http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-05-20/Biden_gets_mixed_reception_in_Belgrade.html/print
Russia Today
May 20, 2009
Biden gets mixed reception in Belgrade
US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Serbia on Wednesday to try to improve
relations with this Balkan country. Unlike the Serbian President, some MPs
preferred to “greet” him in a different manner.
Unlike the Serbian President, who rolled out the red carpet for Biden, some
parliamentarians preferred to “greet” him in a different manner.
Joe Biden’s trip to Serbia is a part of a three-day tour of the Balkans meant
to demonstrate the renewed interest of the United States in the region, AP
reports. He said his trip to the Serbian capital Belgrade, where he arrived
from Bosnia, is aimed at establishing “healthy” relations between the Obama
administration and Serbia’s authorities.
However, the country’s nationalist parties have opposed Biden's visit, saying
it amounts to a "humiliation" of the country.
According to AFP, members of Serbia’s...Radical Party, which holds
approximately 20 percent of the seats in the Parliament, met Joe Biden in
Belgrade with banners saying “Biden, you Nazi scum go home!” and “Biden, you
fascist scum go home!” The MPs were holding them during the live transmission
from the meeting.
Apart from that, all nationalist members of the parliament were wearing
t-shirts depicting a portrait of the head of their party, Vojislav Seselj, who
was incriminated by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes.
Members of the party accuse Biden of being the chief advocate of the 1999
bombing of Kosovo, the predominantly ethnic Albanian-populated region
considered by Serbs the medieval cradle of their statehood and religion, the AP
reports.
Serbian officials, backed by Russia in the UN Security Council, have repeatedly
said they would never recognize Kosovo's statehood, and that they would try to
retain the province by peaceful, diplomatic means.
The US Vice President, however, is known to be a staunch supporter of Kosovo’s
independence. From 1997, he has been actively participating in the Senate’s
foreign policy, and was one of the architects of the NATO bombings of Serbian
territory in 1999.
Kosovo is going to be Biden's last stop on his Balkan tour on Thursday.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
