Kosovo's declaration of independence -1

You know when people talk about important historical events and ask you where you were at that precise moment (JFK, 9/11, the fall of the Berlin wall, the murder of Olof Palme...). Well take this for irony, where was I during the declaration of independence of Kosovo yesterday? and the day before on D-1? In Belgrade!!! An interesting moment for sure to be there, discussing the situation with a friend working at the Ministry of Kosovo in Serbia, with some other more pro-independence Serbs, and seeing a demonstration up front. Here is my report from the weekend, enjoy the photos.

Here are some quite interesting pictures from Belgrade taken Saturday during a demonstration against the declaration of independence of Kosovo the next day. This demonstration was quite calm though it included lots of singing and screaming, but no throwing of rocks as the day after. First picture shows the assembly of some of the participants to the demonstration having been brought in by buses. The picture is taken in front of the National Parliament.

Second picture is taken on the front of the demonstration at the pedestrian street in the middle of central Belgrade, where most people were busy with Saturday shopping until the demonstrators came by. The wording on the banderol reads something like "It shall remain ours" (though I cannot remember the exact translation), and you can see a mixture of football fans/hooligans who for the occasion of the day had decided not to wear their club emblems (they are normally enemies) and what looks like representatives of the Serbian orthodox church. You also see religious pictures and emblems, and on the right hand side some reporters filming the event. The photographers were running in front of the demonstration and were hence next to me and out of the picture.

Third picture is from in front of the Slovenian embassy where the demonstration started. On the picture you can see some of the policemen left behind to protect the embassy. It is interesting to note that this place, though next to the park of the famous fortress of Belgrade, is not the natural starting point for demonstrations in the city, which normally takes place on the central square of "The Horse", however because of the Slovenian EU presidency the demonstration was moved here.

Last picture shows a famous statue in the park of the fortress of Belgrade which was raised after WW2 in commemoration of the collaboration between France and Serbia against the Nazis. The normal inscription praising France has been covered with a white sheet with large letters stating: A la France avec qui nous version notre sang et qui faisait part de nos prières mais QUI N'EXISTE PLUS!!! So in short, to France who we fought with and supported, but who does not exist anymore. The text is written in Serbian on one side and French on the other… I think the pictures speak a lot for themselves.