Expansion and Migration: The Western Balkans as a European Enclave

The stringency of the EU visa regime is becoming increasingly difficult to justify in terms of security, because it has come to resemble Europe’s panicked wakeful watch over its identity and fictitious homogeneity. Vajka Ćirić warns that the isolation of the Western Balkans will not only lead to a thriving of trans-national crime, but, paradoxically, to a Europe closed in the Balkan manner

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BIRN update

BIRN's latest edition is now available.

Rock The Vote

According to the Independent, Serbia's democracy was saved at the 11th hour, although some bloggers were less than 100% convinced. Included in the prize package however, is the possible reopening of the SAA talks.
Not to be left out, the ousted Toma Nikolic shared some of his thoughts and predictions with the press.

Meanwhile, onto a less important, but no less controverstrial election; the Eurovision contest.
Bosnia's entry is one of the youngest participants: Maria Sestic. Her song, despite containing lyrics such as:
: "You are my pain, You are my sorrow, Just once more I want, To be with you, And let my heart ache, Forever for you, With it I DIE."(cap. for dramatic effect) ; we are told is really is not a sad song, but a love song. And speaking of sad songs, Spinner Magazine just came out with their list of the 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World (English language songs only though).

Before attending the Eurovision comp. Maria visited Serbia where she was a guest of Serbia's very popular entry, Marija Serifovic.

Rounding out some of the regional finalists include: Alenka Gotar-Slovenia, Korolina-Macedonia, Sarbel-Greece Kenan Dogolu-Turkey, among others.

But alas, no singing competition can be complete without some slight ethnopolitical controversy.


And as a way of uniting these two seemingly disjointed topics (the ousting of Nikolic and the Eurovision competition) together, here is a link to the very entertaining Music for Maniacs Blog.

Statues of Limitations

There is a new trend in monument buildings in the countries of former
Yugoslavia. After the wars that aimed to eradicate the multi-
cultural character of the former society, now the monuments are built
in celebration of that very character to globally recognized
imaginary heroes that fight for justice and protect the innocent:
Bruce Lee in Mostar (Bosnia), Rocky Balboa in Zitiste (Serbia),
Winettou in Plitvice (Croatia), Tarzan in Medja (Serbia) - birthplace
of Jonny Weismueller, and Samantha Fox (before breast-reduction) in
Cacak, the capital of Serbian country music...

Rest of synopsis and full article (in Croatian)

I'm not aware of the creation stories for the other statues; but I do know that the Mostar statue came about as an attempt to bring together the different communities in Mostar; in the words of one person involved :

Lee was chosen by organisers as a symbol of the fight against ethnic divisions.

"We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats," said Veselin Gatalo of the youth group Urban Movement Mostar.

"But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."

Unfortunately, as this picture in the article attests to, someone didn't like that idea, or didn't like Bruce Lee, or perhaps was simply drunk and/or bored and vandalized the statue.

I can understand Jonny Weismueller for the regional connection; and I can even (although I've never made it through a "Rocky" film) understand the Rocky infatuation given "Rocky's" tough-guy, never give up message; but Samantha Fox? It isn't like turbofolk is lacking in similarly um, endowed women; is Fox especially popular in the Balkans?

BIRN

Recent article updates on the latest happenings in Balkan politics.

Raccoon Inc.

If you are not aware of this advocate group, you may want to check out their website. Their website describes the purpose of their group as:

Become a network of individuals and organizations dedicated to communal healing and self-reliance among peoples of the Western Balkans.

For more information, please feel free to check out their website. But, watch out for the flashing flags; it can make one very dizzy.

The tunes of the Balkans

Found this article over at Yakima's.

Excerpts:

Balkanika Music Television is using pop-folk music — a uniquely
post-Communist Balkan blend of Western pop, Euro- dance, traditional folk and
eastern or Turkish styles — to create a sort of cultural unity as well as a
common music market.

So far, the toughest nut for Balkanika to crack has been Croatia. That is not
because of any lack of enthusiasm for pop-folk — or just "folk" as it is called
in the former Yugoslavia — but because of national feelings, said Alen Borbas,
Balkanika's representative in Croatia and Bosnia. Croatian channels, Borbas
said, won't show pop-folk videos because the genre is too closely associated
with Serbia, whose pop-folk industry is the most developed in the
Balkans.
"People say that if you listen to pop- folk, you are not a Croatian
patriot"Still, he said, he can see attitudes changing: "Many people here listen
to pop-folk, even the former soldiers."