Didn’t think I’d still use this category anymore, seeing that I live here now, so everything more-or-less has to do with the area…but here are a few news items worth noting regarding this place they call the Balkans:
CNN: Pope to mark 100th overseas tour in Croatia<blockquote>…despite his age and infirmities, John Paul sets out Thursday on No. 100, five days in Croatia, a Roman Catholic stronghold in the Balkans.
…Ahead of him this year is a June 22 day trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina…</blockquote>Nothing else worth noting in this article except one decent picture. His trip into BiH is to Banja Luka, the capital of the Orthodox RS part of the country. Hmm…
I could say more about the evident nationalism that revolves around religious affiliation here, but it’s stupid and not worth even talking about.
VOA: Mass Grave Unearthed in Bosnia
VOA: Bosnia and Herzegovina Envoy Says Country Faces Severe Economic Problems …despite the harsh title, this article has some good, balanced quotes from Paddy Ashdown about the state of things here…<blockquote>He points out that Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of just under two million people, has 11 prime ministers, just as many ministers of the interior, 11 ministers of health and 11 ministers of education.
Despite his concerns, Mr. Ashdown is hopeful the country, known locally as BiH, is on the right road.
“Where we are now in BiH is coming out of the post-conflict era and moving into what I will call the pre-transition era,” he said. “Somewhere up ahead of us in the next six or eight months is the entrance to the transition tunnel, the other side of which is Europe. More and more the issues we deal with in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not issues of conflict.</blockquote>
Ellen’s Journey: Pictures from a Roadtrip …great shots of the countryside and of a very famous bridge…I coincidentally just started reading The Bridge on the Drina this week.