Demonstrations in Podgorica



Yesterday evening (Friday February 22) protesters filled the streets of Podgorica to denounce the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. Hoisting Serbian flags and chanting pro-Serbian slogans, demonstrators filed from all corners of the city to assemble downtown and voice their frustrations. Although, thankfully, the demonstrations did not turn violent (as in nearby Belgrade) it was certainly the largest gathering of any kind I have witnessed in Montenegro, and it was apparent that people's sentiments here are strongly against Kosovan independence.



Of course, the irony was not lost on me that, only two years ago (if that) Montenegro obtained its own independence from Serbia. Although the vote for Montenegrin independence was quite narrow (just over 55% in favor) it was not strongly contested and, today, Montenegro enjoys its status of an independent state. Why, then, should Montenegrins wish to deny Kosovo the same right?



Surely, a great deal of this has to do with the fact that many people here in Montenegro still consider themselves Serbian. They feel a great sense of patriotism for their fatherland even though they live here in Montenegro today. Many of these people are able to concede that Montenegro has a distinguished history of independent status from Serbia, and simply found themselves living in this "foreign land" after the collapse of Yugoslavia and the subsequent independence of Montenegro. Unlike Montenegro, however, they reckon that Kosovo is and always has been a part of Serbia and thus should not be split from it.



There is also an intense hatred of Albanians in Serbia and Montenegro, which most of the population of Kosovo - and certainly those Kosovans who wanted independence - are. In the minds of many Serbians and Montenegrins, Albanians are bent on expanding their nation into Serbian and Montenegrin borders (a paranoia left behind from the days of the Ottoman Empire perhaps) and they conceive those Albanians living in their countries to be the avant guard of a greater occupying force. For Albanian Kosovans to announce their independence from Serbia only confirms their worst fears.

So why are these Albanians in Kosovo, if Kosovo is traditionally Serbia? During the days of Yugoslavia, Tito allowed a number of Albanian refugees into Kosovo. Subsequently, according to the Montenegrin sentiment, these Albanians invited all of their relatives (who were inexplicably rich) to move into Kosovo and buy up all the land. Also, so the racist rhetoric goes, Albanians are want to have more babies than Serbians. ("Breeding like animals" you can almost hear.) Thus, in short time, Kosovo became dominated by people of Albanian ethnicity.



In the minds of many Montenegrin Serbs, then, Kosovo has been stolen by these Albanian refugees. For foreign nations such as the USA and the UK to support - even encourage - Kosovan independence is, for them, to be complicit with thievery. It is little wonder, then, why Serbians are angry with both Albanian Kosovans and the West.



So what is the answer? Should Serbia deny Kosovo its independence, or should Serbia suck up this insult ("This is what you get for your Milosevic years, Serbia") and embrace those who would scoff its sovereignty as a member of the EU? Should Albanian Kosovans continue to live as third-rate citizens in Serbia, a stigma forever on their heads, or should they instead demand to live as they would live in their own homes, as citizens of their own nation separate from those who would do them harm?

Ultimately, the question comes down to democracy versus national sovereignty. If you embrace democracy, if you believe that a people should be free to decide their own fates and be governed by their own laws wherever they may live, then Kosovo should be free. This is what the great majority of the people want there,and to deny them this is to deny them any basic rights of self-governance. However, if you believe that a nation has the right to defend its own borders and maintain its own sovereignty, even from those living within its borders (and perhaps especially if these people have been compassionately granted refugee status by this nation) then Kosovo should remain part of Serbia, and those Albanian Serbs living there should submit themselves to the law of the land. There is no easy answer.

What is perhaps more difficult is the precedent Kosovo's independence sets for the future. Should the Tamil Tigers also be able to declare the independence of northern Sri Lanka, despite the fact that they are widely accepted as militant invaders? Would the Tibetan government in exile be within its rights to demand the independence of McLeod Ganj from India? And what of those nations where there is a separatist sentiment from peoples who are regarded as ethnic nationals within their countries? How soon will it be before referendums for independence are held by the Caucasian Chechins in Russia, the Basque in Spain, or the Kurds in Eastern Turkey? Mustn't the US and those nations that recognized Kosovan independence recognize the independence of these regions as well, lest they be labeled hypocrites? Indeed, shouldn't the US encourage the dissolution of Iraq into three, ethnically and religiously defined zones (just as it encourages the separation of Kosovo) instead of trying to hold Iraq together?

The future of national sovereignty is in jeopardy. Yet, perhaps, this is a natural and welcome consequence of democracy. Nations have always shifted and changed their borders due to wars, treaties, and the movement of peoples throughout history. It is conceivable that national sovereignty is itself a misplaced notion that stands in the face of the natural consequences of humanity. Isn't it better, then, for the borders of nations to change as a result of the fair and free choices of the people living in an area, rather than as a result of war, conquest, or genocide?

Kosovans have made their choice. Let the world accept this choice, and the consequences that Kosovo has for the future. People must come before nations.

BELGRADE IN WINTER

One, relatively clear weekend morning I woke up early enough to stumble down to the train station and check out departures. It felt like a whim, but really I suspect it was the the thrust of a suppressed, manic need to get the hell out of this redneck farmtown, this village with delusions of cityhood, this Podgorica. I bought a ticket to Belgrade and in a few hours was rattling away the rusty tracks out of town.

Montenegro is not a bad place, it does indeed have some of the most scenic beauty of any country I've ever experienced. Sadly, none of that beauty can be found within the limits of this country's capital, Podgorica. And, too, sometimes natural beauty just makes you want to hurl. City is good. I love city. I love bustling throngs of humanity and steelglass monoliths. I love the noise and the chaos and the knowledge that there is something happening everywhere, that there are POSSIBILITIES. Hence, the need for Belgrade.

And I was not disappointed. Belgrade, while certainly no New York or London, has at least a population, tall buildings, and shopping. Belgrade has historical buildings well preserved and museums. But most importantly, Belgrade has a NIGHT LIFE.

Now, of course, coming from Podgorica, a decent nightlife is a breath of deliciously smoky blacklit air. Podgorica boasts about 20 bars, all identical, all ridiculously small and even more ridiculously overstuffed with clots of friends huddled together without hardly room to breathe, doing nothing but just standing there and talking. There is no dancing, no decent music, my god you can't even pick up a GIRL in one of these places! That's not the point of going out in Podgorica, rather you go out to be with friends. Jesus, the absurdity! Enough to make you run away home screaming where at least you can drink yourself silly with decent music, decent alcohol, and room to writhe one's elbows. But enough, you get the idea. You understand how badly a decent nightlife was needed by your humble narrator.

Belgrade offers not only an exceptional variety of clubs and bars, it also boats an underground speakeasy scene of nightclubs that you have to be in the know to find. Surely, a good sign, if the true hipsters had to move underground to enjoy themselves when the known clubs became too popular. Sadly, I did not enjoy any of these, but I have at leat a reason to revisit Belgrade again. Instead, I found a club downtown called, I think, the Academy, a decent little punkrock club which boasted two stages, a danceclub, and a bar and games section within its low, dark, graffitied halls. A welcome and exhilarating shot of culture in my void of a life here in the Balkans.

The train ride was decent as well. A night's sleeping in one of the comfortable sleeping cars the way there, a generally pleasant ride with some English speaking girls on the way back. The only problem I encountered was at the border coming through to Serbia from Montenegro. The border guard seemed rather put out that I didn't have a Serbian visa, despite the fact that visitors don't need a visa for less than three months. What was very odd, though, was that he let me into the country without stamping my passport. He tried to pull it off with as much border-guard asshole bravado as he could muster, but I could sense that the guard was genuinely confused. It brought home the fact that the new separation between the states of Sebia and Montenegro is still quite fresh, and not quite understood - even by the people who live here.

It's a tricky question, why Montenegro separated from Serbia. Most would agree that Montenegro could probably get richer on its own by exploiting its tourist resources, and that the Milosivic years did nothing to improve the image of a country associated with Serbia. However, the reason one most often hears is that Montenegro was always separate from Serbia, it was only allied with Serbia as a product of the creation of Yugoslavia. One is almost willing to accept this, until the Montenegrins start to support their claim by referencing their "different language" (I suppose a few colloquial phrases are different, but no more so than one would find between Texas and Oklahoma - would one call Texan and Oklahoman different languages then?) and their legacy of resistance to outside occupation, unlike the meek acceptance of domination displayed by their Serbian cousins (and even this notion is historically questionable. Did the Turks, for example have trouble conquering the Montenegrins because they were such feisty warriors, or did they rather just not bother going through all those damn mountains looking for them.) The invention of Montenegrin nationalism is a very fascinating study, but perhaps for someone else on another day. Suffice it to say, Montenegro and Serbia are distinct countries now, and there is still some uncertainty what that really means.

Regardless of the border problems, however, I hope to visit Belgrade again soon - hopefully when it's not so snowy! Enjoy images of snowclad Belgrade for now, then. Hopefully many more warmer pictures will follow.


View from the train















This last picture may, I think, show a building that was damaged when the city was bombed in the 90s. A chilling reminder that war and death happened here, and not too long ago. The region has moved ahead from those years remarkably, has modernized and democratized and has made apologies for the insane lapse of racism the region underwent. But there are these moments that let you know, not all the scars are healed. Hopefully, they won't open again.