporation (one small bomb actually went off). Then on Sunday they destroyed the Slovenian Embassy (We're currently presiding over the EU so it was a logical first target).
The Serbian government organized a massive demonstration for today expecting a million people (there estimate is that 500k showed up) school was canceled for today and railway trips to and from Belgrade were free.
A small group of demonstrator attacked the US embassy first, but then moved to the Croatian embassy and more embassies down the street (it's popularly known as embassy row since most embassies in Belgrade are on that street).
News are coming in now that the fire in the US embassy has been extinguished. Allegedly the embassy was empty at the moment of the attack.
Correction: a Serbian journalist just said on air that 2 floors of the US embassy are burning and that firefighters are trying to extinguish it.
Well, color me a dumbass for not putting two and two together.
Well, color me a dumbass for not putting two and two together.
We tend to forget that it's not obvious to everyone how a huge a deal the secession of Kosovo is to the Serbs.
While I think they have only themselves to blame (they mistreated the Kosovo Albanians for years), I can appreciate how big of a blow it is to the Serbian nation.
In all fairness the vaste majority of prostesters did exactly what they said they would - calmly protest in the street of Belgrade.
One of the talking heads (Richard Holbrooke) on the CNN.com stream said exactly that. He was also saying that the Russians were behind the protests (i.e. inciting the extremists).
Did all the EU member nations endorse Kosovo's independence?
Yes and no.
Officially they didn't. Countries like Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece... that themselves have unresolved issues with minorities or separatist movements did not recognize the secession. But at the same time the EU voted yesterday to send both personnel and equipment into Kosovo to assist during the transition period and the decision was unanimous. So it's a case where they all agree, but for interior political reasons have to protest it. I expect those countries to quietly recognize Kosovo's independence after some time has past (ie after Kosovo's entry in the UN).
Russia is also worried about it's own separatist minorities, but I suspect they are also trying to affirm themselves as a global player and are supporting the Serbs to spite the West (possibly get some political gain out of this). It's a dangerous game, because some structures could take their support too seriously and act in a manner that they otherwise wouldn't (tonight's attack of the embassies is a good example of that).
The Serbs will do anything for Kosovo except live there.
You know the way OUR media has reported on things over there
it is a wonder anyone knows much of anything about who is
what. Seldom do they publish the fact that the Muslims are on
one side and Christians on the other. Just the words ethnic
cleansing used about a million times.
Well, the small bit of research I just did (wiki) tells me why they wont.
Religion is the most divisive ins ution in the history of man.
'Body Found' After US Embassy Riot
YahooBy Sky News SkyNews - 22 minutes ago - A body has reportedly been found in the US embassy in Belgrade after rioters set an office on fire during a massive protest against Kosovo's independence.
Serb police had not been protecting the building, which was closed and boarded up following violence earlier in the week.
Black smoke billowed out of the embassy in the capital city.
Papers and chairs were thrown out of the windows and burning doors were wedged in their frames.
One protester climbed up to the first floor of the building, ripped the Stars and Stripes off its pole and briefly put up a Serbian flag in its place.
Some rioters also jumped up and down on the embassy balcony and waved a Serbian flag, as the 1,000-strong crowd below cheered them on, shouting "Serbia, Serbia".
Is Croutons on vacation?One protester climbed up to the first floor of the building, ripped the Stars and Stripes off its pole and briefly put up a Serbian flag in its place.
In other news, the Greeks are still mad about the whole Constantinople thing.
In other news, a lot of Germans are still mad about the whole Königsberg thing.
In other news, people who burn embassies down on account of ethno-religious irredentism are barbarians who have no business being allowed in the EU.
The USA and UN have proped up 3 consecutive international war criminals , drug, traffickers, and sex slave traders as the "interim" prime ministers of Kosovo -- including the current Prime minister, who was head of the former KLA, now called KCP or something, whose "liberation army" trained with al-qaeda and recevied millions from bin-Laden for funding. The PM just recently recognized by the UN and the US is the worst of the three with clear and strong ties to bin laden -- and atrocious record of mass murder and drug smuggling of heroine to greece, Germany and the US, etc...... YET -- he's on OUR side.
We fight in Iraq for al-qaeda even though they aren't there.........
New to American politics?
I'm sure dubya will send over the forever-excellent Condi to fix up this mess quickly.
It is more complicated than people realize.
Kosovo is sacred to the Serbian people.
They should burn the German and French embassies as well. The entire ing mess since the destruction of Milosevic's government has been the responsibility of the European part of NATO's bloodthirstiness, not primarily the United States.
Recognition of their sorry-ass splinter province is the one of the silliest possible reason to start fires, which I suppose is why the fires are burning.
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