Post by c0gnate on Mar 22, 2008 21:14:30 GMT -5
FROM TODAY's Bulgarian press comes a useful double reminder. The first: that public opinion barely affects western European governments when they take positions on Balkan questions. But it looks different in the immediate region.
Thus, the English language website of the Standart newspaper carries a series of reports on the reprisals that have followed Bulgaria's decision to recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state, this week. This article says Bulgarian lorry drivers have been attacked with stones as they drive through Serbia on their way to sea ports in Croatia, and claims that Serbian youths have been slashing the tyres of all vehicles with Bulgarian number plates at the Kalotina border checkpoint. Other articles on the website (which makes very clear its opposition to the recognition of Kosovo), says Bulgarian lorry drivers and coach passengers will lose large sums of money if they have to take detours round Serbia, and speculates that Serb and Russian anger will also hurt the Bulgarian tourist industry.
The second reminder? That assigning blame is a subjective business. The articles quote unnamed drivers who have had their windscreens smashed or tyres slashed by furious Serbs, and then reports that the same drivers do not blame those Serbs, but their own government for recognising Kosovo. To quote the Standart:
"They are enraged because Sofia recognized Kosovo. The windscreen of my truck is constantly bombarded with stones. It's very frightful. We do not dare stop for rest. We stop only rarely and at secured parking lots," a truck driver who travelled through Serbia told The Standart. Serbian kids cut the tires of each car with Bulgarian license plates that passes through Kalotina border checkpoint. "We have to pay dearly for our politicians' blunders," drivers told our reporter.
www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2008/03/balkan_brotherhood_under_strai.cfm
Thus, the English language website of the Standart newspaper carries a series of reports on the reprisals that have followed Bulgaria's decision to recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state, this week. This article says Bulgarian lorry drivers have been attacked with stones as they drive through Serbia on their way to sea ports in Croatia, and claims that Serbian youths have been slashing the tyres of all vehicles with Bulgarian number plates at the Kalotina border checkpoint. Other articles on the website (which makes very clear its opposition to the recognition of Kosovo), says Bulgarian lorry drivers and coach passengers will lose large sums of money if they have to take detours round Serbia, and speculates that Serb and Russian anger will also hurt the Bulgarian tourist industry.
The second reminder? That assigning blame is a subjective business. The articles quote unnamed drivers who have had their windscreens smashed or tyres slashed by furious Serbs, and then reports that the same drivers do not blame those Serbs, but their own government for recognising Kosovo. To quote the Standart:
"They are enraged because Sofia recognized Kosovo. The windscreen of my truck is constantly bombarded with stones. It's very frightful. We do not dare stop for rest. We stop only rarely and at secured parking lots," a truck driver who travelled through Serbia told The Standart. Serbian kids cut the tires of each car with Bulgarian license plates that passes through Kalotina border checkpoint. "We have to pay dearly for our politicians' blunders," drivers told our reporter.
www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2008/03/balkan_brotherhood_under_strai.cfm