Serbia TV Apologises...... (in other news....)

[Patrick]

From The Grauniad:

Two decades after its reporting helped fuel the worst bloodshed in Europe since the second world war, Serbia's state-run television has apologised to viewers throughout the former Yugoslavia for serving as the key propaganda tool of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.

Radio Television of Serbia - or RTS - said in a statement posted on its website that the station's programmes were "almost constantly and heavily abused" by Milosevic's regime with the aim of discrediting his political and ethnic opponents and spreading the official propaganda.

The broadcaster "apologises to the citizens of Serbia and those of neighbouring countries who were subject to insult, slander and what would now be termed as hate speech", the statement added.

The apology is the first by Serbia's state broadcaster, which was one of the symbols of Milosevic's era and a key pillar of his decade-long rule, marked by wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, international isolation and economic decline.

[riotgrrl]

Propaganda + Peasant society with a limited middle class = bad news.

Alas poor Serbia . . .

Of course, the history of the media in Serbia during Milosevic is an interesting one because of B92, the independent radio station run by students and young pepole and radicals in Belgrade. There's even a book about it (called, I think, This Is Serbia Calling).

You'd be interested in it Patrick with your background in local radio. It's a tale of media and power.

[Patrick]

I shall look that up. Ta.

How odd that this should pop up in the news and now we have today's latest about Ratko Mladic! You wait ages for a Serbian story then two come along in as many days!

[jean]

Indeed.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13561407

I'm waiting for Riot to tell me what to think about it.

(I remember some time ago asking Riot what we should have done in Bosnia, and she replied with a list of what we shouldn't have done, and I meant to say 'Yes, but...' and repeat my question, but I never did.

Is the answer 'Nothing'?)

[riotgrrl]

May 26, 2011 13:13:41 GMT jean said:

Indeed.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13561407

I'm waiting for Riot to tell me what to think about it.

(I remember some time ago asking Riot what we should have done in Bosnia, and she replied with a list of what we shouldn't have done, and I meant to say 'Yes, but...' and repeat my question, but I never did.

Is the answer 'Nothing'?)

At last Mladic is arrested; this will help in the longer term rehabilitation of the Serbs and Serbia.

What should "we" have done in Bosnia? How about we had gone in earlier and taken out with strategic strikes those Bosnian Serb army posts that were targetting civilians, such as when Sarajevo was under siege. NATO could have ended the siege of Sarajevo in a week - instead it lasted for nearly four years before NATO did that.

In the meantime, ineffectual UN 'policing' meant the Bosnian Serbs were free to carry out the most horrible of war crimes wtih apparent impunity. THEY got the message that NATO wasn't going to intervene, and behaved accordingly.



Then, to 'make up for it', we bombed Belgrade for no apparent reason, something which Alex Salmond described at the time as 'folly', remarks which nearl cost him his career. He was, of course, right and his career seems to be back on track.

[riotgrrl]

May 26, 2011 12:38:14 GMT Patrick said:

I shall look that up. Ta.

How odd that this should pop up in the news and now we have today's latest about Ratko Mladic! You wait ages for a Serbian story then two come along in as many days!

It's cause they know I'm going to Bosnia in a few weeks. They're fixing it all before I get there so there's no unpleasantness.

[riotgrrl]

Just updated my FB status:

Congratulations to Serbia for arresting Ratko Mladic. This wonderful and unfairly maligned nation deserves to be embraced into the famliy of nations and hopefully this will remove an obstacle to that. Живела Србија

[Patrick]

The more baddies they bring to justice, the sooner they can all go back to try and live in harmony - ish? I know I always drag this analogy out, but it's all I've got, but I knew someone who spent a lot of time over there before the last lot of stuff blew up - and he was told how all the ordinary folk get on perfectly well together, happily integrated. It just tends to be the leaders who stir the pot.

[Patrick]

From Channel Four news, click to read on.
Many days in the life of a roving reporter begin early, but that day started earlier than most. There was a knock at the door around 3am and our translator said I had to get up. The interview was on, it was happening – and happening now.

It was September 5th 1995, the fog hanging thick in the darkness over the maize fields in the valleys of Bosnia-Herzegovina, where we had been staying. The interview had been talked about for months, but even now we did not think it would actually take place.

We drove west to the border checkpoint with Republika Srpska – the Bosnian Serb enclave that had been carved out under the military leadership of General Ratko Mladic. It was daylight now and our escort was there to pick us up. Burly men in civilian clothing – jeans and leather jackets – the insignia of heavies across the western world and beyond. They had handguns and were pretty obnvious about displaying that fact.

They led in their car and we followed. But just in case of any misunderstanding, one of their team was placed none too subtly into the back seat of our vehicle.

Link to video only:
bcove.me/0i0gpl1s

[Patrick]

Channel Four News excellent on this tonight! Worth a look on +1 If you're missing it now.

[riotgrrl]

Of course it serves Serbia's current national interest to have Mladic painted as a war criminal and 'othered' from the rest of the Bosnian Serbs.

In reality, many - if not most - of the Bosnian Serbs in particular (they being the sort of country cousins of the Serbian Serbs) think he's a hero.

Mind you, the Croats, who the Germans and Austrians are falling over to bring into the heart of Europe, have a great love for some very dodgy fascist characters and that's never mentioned in polite society.

Easier to blame the Serbs for everything I guess.

They're a shower of f*kers in the Balkans! But lovely wine!

[sesley]

if they can bring old nazis to justice even if they are deaf and in wheel chairs this guy can answer for his dreadful crimes which i read about in the papers yesturday.The bastard! He should get what he gave to his victims,i wonder if his henchmen are being hunted too. This terrible time of 20 the century also showed the uselessness of the UN who were powerless to act to protect the poor people from slaughter.