Marija Ristić and Gordana AndRić

Thirteen years after a NATO air-strike killed 16 RTS em-ployees, Serbian of-ficials are facing fresh

criticism over their failure to address the suspicion that lives were deliber-ately put at risk.

Campaigners want to examine whether the government of the time, led by Slobodan Milošević, ignored warnings of an attack on the state broadcaster because it intended to use civilian casualties as propaganda against NATO.

The relatives of those killed in the bombing of April 23rd 1999 asked for an inquiry more than five years ago, with the backing of legal activ-ists and NGOs.

However, despite recent assur-ances by officials, no trial date has been set. BIRN has also uncovered uncertainty over who is in charge of prosecuting the case, casting doubt

on whether a preliminary investiga-tion has made any progress.

The campaigners now fear time is running out for judicial action, with the statute of limitations set to ex-pire in two years’ time. They have accused the authorities of impeding their efforts to hold an inquiry.

Their suspicions have been fu-elled by reports of an internal memo which supposedly confirmed that defence officials knew beforehand of plans to target the RTS build-ing. However, the defence ministry has denied the existence of any such document.

“There is no political will to deal with these political murders,” Žanka Stojanović, the mother of one of the victims of the bombing, told BIRN.

Leaders from Milošević’s Socialist Party of Serbia, SPS, are key players

Searching for buried truth at RTS

Roma eviction sullies Belgrade’s image

Subscriptions +381 11 3346035 www.BelgradeInsight.comsubscription@birn.eu.com

The authorities support commemorations of the RTS attack, but cannot lay to rest doubts over the deaths. Photo by Beta

Delays and “missing” documents damage hopes for an official inquiry into NATO attack on state broadcaster.

Here’s one battleship

that deserves to sink

page 10

La Piazza: Italian eatery

in the heart of the city

page 11

Belgrade InsIght Is puBlIshed By

‘Hidden’ taxes hinder

investment in Serbia

page 8 1 Friday • June 13 • 2008NEWS NEWS

Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008

Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits SocialistsWhile younger Socialists support joining a new, pro-EU government, old Milosevic loyalists threaten revolt over the prospect.

EDITOR’S WORD

Political PredictabilityBy Mark R. Pullen

Many of us who have experi-enced numerous Serbian elections rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election re-sults and post-election moves.

We feel in-the-know because our experience of elections in Ser-bia has shown us that (a.) no single party or coalition will ever gain the majority required to form a govern-ment, and (b.) political negotiations will never be quickly concluded.

Even when the Democrats achieved their surprising result at last month’s general election, it quickly became clear that the re-sult was actually more-or-less the same as every other election result in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive.

This is likely to continue as long as Serbia’s politicians form new political parties every time they disagree with their current party leader (there are currently 342 reg-istered political parties in Serbia).

Drawn-out negotiations are also the norm. One Belgrade-based Ambassador recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of urgency among Serbian politicians. “The country is at a standstill and I don’t understand their logic. If they are so eager to progress towards the EU and en-courage investors, how come they go home at 5pm sharp and don’t work weekends?”

Surely the situation is urgent enough to warrant a little overtime.

Costs Mounting

Economists are warning that pro-longed uncertainty over Serbia’s

future could scare off investors, lead to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come.

“This year has been lost, from the standpoint of economic policy,” says Stojan Stamenkovic of the Econom-ics Institute in Belgrade.

Football Rebellion

While the football world watch-es events unfold at the Euro-

pean Championships in Austria and Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing a soccer rebellion, led by fans, play-ers and former stars who are enraged by what they see as corrupt leaders of the country’s football association leaders.

By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade

Tense negotiations on a new gov-ernment have divided the ranks

of the Socialist Party, which holds the balance of power between the main blocs and has yet to announce which side they will support.

“It looks as if the Socialists will move towards a government led by the Democrats,” political analyst Mi-lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen-tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such a move might provoke deeper divi-sions and even split the party.”

Simultaneous negotiations held with the pro-European and national-ist blocs have drawn attention to a deep rift inside the Socialists.

This divides “old-timers” loyal

to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euro-pean social democrat organisation.

After eight years of stagnation, the Socialists returned to centre stage after winning 20 of the 250 seats in parliament in the May 11 elections.

With the pro-European and nation-alist blocs almost evenly matched, the Socialists now have the final say on the fate of the country.

Nikolic believes the Socialists, led by Ivica Dacic, will come over to Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic de-sire to ensure their political survival.

“The group of younger Socialists gathered around Dacic seems to be in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding that these reformists believe the party

faces extinction unless it changes. However, a strong current also

flows in the opposite direction, led by party veterans enraged by the prospect of a deal with Tadic.

Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of the party, recently warned of a crisis if Dacic opts for the pro-European bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ “nat-ural” ideological partners.

Markovic, a prominent supporter of Milosevic during the 1990s, is seen as representative of the “old-timers” in the party who want to stay true to the former regime’s policies, even though these almost ruined the Socialists for good.

Some younger Socialist officials have voiced frustration over the con-tinuing impasse within their own

party over which way to turn. “The situation in the party seems

extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lag-gards that we need to move out of Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist Party official complained.

“Dacic will eventually side with Tadic in a bid to guide his party into the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many offi-cials may oppose that move.”

Nikolic agreed: “The question is will the party split or will the ‘old-timers’ back down,” he noted.

Fearing they might not cross the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parlia-ment, the Socialists teamed up with the Association of Pensioners and the United Serbia Party, led by business-man Dragan Markovic “Palma”.

Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkoba-bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats.

The reported price is the post of deputy PM, with a brief in charge of security for the Socialist leader.

In addition, the Socialists are bar-gaining for other ministries, includ-ing capital investments, Kosovo and education, Belgrade media reported.

Tadic has denied talk of horse-trading with the Socialists, maintain-ing that ministries would go only to those committed to working for the government’s “strategic goal”.

At the same time, Dacic seems re-luctant to call off negotiations with the nationalists.

“If we don’t reach an agreement with the DSS and Radicals, the par-ty leadership will decide on future steps”, Dacic announced, following the first session of country’s new par-liament on Wednesday.Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com)

Business InsightNeighbourhood Matters

Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker

page 5page 10

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Issue No. 114 Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012

FreeCopy

Mass eviction of Roma families from capital’s Belville settlement casts poor light on Serbia’s respect for international laws on human rights.

Romania’s new leader battles temptation to spend

Marian ChiRiAC

Romania’s new prime minis ter -des ignate , Victor Ponta, faces a long list of economic challenges after having

named his cabinet on May 1st.Ponta said his broad aim was to con-

tinue the country’s existing economic policy while easing the burden of aus-terity on the population, boosting eco-nomic growth and creating jobs.

“Our political and economic vision will ensure predictability and boost job creation in Romania,” he said.

“This is a special government de-signed for a special times. [But] It has [only] a limited mandate, until the parliamentary elections in Novem-ber,” he noted.

Ponta, 40, is a card-carrying left-ist. A jurist by formation and a big fan of car racing, he is a declared fan of the Latin American revolutionary and close Castro ally, Che Guevara.

But the new governing Social Lib-eral Union, USL, is not only made up of Ponta’s Social Democrats. It also includes Liberal and Conserva-tive groupings.

The USL toppled the two-month-old centrist government in a vote of no-confidence on April 27th, seizing on mounting popular discontent with tough austerity policies.

Continued on pages 2 - 3

Continued on pages 6 - 7

With an election due in autumn, the new interim premier will have a hard task delivering on his pledge to reduce the burden of austerity while retaining the confidence of Romania’s creditors.

Gordana AndRić

More than a thou-sand people have quietly packed their belongings and got on buses

that drove them far from their old homes in Belgrade in the last few days.

At least half were not sure where they were being taken.

In a drive to clean up the city, the Belgrade authorities evicted about 250 Roma families from the informal settlement in New Belgrade called Belville on April 26th. The families were onlzy informed they were being taken away two days earlier.

About 110 of the families - either official residents of the capital or with the status of Kosovo refugees - were relocated to metal container homes in suburbs far from the city centre.

Another 112 families were sent back to their places of origin, mainly in southern Serbia.

“My family got to go to Makiš in a

settlement that’s in the middle of no-where,” one Roma said.

“Six of us will share one metal con-tainer. I don’t want to go but do I have a choice? No. It’s like we are not hu-man. I am Roma and I am a human being and I am a citizen of Serbia.”

Continued on page 4

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 20122 3

in the case are partly down to “the fact that some people who were working during the war are still ac-tive in the army and in politics”.

While officials from the SPS did not respond to BIRN’s request for comment, the defence ministry in-sists it is co-operating over the case. “The ministry has submitted all doc-uments to the prosecutor and now the case is in the hands of the ju-diciary,” a spokesperson told BIRN.

The public prosecutor’s office also recently said it had received the documents from the ministry. The statement by Tomo Zorić, a spokes-man, was the first official confirma-tion from the prosecutor’s office that it was looking into the RTS case. It was issued in April, just before the 13th anniversary of the NATO strike – and some five years after the pros-ecutor was first presented with evi-dence by the campaigners.

The families of the victims doubt whether their case will reach a court before the statute of limitations ex-pires in 2014.

“In 2006, Zorić said the prosecu-tor would look into the case – and nothing happened. And now we are in 2012 and we hear the same thing,” said Stojanović, the mother of one of the people killed in the bombing.

“We have spent the last ten months having discussions in the of-fice of the prosecutor for organised

crime,” she told BIRN. “There are no new details in this case. There is only a tonne of old evidence that no one has followed up.”

However, doubts remain over which prosecutor is managing the RTS case, or indeed, whether it is being managed at all.

The special court for organised crime, which liaises with the pros-ecutor in the same field, said it had not received any information on the case since the end of the Milanović trial.

Maja Kovačević Tomić, a spokes-woman for the court, told BIRN that while all investigations were handled primarily by the prosecu-tor, “what I can say is that we would know if the case was being investi-gated”.

Zorić also told BIRN he did not know which prosecutor was in charge of the case. “Maybe they are doing it together,” he said. He was also unable to confirm whether the material handed over by the minis-try included the full contents of file number 466.

“I don’t know exactly what docu-ments have been sent by the defence ministry, but I do know they sent us everything,” he said.

In an interview with Tanjug news agency on April 6th, Zorić sought to allay concerns that time was run-ning out to bring a prosecution.

“Determining the truth is a prior-ity for the prosecutor’s office and we will take further steps. The office is taking care about time limits,” he said. He added that there was “no fear” that the case would expire un-der the statute of limitations.

Advanced knowledge

The families’ campaign for an in-vestigation has been championed by several other groups in recent years, including a Serbian independent journalists’ association and NGOs such as the Humanitarian Law Cen-tre and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. The European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, Jelko Kacin, also recently sent a let-

ter to the defence minister, urging an investigation into the deaths at RTS.

Colonel Đorović, the military official who gathered evidence for the Milanović trial, is certain that the truth behind the deaths of the 16 RTS employees will be revealed. “One day, someone will be held re-sponsible for what happened that night and for all that followed,” he told BIRN.

Several claims made by top Serbi-an officials suggest they had advance knowledge of NATO’s bombing plans.

Momir Bulatović, the former president of Yugoslavia, wrote in his book, Rules of Silence, of listening to an intercepted communication between NATO pilots during a visit to a Serbian command centre.

Colonel Momir Stojanović, a for-mer head of military security, told the Nedeljni Telegraf newspaper in 2003 that his team was able to stay abreast of NATO’s plans.

“We knew when the bombard-ment would start, how it would go

on, what targets NATO would hit. We informed the army and state leadership about this all the time,” he was quoted as saying.

Amateur radio operators in Ser-bia were also able to pick up NATO communications and pass them on to the authorities. Numerous build-ings were evacuated on time. The offices of TV Vojvodina in Novi Sad

were hit by NATO on April 4th, after all its employees had left.

The Ušće business complex in Belgrade was bombed on April 21st.

Although it had not been seen as a possible target, the building was evacuated before the raid. NATO also bombed Milošević’s residence on April 22nd. The president was not there at the time.

Serbia condemnS Limaj acquittaL aS ‘ShamefuL’May 3rd | Večernje Novosti

Serbia’s Prosecutor for War Crimes has slated the May 2nd decision of the Pristina District Court that

declared Fatmir Limaj, vice-president of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters not guilty of commit-ting war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war at the Klečka detention camp in 1999.

nato openS doorS for SerbiaMay 1st| Blic

NATO is prepared to deepen its cooperation with Serbia if Belgrade continues its Euro-Atlantic

integration process following upcoming elections, announced Elizabeth Sherwood Randall, special as-sistant to U.S. President Barack Obama.

dutch frieSLand campina buyS imLek, mLekara SuboticaApril 27th| Politika

Serbia’s Competition Commission approved Neth-erland’s dairy giant Friesland Campina’s takeover

of Serbia’s Imlek and Mlekara Subotica dairies from private equity firm Salford Capital. Imlek and Mlekara Subotica generate a combined annual turnover of around €270 million. Speaking in February, prior to the purchase, Campina representatives said that Imlek’s “strong position” on the Serbian retail market would provide the Dutch company with “an attractive entry point” into western Balkans and neighbouring markets.

SerbS to vote on generaL, preSidentiaL, LocaL and provinciaL eLectionS

More than seven million Serbian citizens will vote in general, presidential, local and provincial

elections on May 6th. While it’s a crucial day for the government and local self-governments, Serbia will only elect a new president following a second round of presidential elections scheduled for May 20th.

ebrd to eLect new preSident

The 65 country shareholders of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, will

vote on a new president at the bank’s annual meet-ing in mid May. One of five candidates for the post is Serbia’s former deputy prime minister, Božidar Đelić. Đelić, currently a member of the ruling Democratic Party, has been a minister in the Serbian government twice. From 2001 to 2003 he was finance minister and from 2008 to 2011 he served as minister for science and deputy prime minister.

Serbia to renovate four main pubLic cLinicS

Serbia will announce a public call for the renova-tion of four main public clinics in Belgrade, Novi

Sad, Niš and Kragujevac in May. The works are to be carried out by year’s end 2015 and will cost about €200 million, to be financed from the state budget and a loan from the European Investment Bank, EIB.

PreSS round-uP ComIng uP

serbiaserbiaContinued from page 1

in the current coalition government, whose term expires before elections this month.

While the SPS did not answer BIRN’s calls for comment, the de-fence ministry has said it is co-oper-ating fully with prosecutors and has passed on to them all material that is relevant to the inquiry.

War crime allegations

The attack on the RTS build-ing was one of the most controver-sial strikes during NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign. The alliance went to war against Belgrade when Milošević refused to back down over the province of Kosovo, where his security forces had been accused of

persecuting the ethnic Albanian ma-jority.

According to Serbian official data, the NATO campaign killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people, including 89 children. About 120 people were working in the RTS building on the night that it was bombed. Of the 16 who died, most were production staff.

Describing RTS as Milošević’s “ministry of lies”, NATO said the broadcaster had been a legitimate target because it produced propa-ganda in support of the regime.

Serbian officials condemned the attack as a war crime. Amnesty In-ternational also said the alliance had failed to abide by the laws of war in its targeting of a civilian institution.

Soon after the bombing campaign ended, the families of the people killed in the RTS building accused Milošević of “sacrificing” lives in order to score propaganda points against NATO.

Milošević was overthrown amid street protests in 2000. In 2002, the former director of RTS, Dragoljub Milanović, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for failing to carry out an order to evacuate the broad-caster’s offices.

The relatives of the dead, and the NGOs, who had campaigned along with them, were not satisfied with the verdict. They argued that Milanović was effectively a scape-goat, as he would not have acted against the wishes of superiors who were known to exercise direct influ-ence over RTS.

Over the last decade, the war crimes trials of Milosevic and his allies at The Hague have repeatedly cited their tight control over state institutions such as RTS.

Dispute over File 466

The campaigners’ hopes were bol-stered by reports that a document, held by the defence ministry, proved that the Serbian authorities had ample warning of the attack on the RTS building.

The claim was made by Colonel Lakić Đorović, a legal officer from the military who was tasked with gathering evidence for the Milanović trial. He said a certain file, num-bered 466, contained papers show-ing that an army command centre had overheard NATO pilots’ plans and passed the information to their headquarters.

However, the defence ministry de-nied the existence of any such docu-

ment, in response to a request by an information commissioner and by the families of the dead. The min-istry also published several papers which it said were the entire con-tents of file number 466.

In an interview with BIRN in April, Đorović insisted he had seen the key documents. “I gathered the file and marked it myself. I have not made a mistake. I know what is in it. I know where it lies in the ministry,” he said.

Campaigners say they have yet to receive a response to their requests for the key documents. The requests were submitted under freedom-of-information laws.

“There is no doubt that these doc-uments [file 466] exist,” said Mi-lan Antonijević from the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, YU-KOM, one of the NGOs working on behalf of the families of the dead.

Ticking clock

Some campaigners suspect that politicians who are currently in power are obstructing their quest for the truth. The outgoing coalition government includes Milošević’s old party, SPS.

According to Jelena Milić from the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Stud-ies, another NGO that is aiding the families of RTS victims, the delays

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“There is no doubt

that these documents

[file 466] exist.”

Milan Antonijević, the Lawyers’ Committee

for Human Rights

“determining the truth is a

priority for the prosecutor’s

office and we will take

further steps.”

Tomo Zorić, spokesperson for the

Prosecutor’s Office

Bereaved mother Žanka Stojanović claims there is a lack of political will. Photo by Beta

Jelena Milić of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies (centre) says that delays in this case are partly due to individuals still active in the army and politics. Photo by Media Centre Belgrade

A simple granite memorial commemorates the 16 deaths caused by NATO’s bombing of RTS HQ. Photo by Beta

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 20124 5

Chris Farmer

What happened to the friendly neighbourhood postman?

When I was growing up, the mail used to be delivered every morning at around ten. Whenever I was home it was always a big deal to meet the postman and see what he would bring. If I remember correctly, we all knew our postman’s name. He was a real person and would sometimes stop to chat, drink a cup of coffee or shoot the breeze with us before moving along to the next house. Come to think of it, it is little wonder that postmen tend to go crazy and shoot people: too much caffeine.The postman’s bag was always full of promise. Inside were letters from family and friends, catalogues from mail-order companies, postcards from holiday destinations and anything else on paper which needed transporting from Point A to Point B. At Christmas time the postman was the vital link be-tween us children and Santa Claus, as we confided our Christmas wishes and professions of good behaviour into a letter and addressed it to Santa Claus, North Pole, bez broja.And in the middle of this, the postman came every day as we waited for a response to our letters. Sometimes he would give me a sympathetic smile as if to say, “Sorry, nothing yet.” But we knew he would be back tomorrow. There was something special in the anticipation of a letter.Today, we do not have to wait for anything. Email carries our thoughts across oceans and continents in the blink of an electronic eye. We no longer set aside time to “catch up on our correspondence.” Often we dash off half-sentences and symbols (such as the ubiquitous and somewhat annoying punctuation smiley faces :) or deeply grieving sad faces :( in order to convey emotional states). We do not bother with dictionaries as our email client usually relies on Microsoft to correct our spelling. In business, the usual etiquette is to send a response to email within 24 hours of receipt, but often it goes much faster. An exchange of contracts used to take anywhere up to a month just for transit – now it can be done in a minute or less. And with friends, even email is not fast enough anymore. IM exchanges are instantaneous and replace the need for composition. Today the postman is a stranger to us. He only brings us news from In-fostan, from Telekom Srbija and EPS. He does not stop to chat anymore and risk becoming the object of rage at the monthly increases in the bills he brings. And Santa Claus can be reached at www.santaclaus.com. I think we should take a minute and meet the postman again, humanize him again, offer him some (decaf-feinated) coffee.Maybe he has a Twitter account…

Christen Bradley Farmer is founder and president of MACH IV Consulting. Farmer also regularly shares his observations on

life Serbia in Politika daily, LivingIn Bel-grade.com, and in his B92.net VIP blog.

You’ve Got Mail C

onsu

mer

Wat

ch

belgradebelgrade

Voters face array of choices on election day

Little relief for Belgrade drivers

Continued from page 1

More than 1.5 mil-lion Belgraders who are eligible to vote will choose a new city government in

1,172 polling stations on May 6th.Miloš Todorović, secretary of the

city’s Election Committee, said that the ballots will be on white paper and that citizens will choose between 13 candidates’ lists.

The list of candidates was conclud-ed at midnight on April 20th, when the deadline expired for parties to submit their lists.

The first on the ballots is the list of the Democratic Party and the city’s current mayor, Dragan Đilas. The second is the Serbian Radical Party, followed by United Regions of Serbia, while the Liberal Democratic Party is under number four.

The Serbian Progressive Party is fifth, the Democratic Party of Serbia sixth, while the Socialist Party of Ser-bia is seventh.

After the Socialists, five smaller par-ties will try to pass the five per cent threshold; the Group of Citizens Movement of Suburban Municipali-

ties is in eighth place, the Movement of Workers and Peasants is ninth, New Social Democracy Belgrade is tenth, Dveri is 11th, the Communist Party is 12th and the Social Democratic Union is 13th.

In Belgrade the elections are being held on two levels, as the city is di-vided into 17 municipalities. Along with general, presidential and local elections, Belgraders will also vote for municipal assemblies.

As the assemblies of two munici-palities, Zemun and Voždovac, were formed in 2009 and 2010, elections

for assemblies in these two munici-palities will not be held along with the other 15 on May 6th.

The mayor and the presidents of the municipalities are elected by the mu-nicipal and city assemblies.

Seats are awarded through a party-list proportional representation sys-tem with a five per cent threshold for all but ethnic minority parties and with every third candidate on the lists having to be a member of the less rep-resented gender.

The Belgrade assembly has 110 members serving a four-year mandate.

A new parking zone with a three-hour time limit in the Belgrade municipal-ity of Vračar will start working on May 10th,

when the city will start charging for parking in the area.

The so-called green zone, with about 2,300 parking spaces, is bordered by the streets Bulevar oslobođenja, Sklerlice-va, Bore Stankovića, Mačvanska, Cara Nikolaja II, Mileševska, Žička, Grčića Milenka and Južni bulevar.

One hour in the zone costs 31 di-nars [€0.3], while residents of streets in the zone have the privilege of parking without a time limit.

Tickets for residents cost 457 dinars [€4.5] a month for individuals and 4,106 dinars [€45] for companies.

Although drivers do not see the new parking zone with charges as good news, the opening of a new parking

garage in Dorćol is welcome.As it is hard to find a parking space

in the city centre at any time of the day, Belgraders welcome the new parking garage with 250 parking places near Botanical garden.

The underground garage in Vojvode Dobrnjca Street started working on April 26th.

“In the last two decades there was just one new underground garage, in Pionirski park, so these garages are especially important for those areas where a parking place is considered a real treasure,” said Mayor Đilas at the opening.

An hour in the garage costs 50 dinars [€0.5], while the whole day costs 6,875 dinars [€68]. Privileged tickets for resi-dents of nearby streets cost 2,200 di-nars [€22] per month, while tickets for those who work in the area cost 4,000 [€40] per month.

Belgrade voters to be spoilt for choice. Photo by Beta

Photo by Beta

Belgraders will have 13 choices on their local election ballots.

Although drivers welcome the new parking garage with 250 spaces, the city’s decision to start charging for parking in Vračar is less of a cause for celebration.

As he is being sent to Makiš, a settle-ment some 40 minutes far from the city centre, he is comparatively lucky.

A dozen other families were sent to Dren, a settlement some 20 kilometres from Belgrade. Most had no idea where they were going, as no one had ex-plained to them where Dren actually is.

“That settlement is terrible. You go off from the main road, turn left and enter a swamp,” Danilo Ćurčić from the NGO Praxis, which monitored the eviction, said.

“One part of the swamp is dried and they have put containers there. It is in a Belgrade municipality, but it is not Belgrade. It’s an hour from the city,” he added.

“I don’t know what these people can do for work there.”

Families sent back to other cities across Serbia haven’t even been provided with metal containers, nor did they all know where they were going.

“I don’t know, I think it’s in Bornik

and I think mum and dad are from there, but they don’t know where we are going to sleep,” one eight-year-old boy said, mispronouncing the town where he is being sent.

His grandfather, a thin Roma in an old but clean suit and hat, helplessly raised his hands in the air and shrugged, as if he had nothing to add.

About 40 families are supposed to go to Bojnik, one of the poorest munici-palities in southern Serbia. But six of the families never got on the buses that carried the other families to this distant town. Almost all who went said they were not planning to stay.

“I left Bojnik as I did not have any-

thing to do there and couldn’t earn any money,” said 45-year-old Sefik.

“Nothing has changed; there is no way I’ll be able to support my family in Bojnik.”

Representatives of the city in charge of the eviction told the families being sent from Belgrade that they will be pro-vided with a one-time grant of 20,000 dinars [€200].

They said the local authorities where they have been sent would inform them about their prospects for accommoda-tion and jobs.

But families from Belville were not consulted prior to their eviction. They also had no access to legal aid. Human

rights NGOs say that the metal con-tainers are substandard.

“By law even prisoners are entitled to four square feet of space, while six members of one family from Belville are put in a metal container measuring 15 square metres,” Ćurčić from Praxis said.

Belgrade Mayor Dragan Đilas, who was also present at the eviction, said the authorities aimed to improve con-ditions both for the Roma and their neighbours.

“This is a question of law and respect of the rules in Belgrade and anyone who does not comply will be penalised,” Đilas said.

The Belville operation is the 17th forced eviction in Belgrade since 2009. According to Amnesty International, none has been conducted with due re-spect for human rights.

“The Serbian government is flagrantly violating international law by allowing the Belgrade city authorities to carry out this eviction,” John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Director, said.

Both Amnesty and local NGOs maintain that the evictions conducted by Belgrade authorities are not a per-

manent solution to the problem. Although the Belgrade authorities

say they cannot spend money on social housing for Roma families while many other Belgraders lack apartments, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights says providing social housing is, in fact, cheaper than metal containers.

“A simple calculation shows that so-cial housing for about 100 Belville fami-lies would cost about half of a million euro while the city paid about a million for the metal containers,” the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights said.

“Containers also can’t be used forever and in two or three years they will be useless.”

NGOs say the government should adopt an action plan or a law that would set better standards for such resettlements.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, has launched an initiative that aim to outlaw forced evictions.

“We reiterate our call for a law which would prohibit forced evictions and stipulate safeguards for all evictions to prevent the blatant breach of interna-tional law we have seen again in Bel-ville,” wrote Amnesty after the carrzing out of the eviction operation.

Roma eviction sullies Belgrade’s image

Families struggle to cope with the latest forced evictions from this New Belgrade settlement.

Photos by Beta

“Six of us will share one metal

container. I don’t want to go but do I have a choice?

no. It’s like we are not human. I am roma and

I am a human being and I am a

citizen of Serbia.”

HIdden Belgrade

Anyone opting to cross Brankov Bridge on foot over the next couple of weeks will have

the chance to see Belgrade smiling at them. That’s because the grass along the riverbank has been mowed in the shape of smiling faces as part of a project organised by eco-art group Arijadnina nit that aims to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 20126 7

Macedonia police arrest 20 over Skopje murders

Police swooped on 20 alleged radical Muslims on May 1st

on suspicion of involvement in the murders of five young men in Skopje on April 12th. Police said the men, some of whom are Macedonian nationals, were motivated by a desire to spread fear in the country. They will be charged with terrorism. The bodies of four victims, all aged between 18 and 20, were discovered on the northern outskirts of the capital. All had gunshot wounds. The body of 45-year-old Borce Stevkovski was a short distance away from the rest.

New Romanian PM announces cabinet

Romania’s Prime Minister-elect, Victor Ponta, presented

his new cabinet on May 1st. It is expected to gain the backing of the country’s parliament on May 7th. The government’s 20 cabinet seats have been split between the major parties of the Social Liberal Union, USL, coalition. The new government aims to maintain economic continuity while also boosting jobs. General elections will be held this autumn. The government of former Prime Minister Ungureanu fell on April 27th after only 78 days in office.

Croatia’s Sanader faces new embezzlement probe

Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is now under

investigation for embezzlement in relation to an office building in Zagreb, his lawyers said on April 30th. It is not clear when he will be questioned over this case. Sanader and two other men are suspected of irregularities in the purchase of an office building for €3.5 million. Sanader, Croatian PM from 2003 to 2009, is currently on trial together with seven other HDZ party officials for allegedly illegally drawing millions of euros from public firms and enterprises to support a “slush fund”.

Montenegro sells bankrupt steel mill to Turkey

Montenegro sold its bankrupt Željezara steel mill in Nikšić

to Turkish metals company Toscelik Profil ve Sac Endustrisi AS for €15.1 million on May 1st. The mill was declared bankrupt last year, with debts of some €193 million. Two previous tenders for the company failed to attract any bidders. The government this year took on debts of €32 million from the steel mill and another €132 million from the country’s aluminium producer Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica, KAP. Taking on the debts forced Montenegro to downgrade its growth forecast from two per cent to 0.5 per cent in 2012.

Albania indicts four over protester killings

A former head of Albania’s Re-publican Guard, General Ndrea

Prendi, and former chief of staff of a special unit of the Republican Guard, Agim Luppo, have been indicted along with two other officials for the murders of three protestors in 2011, the wounding of two others and concealing evi-dence. On January 21st 2011 sev-eral hundred opposition marchers attacked a police barricade set up to protect Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s office. The subsequent riots saw four protestors killed and dozens wounded.

reg

ion

in b

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regiONalregiONalContinued from page 1

Romania’s new leader battles temptation to spend

Montenegro veterans face ‘pact of silence’

Milena Milošević

Montenegro’s war veterans say they have become an awkward embar-rassment to the

authorities. Standing in front of the Army building in Nikšić, Slobodan Žugić, who fought in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, speaks of “how unfairly and unprofessionally veter-ans are treated.”

He says that although he survived the war, he is psychologically devastated.

Another veteran, Desimir Hajvaz, points out that although the United States lost the war in Vietnam “its soldiers were not humiliated” as they have been.

A soldier in the old Yugoslav Army, the JNA, Hajvaz fought in the 1992-5 war in Bosnia and Her-zegovina and was injured in a shell explosion. In 1999 he fought again during the NATO bombing of Yu-goslavia.

Today Hajvaz suffers from em-physema, spinal injuries and thyroid problems, the result, he says, of his in-juries in Bosnia and of radiation from NATO bombing. His monthly pen-sion is only €100, which he receives

from the state as a disabled veteran.But Hajvaz says the extent of his

disability was not properly assessed.“The commission assessed my level

of disability as 60 per cent,” he ex-plains. “But the Military Academy in Belgrade told me that it should be as-sessed as at least 80 per cent, because my lung condition cannot be treated by surgery or any kind of drugs.”

Pact of Silence?Radan Nikolić, chairman of the

Montenegrin Association of 1990s Veterans, argues that the people he represents were sent to war by the state, but that their problems have become a taboo subject.

He says both government and op-position observe a “pact of silence” on veteran issues.

Although the small republic avoid-ed the harshest consequences of Yu-goslavia’s dissolution, its 35,000 JNA veterans constitute a sizeable group in a population of just 620,000.

But “war veterans have a negative image, which is the result of a politi-cal deal between Serbia and Croatia which assigned all the guilt for the wars of the 1990s on the former JNA and Serbia,” Nikolić claims.

Montenegrin reservists took part in the JNA war against newly inde-pendent Croatia in the early 1990s.

But Nikolić recalls that Stjepan Mesić, former president of Croatia, formally stated in 2004 that Croatia and Montenegro had “never fought against each other”.

Partly as a result of such gestures, Nikolić says, “Montenegrin officials behave as if the 35,000 veterans from the 1990s do not live here.”

In Croatia, by contrast, veterans receive a range of welfare benefits, as well as enjoying sympathetic media coverage.

The Croatia-Montenegro rap-prochement began when Monte-negro consciously distanced itself from Serbia and took steps toward regional reconciliation – a process that gained extra momentum when it declared independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montene-gro in 2006.

In 2000, the government formally apologised to Croats for the suffer-ing and losses that Montenegrin soldiers had caused them, especially in the area of Dubrovnik, which is not far from Montenegro and was besieged by JNA forces.A good law badly appliedUnder Montenegro’s Law on the

Rights of War Veterans and Dis-abled Persons, veterans from the 1990s, apart from bereaved families or those disabled in combat, are not entitled to “special treatment”.

Thus, only 254 veterans from this period are entitled to receive state assistance on grounds of disability, the Labour and Welfare Ministry says. Nikolić says that only 23 se-riously injured veterans receive ad-equate assistance.

He also argues that while the law is reasonable in theory, its imple-mentation is not.

The “rigorous attitude” of the as-sessment commission works against the interests of veterans, he says.

“Many sick people were not giv-en the status of disabled veterans,” according to Nikolic. “And many suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Montenegro is the only country in the region that has not addressed this issue.”

Hajvaz agrees. “The psychological consequences hurt more than physi-cal injuries,” he says.

“But the commission does not deal with that. Even today, I wake up in the night, partly because my chest hurts and I can’t breathe. Then the sweating begins. It’s stress. I have to use medication regularly.”

Different conflictsSociologist Srđan Vukadinović

says the mobilisation was orches-trated by the Milošević regime, not the pliant Montenegrin elite.

“The elite point out that after 1997 they moved away from Milošević. So, if they spoke openly about the 1990s

veterans, they would be drawn back into issues related to the war – and that’s something they want to wash their hands of,” he says.

By contrast, World War Two vet-erans, “have preserved their rights, acquired under the old federal [Yu-goslav] legislation,” Nikolić says. “They receive a veteran’s allowance, while none of us do.”

Vukadinović suggests that differ-ent treatment reflects the differences between the two conflicts.

“In World War Two, we were fighting against a foreign enemy, a huge empire, [Germany] while in the 1990s the fighting was among ourselves [among former Yugo-slavs],” he says.

He is not that sympathetic to the veterans’ cause, saying that “it should be openly stated that most of them joined the army in the 1990s because they expected some reward.”

Nikolić rejects this, insisting that the mass response to mobilisation in Montenegro in 1991 was a reflection of the country’s martial traditions and unfolding events in Croatia.

The government cut civil servants’ wages by 25 per cent in July 2010, while thousands of state jobs were axed and VAT was increased by 5 per cent to 24 per cent.

Falling wages and the effects of the austerity measures prompted thou-sands of people to take to the streets in January and February, demanding the resignation of both the govern-ment and President Traian Basescu.

Emil Boc’s cabinet survived 10 no-confidence votes before falling on February 6th. Basescu then nominat-ed Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, head of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, SIE, hoping a fresh face might turn mat-ters around. But Ungureanu’s govern-ment ruled for only 78 days.

The new government, made up of politicians from the USL and some independents, faces many dilemmas.

“Although they’re expected to gain parliamentary backing on May 7th, months of instability may lie ahead of the autumn elections,” political ana-lyst Dan Pavel noted.

“The main question is whether Ro-mania has the will to continue imple-menting measures needed to keep the IMF precautionary credit line on track,” he added.

“The new government has to pro-duce a credible programme of public policy initiatives, tackle corruption at all levels and get the country mov-ing forward,” economic analyst Ilie Serbanescu said.

“It has to ease economic burdens on people, but at the same time can’t just drop the austerity measures agreed with the IMF and the EU,” he added.

Ahead of the presentation of his cab-inet, Ponta met IMF representatives hoping to persuade Romania’s interna-tional creditors of his will to maintain “continuity” in economic policy.

However, he sounded an uncertain note on the subject.

“My cabinet will respect all the international agreements agreed by the previous governments but some of the financial and economic aspects should be re-negotiated to ease the austerity burden on the population, boost economic growth and create jobs,” he said.

The IMF and European Commis-

sion said they expected Romania to “continue to observe its economic policy commitments to its interna-tional partners”.

Romania depends on a €20 billion rescue package from the IMF, the Eu-ropean Union and the World Bank. It obtained the loan in May 2009 in exchange for agreeing to push through austerity measures aimed at taming the country’s yawning deficit.

Last March Romania signed a new agreement worth €3.6 billion, follow-ing the conclusion of the 2009 stand-by-agreement, worth €20 billion.

Following the latest assessment mis-sion to Bucharest, in February the IMF prescribed strict spending discipline and further cuts to the health system.

Meanwhile uncertainties about a new government sent the Romanian curren-cy tumbling to a new low on May 1st, mainly due to jitters about the measures that the new government will take.

The stability of the new government will also depend on its relations with the powerful President, Traian Basescu.

Basescu’s decision to nominate Pon-ta as Prime Minister took his support-ers by surprise: last year the President declared he would never name the So-cial Democrat head as premier.

But the President has defended his choice as “completely legitimate” on the grounds that Ponta was clearly the candidate of a new parliamen-tary majority, while Basescu further backed his decision as an effort to

calm financial markets.“Basescu was forced to quickly ap-

point Ponta because the IMF was in Bucharest and he could not afford to let the usual bickering take place. But he is unhappy with the situation,” journalist Ion Ionita said.

“Another important question is whether the new governing coali-tion will push on with their obvious desire to impeach the President and trigger an early presidential election,” Ionita added.

Ahead of last week’s no-confidence vote, the USL, while in opposition, had repeatedly said it would initi-ate moves to suspend the President should the alliance come to power.

The issue has not come up again

since Basescu nominated Ponta as Prime Minister - possibly an indi-cator of potential future cohabi-tation between the President and Ponta.

Analyst Ilie Serbanescu says that one of the biggest dilemmas for the government would be whether to spend money ahead of the elections later this year. Local and general elec-tions take place in mid-June and late November respectively.

“If the government learns from the lessons of the past and refrains from populist spending, Romania could return to sustainable growth,” he said. “Otherwise, it may have to go through the same painful lesson yet one more time.”New Romanian PM Victor Ponta will strive to keep finances in order. Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP

Victor Ponta accepts the challenge of leading Romania’s government through this period of austerity. Photo by Octav Ganea/AP

“our political and economic

vision will ensure

predictability and boost job

creation in romania.”

Victor Ponta, Romanian Prime Minister

“montenegrin officials

behave as if the 35,000

veterans from the 1990s do

not live here.”Radan Nikolić,

chairman of the Montenegrin Association

of 1990s Veterans

“If the government learns from the lessons of the past

and refrains from populist

spending, romania

could return to sustainable

growth.” Ilie Serbanescu,

economic analyst

Veterans of the 1990s wars accuse the authorities of neglecting those who were called up to fight, out of a desire to distance themselves from what are now seen as embarrassing conflicts.

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 20128 9

nemanja ČAbRić

Serbia may not have a coast-line but it makes up for that, at least in part, by be-ing rich in warm water of another kind - spas.

Lying at the feet of the mountains, surrounded by forests and in areas with a mild climate, most of these spas also have other attractions, such as cultural monuments, mountain re-sorts or hunting grounds.

Almost all of Serbia’s popular resorts and healing places are built on the sites of older Roman, Turkish and Austrian baths. After the liberation of Serbia from Ottoman rule at the beginning of 19th century, they were largely rebuilt or upgraded to become fashionable summer resorts for respected guests. Vrnjačka Banja and Soko Banja are of this kind. Besides their main purpose - treating patients for different kinds of ailments - they are also cultural and recreational resorts.

Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia’s Karslbad:

Vrnjačka Banja is a mineral spa with four mineral springs of cold and warm water that are used for treatments. Lying on the slopes of Mt Goč, 200km from Belgrade, it is in the Raška district. The spa building, where therapies take place, is surrounded by a great park.

Treatments combine several natural mineral waters to help patients re-cover from chronic conditions such as diabetes, diseases of the digestive tract and rheumatism.

Besides treatments with warm min-eral water, there are other treatments with electricity, magnets, paraffin and lasers. The warmest spring, Topla Voda, is the exact same temperature as

the human body.Vrnjačka Banja has a long tradition

as a centre of tourism and medicine. On the very site of the hot mineral spring called Vrnjci the Romans once built a centre for medical treatment and rehabilitation. Archaeological finds from this era include a swim-ming pool, a mineral water spring and coins thrown into the spring as an ex-pression of cult beliefs.

The spa was rebuilt by the Czech Baron Herder in 1835 after Prince Miloš Obrenović decided he wanted something resembling the famous Karlsbad [Karlovy Vary] resort in Bo-hemia. It has always been popular in the region, as well as hosting many visitors from abroad.

Surrounding Vrnjačka Banja are UNESCO-protected medieval build-ings, including monasteries with valu-able frescos and military forts.

Sopoćani Monastery, which dates back to the 13th century, is only 2.5km away and contains some of the finest frescoes in Serbia, painted by artists brought from the then Constantino-ple by King Uroš I. Another half-hour ride from Vrnjačka Banja to the west is Žiča Monastery, built in the same period, which was the first seat of Ser-bia’s Church leaders.

Hotels are numerous in Vrnjačka Banja and most have swimming pools and games rooms. In summer there are cultural events, such as poetry readings in the modern library, classi-cal concerts under the columns and a film festival.

Soko Banja, home of legends:

About the same distance from Bel-grade as Vrnjačka Banja, to the south-east, lie Soko Banja and nearby Soko Grad. In the 17th century, when Serbia

was part of the Ottoman Empire, this spa had six mosques and 200 wooden houses as well as a public bath.

After the liberation of Sokobanja in 1832, Prince Miloš Obrenović, who evidently had a passion for spas, ordered the spa be rebuilt and its water analysed in Vienna, from where he brought the first doctor, Leopold Erich.

Legend has it that a powerful ruler of Soko Grad once fell from his horse, was badly injured and was near death when he noticed the spring, from which he drank and washed. When his wounds healed and he recovered, the thankful ruler spread the word about the miraculous spring.

In reality, settlements were built near this spa from Neolithic times on-wards and iron and copper finds sug-gest that there was a spa here at least as far back as the 7th century BC.

The miraculous effect of the water recounted in the legend could be ex-plained by the fact that the water here is the most radioactive in Serbia.

Radioactive gases vaporise from six springs with temperatures rang-ing from 25 to 45 degrees. They are good for the breathing system, so are inhaled in special chambers. People also come here to recover from bro-ken limbs or sciatica by bathing in the hot water.

The numerous parks of Soko Banja

are well-arranged gardens for relax-ation. The biggest is Gradski park, the City Park, which is rich in fountains and intersected by two streams, one hot and the other cold.

In the centre of town is a 600m-long walkway covered with marble, which passes near the “Park” spa, which is an old Turkish stone hamam consisting of ten separate pools with hot water from geo-thermal springs.

One of the tubs belonged to Miloš Obrenović himself and cannot be used without special permission. Milos also had a summerhouse here, which to-

day houses cafes, inns, dancing clubs and shops.

Located between Ozren and Rtanj Mountains, Soko Banja is a good place for off-road cycling or hiking. The area is also good for collecting medicinal herbs, which grow abun-dantly. There are over 200 species, in-cluding the herb used to make Rtan-jski caj, (Rtanj tea).

Other activities in the vicinity in-clude fishing and hunting. An aqua park in Soko Banja was opened with several swimming pools and tobog-ganing last autumn.

busiNess

Spas offer Serbs a healing touchThere is more to Serbia’s spas than cures for rheumatism and sciatica. Many also come for the walks, sports and gathering herbs.

Out aNd abOut

stevan veljović

At the end of last year Serbia increased the fee on mineral companies from 3 to 5 per cent of revenue, which put addi-

tional burdens on the companies, giv-en that this is only one of many duties businesses have to pay in Serbia.

A recent study by the National Al-liance for Local Economic Develop-ment, NALED, and USAID found that businesses in Serbia pay more than 370 different non-fiscal charges.

This term combines various duties paid to the state or local authorities, institutions, agencies or public enter-prises that businesses pay on top of regular taxes.

Darko Vukobratović, general man-ager of Contango and owner of the Rudnik lead, zinc and copper mine, says industry representatives immediately complained to the Ministry of Environ-ment about this duty, but their com-plaints had no effect, Vukobratović said.

“Based on last year’s turnover, we could pay around €600,000 in 2012 for this charge alone,” he said.

“This is almost 70 per cent of pro-jected amounts allocated for invest-ments and exploration drilling this year,” Vukobratović added.

Though Serbia is one of the more fa-vourable investment destinations in Eu-rope, with corporate income tax of only 10 per cent, the number of “hidden” tax-es – duties which are not part of the regu-lar tax system – complicate this picture.

These non-fiscal charges are often determined without any clear rationale behind them, creating legal uncer-tainty and undermining the predict-ability of the business environment

that investors seek.

No value for moneyIn 2011, 77 non-fiscal charges that

NALED tracked through the Treasury filled the state budget

with €730 million, which is around 40 per cent of the value of Foreign Di-rect Investment or €570 per employee working in the real economy.

The figure of 370 different charges in-cludes more 179 for various para-fiscal duties – charges that businesses pay for goods or services that they either don’t receive or whose price goes well beyond the value of the delivered service.

An example of this kind of hidden taxation is a charge for the protection and use of forests, which all legal enti-ties have to pay in the amount of 0.025 per cent of total revenue, no matter

what the benefit any one enterprise gains from forests.

The authors of the study argue that this charge most hurts companies that operate on the basis of a high turnover and low profit margin.

Another example is the utility tax that companies and entrepreneurs have to pay for displaying their company name on the office space. The amount varies from municipality to municipal-ity, but the study found that the total revenue earned from this charge last year was nearly five billion dinars.

The total amount that the state col-lects through these charges, at two per cent of GDP, is still relatively low com-pared to overall public expenditure, which exceeds 40 per cent of GDP.

But, as Nikola Altiparmakov, mem-ber of the independent Fiscal Coun-cil, points out, these duties don’t correspond to the strength of most

businesses. Nor do they reflect the real value and cost behind the services that the public sector provides, while they are often introduced and changed on an arbitrary basis.

Ad-hoc changes not enoughAna Trbović, professor at the Faculty

of Economics, Finance and Admin-istration, FEFA, says that this lack of clear criteria in determining forms and amounts of charges creates a sense of insecurity that worries investors.

“Stability is the most important fac-tor with investors, more important

than reliefs, labour cost or location, which is why para-fiscal charges are hurting Serbia’s chances of presenting itself as an attractive destination for in-vestment,” she said.

In the past years, the non-fiscal bur-den was a problem mainly for investors already operating in Serbia. However, as Milan Kovačević, an expert on FDI, notes, their concerns now stand as a warning to all those willing to follow in their footsteps.

Amalija Pavić, acting Executive Direc-tor of AmCham, confirms that unlike a few years ago, para-fiscal charges are now part of the mandatory set of questions that potential investors like to ask.

“Such charges obscure the effective burden on companies and pose a prob-lem in predictability and making plans once on the market,” Pavić says, adding that changes must be far-reaching, not ad-hoc interventions over a single charge.

Among other proposals, the authors of the NALED study call on the gov-ernment to make a precise classifica-tion of all charges that exist and reassess the usefulness of taxes that do not show a significant fiscal capacity.

They also call for the integration of so-called “own revenues” of public agencies and administrative authority into the state budget, while financing their operations from general taxes.

In return, this would allow the state to abolish most charges for registrations, certificates, permits and so on, currently performed by public authorities.

‘Hidden’ taxes hinder investment in SerbiaRising charges that businesses have to pay apart from regular tax are making investors in Serbia more cautious when calculating the costs of their operations.

Meraktor centre closed for renovation

Belgrade’s Meraktor shopping centre was

closed for renovation on May 3rd and will only be reopened in September. Company Merkator-S will invest €12 million in renovating the retail mall, which opened in 2002. The company said that following completion of the works the popular shopping centre will meet the highest technical standards and quality of service. Merkator-S also announced the broadening of its offer, with the aim of becoming the best equipped retail outlet on the Serbian market.

Serbian exports down on last year

Serbian exports fell by

9.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period last year. By the end of March the country’s exports amounted to about €1.9 billion. The main export products were grain and grain products, electrical machinery, non-ferrous metals, garments and iron and steel. Most Serbian goods were exported to Germany, Italy and Bosnia.

Bids submitted for Smederevo steel mill

United Pilsen S.A. from Luxembourg, Donetsksteel

Group from Ukraine and Russia’s Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company have all applied to participate in the tender for the Smederevo steel mill, the Serbian government announced on April 30th. The government, which bought the mill back from U.S. Steel in February, issued a public call for a strategic partner on April 18th.

Bu

sin

ess

in b

rief

Darko Vukobratović: industry complaints have had no effect. Photo by Media Centre Belgrade

“Such charges obscure the effective burden on companies and pose a

problem in predictability and making plans once on

the market.”Amalija Pavić,

acting Executive Director of AmCham

Located in the centre of Vrnjacka Banja, along the promenade.

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Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 201210 11

arts

Andrej KleMenČiČ

It is not unfamiliar for movie-goers to walk out of a block-buster feeling disappointed about the lack of a decent scenario, acting achieve-

ments or directional quality. Battle-ship lacks them all.

In absence of new military con-flicts in the world, Hollywood seems to have decided to spice up U.S. presidential election year with patriotic films.

As creativity and hard-core Hol-lywood seldom walk hand-in-hand, they borrowed this story from a video game. This is becoming in-creasingly frequent, but not all films based on video games turn out wrong, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time being the most recent proof.

With the Transformers films breaking records among very young audiences, Universal Studio took on a story about machines fighting brave, young military officers and threw in some aliens.

The good guys this time are young Marines on a military exercise off the coast of Hawaii. Among them is a particularly problematic soldier, Alex Hopper, who falls for the ad-miral’s daughter. But, owing to his rebellious attitude, he is facing the end of his military career after the exercise finishes.

However, aliens appear and the exercise becomes a fight to save the planet.

This time, the representatives of foreign species come invited, as the

plot informs us that scientists have built a powerful satellite to contact a planet that they believe contains life similar to that on Earth.

We are soon shown that the mem-bers of this species are not a peaceful lot, however, as they blow up several American warships and make prepa-rations to conquer our planet.

In their way stands Alex who learns that muscles and hasty deci-sions serve little purpose when you need to save the world.

Films based exclusively on some-one or something blowing up land-marks while heroes try to stop their evil intentions can work - if steered by an experienced director.

Though Independence Day or the Day After Tomorrow are not works of cinematic art, their director, Ro-land Emmerich, knows that large amounts of special effects must be matched by an entertaining if not believable storyline.

In Battleship, we just don’t buy pop-star Rihanna blowing alien heads off with a gun from a destroy-er, or Hong Kong buildings col-lapsing in 9/11 fashion, nor can we ignore factual inconsistencies so fla-grant that one wonders if there was a scenario at all or they just used the text from a video game CD cover.

One could also easily dispute the use of disabled and retired Ameri-can military men to add a patriotic boost to the film.

The special effects here comprise a few alien ships and probably the largest number of onscreen ex-plosions ever recorded on film.

As the viewer is taken on a tour of American military steal on water, we also get some nice shots of ships in the open seas.

Sound effects are en-hanced to the level of taking away any doubt that you are actually on the ship. While seats shake, you may want to start covering your ears every time you see a gun ready to fire.

Patriotic films containing many toys may have a sound financial logic. You get the boy toy audience as well as the patriotic one.

Battleship gives solid evidence that this is so. In just a few weeks it returned most of its 200 million dollar budget, taking over Titanic 3D in cinemas worldwide.

There is something that audiences clearly like about films in which the human race is saved from almost certain extinction by a group of he-roes. Battleship speaks in favour of the fact that these films need only be expensive, not good.

Here’s one battleship that deserves to sink

diNiNg Out

Pavle GoliCin

I do not remember how many times people have asked me what to drink with pizza. Without going

into long discussions about wine pairings, which would depend on the type of pizza and toppings, I pre-ferred to put it bluntly – take a beer instead! Every single time I enjoyed their surprised faces since they did not see it coming. Do not believe me? Ask an Italian.Going to one of the most popular places for pizzas in Belgrade, I decided to give it another try and somehow convince myself to do the opposite. ‘La Piazza,’ however, helped prove my initial statement about the beer. The wine list is organised in an ordinary way – divided into white, rosé and red; sparkling, as always, aside. There is information about the producer, commercial name of their wines, price and even vintage. In addition, tasting notes are given for each wine, although I seriously doubt that it can help customers make up their minds about the choices. Sometimes it can also be misleading, for example, Lambrusco is described as fruity, cheerful and refreshing (sic)!The small but clear wine list has a lot of spelling mistakes, which will not significantly influence your choice. The French, however, might not find it as amusing as we did that the wine list stated that ‘Moet&Chandon’ came from Italy. The more important problem is that you can only find Italian wines on the list. At first, we tried to find additional pages of the list, which we thought were missing; but when we spotted another table order the local Tamjanika wine, we asked a waiter to tell us what else was available. It would help if those wines were at least written on some of the boards in the restaurant.In any case, only approximately 10 wines are available by the glass. I de-cided to go for a safe choice, finding a wine based on Sangiovese which would be a good marriage with my favourite pizza, margharita. This time it was Toscana Rosso ‘Remole’ by Frescobaldi, a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a classic example of wine suitable for all dishes and occasions.I found my ‘cup of tea’ afterwards. Sipped at the end of the meal, grappa tradizionale by ‘Nonino’ gave me a real pleasure. It was appropri-ately served in the perfect glass and conditions. This grappa made in Friuli (North-East Italy) showed the best of its elegant style. I also ap-preciated the chivalrous and friendly service, which always leaves a lasting impression.At ‘La Piazza’ there is no doubt that you will be able to find your wine and food pairing after all. A clearer and more correctly laid out wine list, however, could ensure that the full profitable potential of the wine offering is realised. Furthermore, more wines offered by the glass, and more adventurously chosen options, would have made this list a lot better.

Price guide: 1,250 - 6,900 RSD [€12 - €69]

Wishful Drinking

- Wine List Reviews

La piazza

Win

e C

orn

er

duda i vlada

The interior is pleas-ant, not really origi-nal or memorable, on the modern side. The best thing about it is

the atmosphere – casual and always crowded. There is also an outdoor sitting area. In the summertime it is just as popular, despite simply being an elevated fenced-in section of the path, with a constant flow of pedestri-ans and cars on either side. With good food and company, the traffic that is inches away, blends into the back-ground and adds some weird urban charm to the experience.

The menu is short, written on the pa-per placemats. It is Italian to the bone, dominated by simple and authentic dishes. Living next door, we used to come regularly to La Piazza. After a while, the lack of length and change in the menu prevented us from coming as often as in the beginning. It appears they have become aware of this problem because we have finally noticed a shift in the right direction. There are new op-tions on the menu and some more writ-ten on the boards inside. There is still a problem, however, because the waiters are not mentioning that there are more options outside the main menu. Unless you are lucky enough to be seated next to one of the boards, it is likely that you will miss them.

Pizza is definitely La Piazza’s sig-nature dish. There are about a dozen options, each with thin, well-done, crisp crusts that are made in a proper pizza oven. The elongated, combined “pizza for two” (in reality it could feed 3 or 4) is a great, fun thing to share with friends. But this time we headed for something different – Margherita Napoli style with original buffalo mo-carela. Eagle eyes are needed to find it written above the pizza oven, but the effort is rewarded with the real thing – simplicity at its best.

We ordered salad Sergio as anoth-

er starter – a pleasant mix of greens, chicken, blue cheese and roasted al-monds, served in an inventive way – in a bowl of crisp pizza dough.

For the main courses, we couldn’t skip our favorites – fettuccine tartufo & mixed funghi and straccetti on rock-et. Fettuccine are made in-house, cov-ered with rich, creamy sauce and gen-erous with the mushrooms. Although a bit heavy, they are truly delicious. For those who are up to venturing outside the world of pizza and pasta, straccetti is a recommended option. It is another Italian classic that is seldom seen in Belgrade, despite the number of Ital-ian restaurants present in our city. It is made of long, thin slices of veal served on a bed of rocket, covered with cherry tomatoes and sprinkled with coarsely grated Parmesan.

We ended our dinner with pizza with Nutela and Brestovik strawberries with mascarpone cream. Pizza with Nutela needs no explanation – it simply satis-fies the kid inside. The local (Brestovik is a village near Belgrade) fresh straw-berries paired beautifully with Italian cheese cream. It was refreshing and topped with some mint leafs for the final touch. The two opposite sweets went together really well.

The service wasn’t perfect. Our waiter seemed to be somewhat con-fused and/or distracted. It would be unfair, however, to dwell on that since our earlier experiences were really positive. Normally waiters in La Pi-azza are pleasant and efficient. Maybe he just had a bad day.

La Piazza is all about keeping it sim-ple, fresh and authentic – and its full tables are proof that one can’t go wrong this way. As an added bonus, you might be rubbing shoulders with the Mayor of Belgrade who is a regular here – outside the election campaign, that is.

La Piazza, Mileševska 54, tel: 011 3836634

price guide: 1400-2300 per person for three courses without wine

La PiazzaLa Piazza opened in our neighborhood in the spring of 2007. It was an instant success, and after only one year or so, it doubled in size by extending to the shop next door.

Basic info Rating

Overall Average

Wine selection Average

Wine service Good

Wine pricing Average

Wine and food pairing Good

New all-American top blockbuster glorifies warfare against alien enemy to the point of nonsense - and not even the super-expensive special effects can redeem it.

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 201212 13

live music

FRIDAY MAY 4Kev lar Bikini, While, BIGZ, Bulevar Vojvode

Misica 17, 10:00pmAle ksandra Radonjic, Akademija 28,

Nemanjina 28, 10:00pmSATURDAY MAY 5

Inj e, Hemendex, GRAD Cultural Centre, Brace Krsmanovic 4, 10:00pm

TUESDAY MAY 8Met allica with Machine Head and Gojira,

Usce, 5pmWEDNESDAY MAY 9

Dea dhorse, Fest, Gradski Park 2, Zemun, 10:00pm

THURSDAY MAY 10Nov iot Pocetok, GRAD Cultural Centre,

Brace Krsmanovic 4, 10:00pmFRIDAY MAY 11

Xan ax, Dom Omladine, Makedonska 22, 9:00pm

SATURDAY MAY 12Mil an Petrovic Quartet, Akademija 28,

Nemanjina 28, 10:30pmMONDAY MAY 14

Bra nko Dzinovic, Dom Omladine, Make-donska 22, 8:00pm

THURSDAY MAY 17Rin g Ring Festival: Ultima Armonia, El Infi-

erno Musical, Rex, Jevrejska 16, 8:00pmBee and Flower, Gun Club, Milosa Pocerca 10, 10:00pm

opera, Ballet,

Classical

SATURDAY MAY 5Ope ra: In Love with Three Oranges, The

National Theatre, Francuska 1, 7:30pmSUNDAY MAY 6

Win ners of the Isidor Bajic Memorial, Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 11:00am

MONDAY MAY 7Fla uto Dolce Ensemble, Studentski Grad

Cultural Centre, Bulevar Zorana Djind-jica 177, 8:00pm

TUESDAY MAY 8Mus ic Academy Choir, Studentski Grad

Cultural Centre, Bulevar Zorana Djind-jica 177, 7:30pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 9Ope ra: The Marriage of Figaro, The Na-

tional Theatre, Francuska 1, 7:00pmTHURSDAY MAY 10

Bal let: Sleeping Beauty, The National Thea-tre, Francuska 1, 7:30pm

SATURDAY MAY 12Ope ra: Il Trovatore, The National Theatre,

Francuska 1, 7:00pmRTS Choir and Symphonic Orchestra, Ilija

M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 8:00pm

MONDAY MAY 14Deb orah Cheetham, Children’s Cultural

Centre, Takovska 10, 7:00pmOpe ra: Carmen, The National Theatre,

Francuska 1, 7:30pmWEDNESDAY MAY 16

Op era: Rigoletto, The National Theatre, Francuska 1, 7:00pm

Edi n Karamazov and Krakow Philhar-monic’s String Quartet, Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 8:00pm

THURSDAY MAY 17Bal let: La Bayadere, The National Theatre,

Francuska 1, 7:30pm

Theatre

FRIDAY MAY 4Chi cago (Fosse, Kender, Ebb), Teracije

Theatre, Terazije 29, 8:00pmSATURDAY MAY 5

Pla y It Again Sam (Allen), Belgrade Drama Theatre, Milesevska 64, 8:00pm

MONDAY MAY 7Tri este (Radovic), Atelje 212, Svetogorska

21, 8:00pmTUESDAY MAY 8

Lif e is a Dream (Calderon), The National Theatre, Francuska 1, 7:30pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 9Gla ss Menagerie (O’Neill), The National

Theatre, Francuska 1, 8:30pmTHURSDAY MAY 10

Two -Scented Rose (Carballido), Terazije Theatre, Terazije 29, 8:00pm

SATURDAY MAY 12Nor way Today (Bauersima), Belgrade

Drama Theatre, Milesevska 64, 8:00pmSUNDAY MAY 13

The Celebration (Vinterberg, Rukov, Hansen), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 8:00pm

MONDAY MAY 14

The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde), The National Theatre, Francuska 1, 8:30pm

TUESDAY MAY 15All About My Mother (Almodovar),

Belgrade Drama Theatre, Milesevska 64, 8:00pm

THURSDAY MAY 17Hed da Gabler (Ibsen), The National Thea-

tre, Francuska 1, 8:30pm

exhibitionsand events

FRIDAY MAY 4Exh ibition: Six Legs, Museum of Natural

Sciences, Kalemegdan Park, 7:00pmBel docs documentary film festival: Biba

Struja, The Face of the Revolution, Sava

Centre, Milentija Popovica 9, 8:00pmSATURDAY MAY 5

Exh ibition and workshop: Silvana Rucnov, calligraphy, Singidunum Gallery, Knez Mihajlova 40, 2:00pm

SUNDAY MAY 6 FUN DAY SUNDAY Theatre, music, circus

acts, magic tricks, workshops, Bul. kn. Aleksandra Karađorđevića 6, Sunday 11 -13.30 pm

MONDAY MAY 7Exh ibition: Goran Vejvoda, French Cultural

Centre, Knez Mihajlova 31, 7:00pmTUESDAY MAY 8

Exh ibition: Zlatko Cvetkovic, ULUPUDS Gallery, Uzun Mirkova 12, 7:00pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 9Fil m vs. Book: Fear and

Loathing in Las Vegas, screening and discus-sion, American Corner, Makedonska 22, 5:30pmTHURSDAY MAY 10

44t h May Exhibition of the Association of Fine and Applied Arts, Museum of Applied Arts, Vuka Karadzica 18, 7:00pm

FRIDAY MAY 11Ex hibition: Tijana Fisic,

paintings, Belgrade City Library, Knez Mihajlova 56, 7:00pm

SUNDAY MAY 13Swa p Fair, Dom Omladine,

Makedonska 22, from 12:00pm to 17:00pm

FUN DAY SUNDAY Theatre, music, circus acts, magician, workshops, Bul. kn. Aleksandra Karađorđevića 6, Sunday

at 11 – 13.30 pmTUESDAY MAY 15

Exh ibition: Black Box – set and costume design, Singidunum Gallery, Knez Mihalova 40, 7:00pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 16Exh ibition: Branka Nedimovic and Andrej

Filev, Gallery of the Museum of Con-temporary Art, Rodoljuba Colakovica 2, 7:00pm

FRIDAY MAY 25The Story of Tea“ (in English/Serbian), DAH Theatre, Marulićeva 8, 20h „

FRIDAY MAY 26„Crossing the Line” (in Serbian/English), DAH Theatre, Marulićeva 8, 20h

_________________________RODA CINEPLEX /Požeška 83A, tel: + 381 11 2545260 Legend of a Rabbit – 3.30pm Journey 2. The Mysterious Island

– 4.30pm The Avengers (3D) – 5.15pm,

8pm, 10.45pm Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (3D) –

4.20pm American Reunion – 6pm,

8.15pm Project X – 8.20pm Lockout – 8.20pm Clip – 10.25pm

__________________________DOM SINDIKATA Trg Nikole Pašića 5, tel: + 381 11 3234849 Lockout – 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, 10pm The Avengers (3D) – 5.30pm,

8pm The Artist – 8m, 10pm Clip – 10.30pm

__________________________CINEPLEXX / Delta City, Jurija Gagarina 16, tel: + 381 11 2203400 Titanic (3D) – 4pm, 7.30pm The Iron Lady – 10.50pm Clip – 11pm Project X – 7pm, 8.40pm Battleship – 4.40pm, 7pm American Reunion – 3.50pm,

6pm, 8.20pm, 10.30pm Lockout – 3.50pm, 7.20pm Wrath of the Titans (3D) –

4.40pm, 5pm The Avengers (3D) – 2.40pm,

5.20pm, 8pm, 9.30pm, 10.40pm Safe – 3.10pm, 5.40pm, 6.50pm,

8.20pm, 10.30pm__________________________TUCKWOOD CINEPLEX / Kneza Miloša 7, tel: + 381 11 3236517 Drive – 3.30pm Battleship – 8.15pm, 10.45pm

The Avengers – 8.15pm, 11pm Lockout – 8.30pm, 10.40pm American Reunion – 3.50pm,

6pm, 10.10pm, 10.10pm Project X – 3.30pm, 5.15pm,

7pm, 8.45pm, 10.30pm Titanic (3D) – 5.30pm Wrath of the Titans – 4.30pm,

6.30pm The Hunger Games – 5.25pm Clip – 6.15pm Wrath of the Titans (3D) –

4.15pm Man on a Ledge – 10.20pm

__________________________KOLOSEJ CINEMA / Usce Shopping Centre, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 4, tel: + 381 11 2854495 Melancholia (VIP Hall) – 2.15pm,

7.30pm Titanic (3D) – 7.15pm Clip – 10pm Alvin and the Chipmunks. Chip-

Wrecked – 2.30pm Safe – 2.45pm, 4.45pm, 6.45pm,

8.45pm, 10.45pm The Avengers – 2.45pm, 5.30pm,

8.15pm, 11pm Jane Eyre – 2.50pm, 9.50pm Mirror Mirror –5.30pm Journey 2. The Mysterious Island

– 4pm The Avengers (3D) – 4.15pm,

7pm, 9.45pm Lockout – 4.20pm, 6.20pm,

8.20pm, 10.20pm Man on a Ledge – 10.40pm The Hunger Games – 5.05pm,

7.50pm Legend of a Rabbit (3D) – 3.20pm Wrath of the Titans (3D) – 5.15pm,

10.50pm Le Havre – 5.20pm, 10.15pm Project X – 3.10, 5, 6.50pm,

8.40pm, 10.30pm John Carter – 5.10pm, 10.10pm Wrath of the Titans – 2pm, 6pm,

CinemasBelgrade’s cinemas only publish their schedules one week in advance. Listings for future weeks are available from the cinemas. All provide information in English.

FRIDAy MAy 4Clubbing:

Sensation White Warm Up Party, Magacin,Karađorđeva 2-4

MashUp or ShutUp,DJ MeHighLow, Divljina, Bulevar Vojvode Bojovića (6-8), 10pm

House Night, The Tube, Simina 21, 11pm

Disco House, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11pm

House Night, Fabrika, Bulevar Des-pota Stefana 115, 11pm

House , Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

St.Louis & DJ Ike, Brankow Bar, Crnogorska 12, 9pm

Live music: Ladies singing on Friday & DJ Kizami,

Lava bar, Kneza Miloša 77, 11pm Live act, pop-rock, Opposite, Mitro-

polita Petra 8, 11pm Neša & 100% band, Serbian folk, Hua

Hua, Ada Ciganlija bb, 12am Acko, F6, Francuska 6, 11pm No Comment Band, Box, Karađorđeva

9, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Serbian Traditional Music, restaurant

Milagro, Kej Oslobođenja 55, 9pm

SATURDAy MAy 5Clubbing:

DJ Night – Magacin, Karađorđeva 2-4, 12am

Club House, Mr Stefan Braun, Neman-jina 4, 11pm

Mainstream Pressure, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

Disco Fever , Opposite, Opposite, Mitropolita Petra 8, 11pm

Sensation White Worm Up Party, The Tube, Simina 21, 11pm

DJ Night, Barock, Admirala Geprata 14, 11.30pm

DJ Night, Mladost, Karađorđeva 44, 10pm

Mirko&Meex, Fabrika, Despota Stefana 115, 11pm

Sensation White Warm Up Party, Soho Republic Club, Pariska 1a, 11pm

Live music: Serbian folk, Kolektiv, Vase Pelagića

54, 11.30pm Stage band, Dobrila, Dobračina 30,

9pm No Comment band, Lava Bar, Kneza

Miloša 77, 11pm Bossa Nova Luz Azul, Bar Latino,

Turgenjeva 5, 9pm Inspiracija band, Box, Karađorđeva

9, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Serbian Traditional Music, restaurant

Milagro, Kej Oslobođenja 55, 9pm

SUNDAy MAy 6Clubbing:

Sunday lounge, Brankow bar, Crnogorska 12, 9pm

Live Music: Extra Orchestra, Mr Stefan Braun,

Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm Sportsmen’s evening, Teatro Bar,

Sarajevska 26, 12am Two Fingers band, Red Shoes, Ada

Ciganlija BB, 10pm Rock festival, Crazy Horse, Skadarska

40c, 10pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm

Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm

MONDAy MAy 7Clubbing:

Humanitarian evening, Disco House, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Live music: Die Beste, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 9pm Karaoke, Danguba, Ćirila i Metodija

2, 10pm Željko Šašić, Serbian Folk, Acapulco,

Kej Oslobođenja bb, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock evening, restaurant Reka,

Kej Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

TUESDAy MAy 8Clubbing:

Dance 90’ party, Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Live music: Musix Box, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 9pm Teatro Stars, Serbian Folk, Teatro Bar,

Sarajevska 26, 12am Lilly Band, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija

BB, 10pm Maja Višić, Acapulco, Kej Oslobođenja

bb, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pmWEDNESDAy MAy 9

Clubbing: Buzzin’ RnB party, Plastic, Corner of

Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm DJ Night, Villa Maska, Rankeova 7, 9pm Disco House, Mr. Stefan Braun,

Nemanjina 4, 11pm Live music:

Superstars band, Dobrila, Dobračina 30, 10pm

Jazzanje band, Brankow bar, Crnogor-ska 12, 9pm

Serbian folk music stars live, Magacin, Karađorđeva 2-4

Kameleon band, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija BB, 10pm

Marko St. Louis Band, Cantina de Frida, 10pm

Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets, Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm

Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm

Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

ThURSDAy MAy 10Clubbing:

RnB & Hip Hop party, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Beats, Dimes and Pipes, Divljina, Bule-var Vojvode Bojovića (6-8), 10pm

Tango Night, Havana, Nikole Spasića 1, 10pm

“Do you remember plastic” House music, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

Live music: Balkan Expres band, Dobrila,

Dobračina 30, 10pm Muzički Voz, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija

BB, 10pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Libertango, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Serbian Folk, Kolektiv, Vase Pelagića

54, 11pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm Rock Music, club Fest, Gradski Park 2,

10pm

FRIDAy MAy 11Clubbing:

DJ Night, Magacin,Karađorđeva 2-4

MashUp or ShutUp,DJ MeHighLow, Divljina, Bulevar Vojvode Bojovića (6-8), 10pm

House Night, The Tube, Simina 21, 11pm

Disco House, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11pm

House Night, Fabrika, Bulevar Des-pota Stefana 115, 11pm

DJ Night, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

Live music: Ladies singing on Friday & DJ Kizami,

Lava bar, Kneza Miloša 77, 11pm Live act, pop-rock, Opposite, Mitro-

polita Petra 8, 11pm Neša & 100% band, Serbian folk, Hua

Hua, Ada Ciganlija bb, 12am No Comment Band, Box, Karađorđeva

9, 11pm All That Kink, Brankow bar, Crnogor-

ska 12, 9pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm Rock Music, club Fest, Gradski Park

2, 10pm Serbian Traditional Music, restaurant

Milagro, Kej Oslobođenja 55, 9pm

SATURDAy MAy 12Clubbing:

DJs Night – Magacin, Karađorđeva 2-4, 12am

Club House, Mr Stefan Braun, Neman-jina 4, 11pm

Mainstream Pressure, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

Disco Fever, Opposite, Opposite, Mitropolita Petra 8, 11pm

House Night, The Tube, Simina 21, 11pm

The Beatshakers, Barock, Admirala Geprata 14, 11.30pm

DJ Night, Mladost, Karađorđeva 44, 10pm

Mirko&Meex, Fabrika, Despota Stefana 115, 11pm

Live music: Serbian folk, Kolektiv, Vase Pelagića

54, 11.30pm Makao, Bitefartcafe, Square Mire

Trailovic 1, 11pm Stage band, Dobrila, Dobračina 30,

9pm No Comment band, Lava Bar, Kneza

Miloša 77, 11pm Bossa Nova Luz Azul, Bar Latino,

Turgenjeva 5, 9pm Inspiracija band, Box, Karađorđeva

9, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Vesko Vučković Band, Cantina de

Frida, Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm Rock Music, club Fest, Gradski Park

2, 10pm Serbian Traditional Music, restaurant

Milagro, Kej Oslobođenja 55, 9pm

SUNDAy MAy 13Clubbing:

Black Meets House, F6, Franucska 6, 11.30pm

RnB Night, Hyde, Kralja Petra 11, 11pm

Sunday lounge, Brankow bar, Crnogorska 12, 9pm

Live Music: Extra Orchestra, Mr Stefan Braun,

Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm Sportsmen’s evening, Teatro Bar,

Sarajevska 26, 12am Two Fingers band, Red Shoes, Ada

Ciganlija BB, 10pm Rock festival, Crazy Horse, Skadarska

40c, 10pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

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Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

MONDAy, MAy 14Clubbing:

Humanitarian evening, Disco House, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Live music: Die Beste, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 9pm Karaoke, Danguba, Ćirila i Metodija

2, 10pm Zeljko Sasic, Serbian Folk, Acapulco,

Kej Oslobođenja bb, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock evening, restaurant Reka,

Kej Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

TUESDAy MAy 15Clubbing:

Dance 90’ party, Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Live music: Musix Box, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 9pm Teatro Stars, Serbian Folk, Teatro Bar,

Sarajevska 26, 12am Lilly Band, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija

BB, 10pm Maja Višić, Acapulco, Kej Oslobođenja

bb, 11pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

WEDNESDAy MAy 16Clubbing:

Buzzin’ RnB party, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

DJ Night, Villa Maska, Rankeova 7, 9pmLive music:

Superstars band, Dobrila, Dobračina 30, 10pm

Jazzanje band, Brankow bar, Crnogor-ska 12, 9pm

Vesko Vuckovic band, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Serbian folk music stars live, Magacin, Karađorđeva 2-4

Kameleon band, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija BB, 10pm

Marko St. Louis Band, Cantina de Frida, 10pm

Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets, Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm

Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm

Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm

ThURSDAy MAy 17Clubbing:

RnB & Hip Hop party, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11.30pm

Beats, Dimes and Pipes, Divljina, Bule-var Vojvode Bojovića (6-8), 10pm

Tango Night, Havana, Nikole Spasića 1, 10pm

“Do you remember plastic” House music, Plastic, Corner of Takovska and Dalmatinska, 11pm

Live music: Balkan Expres band, Dobrila,

Dobračina 30, 10pm Muzički Voz, Red Shoes, Ada Ciganlija

BB, 10pm Live Jazz Quartets And Quintets,

Iguana, Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Live Jazz Duets and Trios, Iguana,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 7pm Libertango, Cantina de Frida,

Karađorđeva 2-4, 10pm Serbian Folk, Kolektiv, Vase Pelagića

54, 11pm Pop/Rock Music, restaurant Reka, Kej

Oslobođenja 73b, 10pm Rock Music, club Fest, Gradski Park

2, 10pm

Programmes may be subject to change. Please check online for more information at

http://www.hot-spot.rs/

TREEHOUSE STORYTELLING CENTRE & CIRCUSFERA PRESENT

FUNDAY SUNDAY Family event, every Sunday at 11 AM

Storytelling performances in English, Serbian & French, Magic & illusion, Circus acts: juggling, unicycle, acrobatics, aerials, stilts, Visual arts & music workshops, Face paint

Bulevar Kneza Aleksandra Karadjordjevica 6, Dedinje Tel: +381 11 2661 140 www.nassvet-eduarts.org

Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 2012 Belgrade Insight, Friday, May 4, 2012 - Thursday, May 17, 201214 15

Partizan FC secured the club’s fifth domestic league title in a row after beating Čačak club Bo-rac 4:0 in round 27 on

April 29th.Partizan only required a single

point to confirm the club’s 24th ti-tle overall and 13th since 1993, but the team pulled out all the stops in Čačak to demolish the locals with goals from S. Marković, Ivanov and Diara(2).

Speaking afterwards, coach Avram Grant said that the most important thing was that his team had secured the title and had done so by playing good football.

“We are happy about the victory and the title. Perhaps it looked easy on the pitch, but the opposition put up a fight and it was much harder than the result suggests. Of course, the most important thing is that we have mathematically secured the championship trophy. We won ten games in a row, continued to score goals and play good football,” said Grant.

Also speaking to press afterwards, Partizan defender Nemanja Rnić said that the club deservedly won the title.

“I am glad that we finished the championship race so convincingly and won the new title. The trophy totally deserves to belong to us – we led the league practically from the beginning of the season. Next up is the eternal derby, then we will im-mediately turn to the new challenge of securing a place in the Champi-ons League.”

Partizan’s Senegalese striker Lam-ina Diarra, whose current contract expires this summer, also expressed his satisfaction, saying: “I’m delight-ed because of this fourth title with Partizan and I believe this trium-phant series will continue next year. I have gotten used to success and victory with the black-and-whites and would like to stay and for us to continue to celebrate together…”

spOrtgOiNg Out

Striving for musical independence

david GAlić

“Sometimes I sing about the city with anger, sometimes with love. But in any case, I have

strong emotions towards my city,” Pavlica says. He believes that the in-dependent music scene in Belgrade has really blossomed over the last sev-eral years and that this has had a pro-found effect not only on him, but ev-eryone involved in this scene as well.

Damjan od Resnika practice and perform in the old Bigz building, which is known as the absolute epi-centre of creativity for independent music being produced in Belgrade. Many Belgrade bands rent practice space there and it is also the location where underground venues have ap-peared over the last several years as the number of legitimate venues in the city centre dwindles.

Due to these reasons, the band chose one of the Bigz building’s ven-ues to promote its new album and play a set with the entire band last Sat-urday. They also played an acoustic gig at club Žica recently.

Pavlica addressed the difference be-tween the new album and the band’s debut, “Pored Vatre” (Next to the Fire), stating that while the first al-bum was mainly acoustic and ambi-ent, the new one will be much rawer and more aggressive. Pavlica describes the new sound as “a combination of atmospheric music and new wave.”

Lyrically, Pavlica says that “social themes are at the forefront again, mainly despair and the hope that is born from it.”

Even though Pavlica remains the main songwriter, singer and lyricist, the band has grown into an entity of its own with its new material. They now have four permanent members – Pav-

lica on guitar, Ivana Blažević on violin and vocals, Miloš Bakalović playing drums and percussion and Nemanja Jovanović on bass and accordion – but when playing live and in the studio, the band calls on various musicians and in-strumentalists to make the sound more unpredictable and richer.

When asked about further plans for promoting the new album, Pav-lica says that the band intends to play most of the important summer fes-tivals happening in Serbia this year. They especially look forward to play-ing Prnjavorstock, which is a senti-mental favourite of the band and is or-ganised by their drummer, Bakalović.

“Protiv Tebe” is expected to be re-leased in the near future by record labels Slušaj najglasnije! in Croatia and FairShare in Serbia, and the new single “Mali” has already been released on the band’s official Facebook and Youtube pages.

+381 11 3346035

www.BelgradeInsight.comsubscription@birn.eu.com

ATP spotlight on Belgrade TENNIS

FOOTBALL

Partizanclaim title yet again

Belgrade is currently hosting the annual Serbia Open tennis tournament, but for the first time the event is taking place without world

number one and local favourite Novak Đoković, who pulled out last week fol-lowing the death of his grandfather.

Speaking prior to the beginning of

the tournament, Đoković – whose family’s company, Family Sport, orga-nises the event – said he felt emotion-ally drained and unable to summon the mental strength to play tennis follow-ing the recent death of his grandfather.

The world number one admitted that his decision to miss the Serbia Open “was one of the most difficult decisions in my career, but it is impossible for me

to play and think about tennis.”Despite being unavailable to play,

Đoković still managed to fulfil his role as a National Ambassador for UNICEF in Serbia and as an advocate for chil-dren’s rights to play and gain an edu-cation when he helped UNICEF and Family Sport host the tournament’s ‘Family Day’.

Children were welcomed to Belgrade’s

“Novak” sports centre for the second an-nual Serbia Open Family Day, which is held just prior to the start of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

More than 300 children participat-ed in the event, playing in two teams called “Fair” and “Play,” highlighting the theme of fair play as an important part of sport and life in general.

The tournament runs until May 6th.

National team prepares for qualification

The Serbia national team prepared for its upcom-ing Olympic qualifica-tion tournament with two friendly matches

against Iran on April 26th and 28th. The Serbian team won both match-es, which were played behind closed doors at Belgrade’s Šumica Hall.

National team selector, Igor Kolaković, rotated every player in his squad to strike a balance prior to Olympic qualifications.

Serbia’s top performers were Alek-sandar Atanasijević, who secured a personal tally of 23 points, and Milan Rašić and Nikola Kovačević, who each scored 14 points.

The games were held in preparation for the Olympic qualification tourna-ment, which will be held in Sofia from May 8th to 13th. Serbia will compete in a group that includes host country Bulgaria, as well as Slovenia and Spain.

Only the tournament’s eventual winner will be guaranteed a place at this summer’s London Olympics.

Belgrade’s independent music scene flourishes as more underground venues appear in the Serbian capital.

The Serbia Open transforms the Danubde-side sports complex that becomes its home for a week in ealry May.

Do or die time approaches for Serbia volleyball team as players strives to qualify for London.

VOLLEYBALL

PREMIERE “HENRY VI” DIRECTED BY NIKITA MILIVOJEVIC, MAY 11th, AT THE GLOBE THEATRE

NATIONAL THEATRE

NATIONAL THEATRE IN BELGRADE, Francuska 3, 11 000 Belgrade, tel. 3281 333, www.narodnopozoriste.rs

London’s mythical Globe Theatre will celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday this year with an original production cycle that lasts six weeks and includes performances of all 37 works penned by the

most famous English bard and figure of world literature. In order to complete the production of this project, entitled “Globe to Globe”, and properly reflect Shakespeare’s universal impact on world literature and theatre, each of the plays will be performed in another language. The project opened on April 23rd and the honour of representing Serbia in this unique theatrical event has been granted to the Belgrade National Theatre, which will make its premiere performance of “Henry the Sixth,” directed by Nikita Milivojević, on May 11th.

The lead role is played by Hadži Nenad Maričić, while the cast also includes Predrag Ejdus (Bishop of Winchester, later Cardinal), Tanasije Uzunović/Miodrag Krivokapić (Duke of Gloucester), Boris Pingović (Duke of Somerset), Nebojša Kundačina (Lord Talbot), Branko Jerinić (Earl of Warwick), Branislav Tomašević (Earl of Suffolk), Slobodan Beštić (Richard Plantagenet), Aleksandar Srećković (Charles, Dauphin of France), Pavle Jerinić (Vernon), Bojan Krivokapić (Basset) and Jelena Đulvezan (Joan of Arc).

The production team includes Ivana Dimić (dramatist), Boris Maksimović (set design), Marina Medenica (costume design), Dr Ljiljana Mrkić Popović (stage diction), Amalia Benet (movement), Bora Dugić (music) etc.

This play is co-produced with the Globe Theatre and the Laza Kostić Fund, while the Belgrade premiere is expected to take place on the Raša Plaović Stage in June.

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