Balkanalysis.com

Archive for July, 2004

Counterpoint: More than Meets the Eye in Vojvodina

In the spirit of democratic debate, we are pleased to offer this counterpoint to Lбszlу Szentesi Zцldi’s recent article on the Hungarian minority in Vojvodina, by none other than Nebojsa Malic.
An ill wind blows in Serbia’s northern province, says Lбszlу Szentesi Zцldi, reporting that the Hungarian population in Vojvodina is [...]

Readers Choice: Julyís Most Popular Books and More

Balkanalysis.com readers this month bought a combination of old Balkan favorites, adventurous additions as well as completely unrelated items from our affiliate, Amazon.com. We quickly go down the list here in order to show the best of the bunch, as well as some other engrossing works on themes of interest [...]

Vojvodina: A Hungarian View

With this article from Lбszlу Szentesi Zцldi, a Hungarian journalist and foreign affairs adviser in Budapest, our readers are treated to the Hungarian view on current relations with Serbia. Formerly a reporter for Hungarian Television and Duna Television, Lбszlу is presently editor of Budapest’s Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
Vojvodina, the northern province of [...]

Skopjeís Decentralization Protest: The Definitive Analysis

Every so often, a protest is held against the government in one of Europe’s restive “transition” countries. On the off-chance that the CIA is not behind the event, the mass media is at a loss for how to describe it. And so, when protests aren’t considered important enough to be portrayed [...]

Referendums In Wonderland

After a night of ominous thunder and rain in Skopje, with the great referendum protest looming in just 4 hours, there is already grumbling that President Branko Crvenkovski – established wheeler-dealer that he is – has been able to fix things with the weather to ruin the big event.
However, whether or not the [...]

The Balkan Auction Goods Craze Proves Infectious

One of the most popular features we’ve added to the Balkanalysis.com website over the past few months has been the eBay on-line auction service. While we suspect most of the company’s business comes from computers, cameras, autos and boats, we’ve made a commitment to our readers in that we highlight on [...]

Struga Riots Show the Fun May Just Be Starting in Macedonia

Ever since the Macedonian government decided to wed decentralization of power with territorial realignments, the 64 million dollar question has been whether or not the people would someday rebel. Up to now, the gradual whittling away of the country has been met with at most dark grumblings and complaints. Yet while [...]

Bulgarian Mom Blames US for Sonís Death, Danger Remains for Iraq Contractors

The mother of a Bulgarian contractor beheaded in Iraq is blaming the US for her son’s death, reports Novinite.com. The death is only the latest in a wave of killings that is making countries involved reconsider their presence in Iraq.Interviewed on Bulgarian radio, Maria Lazova, mother of murdered driver Georgi Lazov, [...]

Kostov to Quit if Referendum Succeeds; Government Fraud Laid Bare

Macedonian PM Hari Kostov has promised to step down if opposition forces pushing a referendum against the government’s decentralization plan succeed. Meanwhile, the government’s underhanded tactics to sell the plan were detected by the local media this week, causing more reason to criticize a policy which opposition leader Nikola Gruevski [...]

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown

By Paul Theroux; 472 pages (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003)
Reviewed by Michael McCarthy
Love him or hate him, there’s no ignoring veteran travel writer Paul Theroux. He’s been called a misanthropic complainer and things a lot worse; now you can call him an old misanthropic complainer too, because on the [...]

The Truman Show

A film review by guest author Dr. Sam Vaknin.
The Truman Show is a profoundly disturbing movie. On the surface, it deals with the worn out issue of the intermingling of life and the media.
Examples of such incestuous relationships abound:
Ronald Reagan, the cinematic president was also a presidential movie star. In another [...]

Ohrid Through the Ages

It was known as Lychnidos – ‘City of Light’ – to the ancient Greeks, and any visitor can appreciate the appellation. Ohrid, with its varying colors and climes, remains the inscrutable soul of southwestern Macedonia, its surface sometimes stained glass, other times carved into foam-flecked waves of steely grey. And the lake’s unfathomable, brooding [...]

The Kragujevac Massacre

This article, by guest author Carl Savich, originally appeared on Serbianna.com.
In the summer of 1941, Serbian guerrillas launched an uprising in central Serbia against the German occupation. The Serbian uprising spread and increased in intensity threatening the German military occupation of Serbia and endangering the German southern flank in Europe. The Serbian uprising came [...]

Ankara Awaits Its Invitation

This analysis of Turkish-EU relations comes to us from Lбszlу Szentesi Zцldi, a Hungarian journalist and foreign affairs adviser in Budapest. Formerly a reporter for Hungarian Television and Duna Television, Lбszlу is currently editor of Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
Turkey is preparing for EU membership with reforms- even as military operations [...]

The Matrix

A film review by guest author Dr. Sam Vaknin.
It is easy to confuse the concepts of “virtual reality” and a “computerized model of reality (simulation)”. The former is a self-contained Universe, replete with its “laws of physics” and “logic”. It can bear resemblance to the real world or not. It can be consistent or [...]

Georgian Security and Defense: Interview with David Darchiashvili

David Darchiashvili is the leading expert on Georgian security and defense matters, and was recently appointed executive director of George Soros’ Open Society- Georgia. In this exclusive interview, conducted by Balkanalysis.com director Christopher Deliso, he discusses the security challenges facing Georgia today, Georgia’s defense cooperation with the West, and [...]

Skopje Investigators Wary of Salafi Influence

Counter-terrorism officials in the Balkans have become increasingly interested in the phenomenon of Salafi Islam- the austere school of Islam that preaches a return to the “pure” teachings laid down by Muhammad, before they were allegedly corrupted by innovations and wayward religious thought. Salafi revivalists have shown interest in the [...]

On One Summer Night in Skopje, All Hearts Beat for Toshe

Concert Review: Toshe Proeski at Skopje’s City Stadium, 29/6/04
In a small country like Macedonia, with few modern-day heroes and a penchant for pessimism, there’s nothing like a concert by first son Toshe Proeski to lift the spirits of the locals and, in some cases, to burn an indelible, incendiary mark on the [...]