[Peace-discuss] Democrat's reputation precedes him

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Biden gets mixed reception in Belgrade
	20 May, 2009, 19:22

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 nationalist 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 architechts of the NATO bombings of Serbian 
territory in 1999.

Kosovo is going to be Biden's last stop on his Balkan tour on Thursday.

http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-05-20/Biden_gets_mixed_reception_in_Belgrade.html/print