In Serbia, Hidden Racism Rises To The Surface

To single out Serbia and its treatment of the Roma as though this is unique in Europe is a piece of moronic journalism. Many cities throughout the world have torn down slums to make way for new modern buildings, city expansion, schools and highways. The hugh new building in the background of this Roma slum betrays your effort. We have done this to the homeless right here in Los Angeles. At this very moment authorities in Pennsylvania are preparing to take the property of landowners, against their will, in order to build a monument to the victims of the 911 plane crash in that area. Your video reveals an unhealthy environment not only for the Roma but for the Serbian community that surrounds it... yet RFE has not demanded that Serbia be given the necessary international financial support to repair the $60 billion in damage done by NATO countries in bombing Serbia and placing Serbia into this desperate financial position of not having the money to help its poor or to rebuild after the war. For 8 years NATO and the US withheld food and medicine from Serbia, yet RFE never did a video on how Serbs survived or how they suffered through those years without even the basis of such things as aspirin, antibiotics, X-Ray film and chemicals and bandages that meant sudden death to hundreds including new born babies. The American Red Cross, under another hateful Serbophobe Elizabeth Dole, even withheld blood from Serbia as we killed thousands and wounding tens of thousands of victims. It was the first time in this century that the Red Cross stooped to using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war. Your video cleverly skirts over the fact that these Roma were warned for months to leave as the new construction was moving forward. For RFE to pretend now that this is racism is insulting to the intelligence of the viewers of this video.

David Duke and Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia are both former members of the KKK (Klu Klux Klan) a fanatic racists group, but that does not make all Americans racists. Therefore your attempt to utilize a few hundred fanatics in Serbia to further demonize the Serbian people with collective guilt is a form of racism itself. RFE remained somewhat silent in its coverage of the racist Croatian musician who sings songs about killing Serbs and who wears Nazi uniforms and gives Nazi salutes throughout his performance. That certainly does not make all Croats Nazis in spite of the fact that they were Nazis during the Holocaust in which they liquidated over one million Serbs, 60,000 Jews and 70,000 Roma. RFE also remained silent during the break up of Yugoslavia, never mentioning that 22,000 Waffen SS Hanjar troops in Bosnia who are alive and well 60 years later spewing their hatred of Serbs, none of whom were ever brought to justice for their war crimes. Your hideous lack of coverage of the destruction of 151 ancient Serbian Christian churches in Kosovo reveals your contempt for even handed journalism. RFE is full of bigots and self righteous journalists who during the war rarely gave the Serbs an opportunity to be heard or to counter your form of propaganda. Like Voice of America we now know they were financed by the CIA... Is George Soros financing your effort? He is another hateful Serbophobe. Shame on Radio Free Europe for selective journalism, however, it falls right in line with your sins of omission for which you have proven expert.

Between Serbia minus Kosovo and Kosovo minus Serbia, which of these two areas has the greater imperfect treatment of minorities (Roma included)?

For the ignorant on this subject, that's a rhetorical question to underscore a lingering bias.

Unfortunately, the Roma have had problems throughout Europe. Putting an emphasis on Serbia in the manner of this article is misrepresentative and part of an ongoing bias against that country.

Some might recall a not so distant RFE/RL piece claiming that Serbs at large haven't fessed up to past wrongs (http://www.rferl.org/content/Serbias_Decade_Of_Denial/1515731.html). This particular article in question downplays the anti-Serb propaganda, which has included the trumping up of casualty figures, later acknowledged as false (after the coverage on the subject declined).

There's such a thing as using human rights as a propaganda tool.

For accuracy and objectivity sake, RFE/RL can offer a more balanced perspective.

Allowing for the posting of dissenting comments is better than censoring them. That said, RFE/RL can offer a more complete kind of journalism.

Another propaganda hatchet job on the Serbs by the "nation builders" and humanitarian bombers who destroyed federal Yugoslavia and created clero-fascist junk statelets Croatia and Slovenia and Islamist Bosnia, the greatest ethnic cleansers in the wars of the 1990s. In "independent" Kosovo Roma people have been "re-settled" by "Western" do-gooders and their Islamist proxies on deadly lead-polluted land. Let the Roma speak: they'll tell you that life with Serbs is a helluva lot better than in other parts of post Cold War Europe. Just weeks ago, at the end of May, I (son of Irish-American parents) attended a commemoration in Serb Bosnia (Republika Srpska)of the genocide of 700,000 Serbs, 30,000 Jews, and 40,000 Roma by "Independent State of Croatia" in WW II. In attendance were Serbs, Jews and Roma.-- Where were your hot-shot reporters?

I have read the forum rules of RFE. My question is, did Iva Martinovic or the Editors of RFE?

Typical Yellow Journalism, report only part of a story, or to paraphrase Hitler, - tell a lie long enough and people will begin to believe it.

Anyone who has traveled to almost any part of Europe, including Croatia, England and France to name a few see Roma settlements if you know where to look. These and many other areas in Europe force their Roma population to live in even more depressing situations, then the Roma who live in Belgrade choose for their selves.

Serbia, much to the dismay of visitors and business travelers arriving from the airport are greeted by ‘shanty towns’ as they approach Belgrade, giving one a false impression of the city and it’s people.

These ‘shanty towns’ became even more visible following NATO’s ethnic cleansing of the Roma along with Serbs, Jews, Greeks and other non-Muslim nationalities from Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia etc who found refuge in Serbia, more specifically Belgrade.

To report his story fair and honest, if that thought occurred to him, Iva Martinovic should have told the few of us who check to see if RFE stills exists, that over the past year the Roma living in the area of Belgrade have been given notice to relocate and were even given suggestions where to move to make room for a much needed freeway and other improvement to the city after NATO’s bombing.

Like other residence in Belgrade the Roma pay no taxes of any type. The land they squat on belongs to the city for the most part. This has been their way of life for centuries.

I've been working in Serbia for the past 5 years and can say that the attempt of the writer to label an entire people as racist is irresponsible. The real culprit here is the EU and NATO for ruining the lives of the Roma. Tens of thousands of them have lost their homes in Kosovo and live in poverty in Serbia proper. As a receiving country for IDPs and refugees, Serbia is far too poor to be able to help these people. The EU knows this and refuses to help. Instead it gave over 100 million to the Kosovo Albaians for roads and tunnels.

RFE is not really "FREE" as I said before. It's certainly not free of biased reporting. I think RFE and whoever funds it is trying to create a wedge between the Serbs and the Romani, which have always been tight. The Romani musical group KAL was recently in the Pittsburgh area, and I purchased a red knitted scarf with a butterfly symbol in the middle for $60 to help the Romani create better living conditions and educational opportunities for their people. The place was packed and everyone was trying to help someway.
God bless and help the Romani AND the Serbs who have to continuously fight so many hard battles for the truth.

Same as in USA homeless even if you want and have money you can not change them they will live on the streets. It is much deeper situation and as in Los Angeles or any where these people towns settlements must be removed and are removed daily through out USA or any European City. This way of reporting it is wrong.

Thank you RFE/RL but what are you trying to prove? If you do similar features on the other countries in the Balkans and Europe generally,you would see that the Roma in Serbia are much better treated than they are in other countries.
The situation of the Roma in Mahala, Albanian controlled Southern Mitrovica, Kosovo i Metohija is the worst I've ever seen. Here the Roma are forced by the International Community to live in lead-polluted dumps with almost no access to fresh water. Their living conditions are abysmal and all of this is happening under the eyes of KFOR / NATO personnel. It is, of course, ethnic cleansing but nobody will stop it.
The ethnic cleansing I've witnessed in Kosovo over the last 10 years really only started to happen once NATO forces came to the province in 1999. Like it or not, that is the truth.

I am a businesswoman in Chicago, Illinois USA, who just this week had a group of 40 homeless people; men, women and children, removed by the city authorities and police from the area adjacent to my place of business. I am not racist and I was not attempting to ethnically cleanse Lower Wacker Dr. To suggest this is only done to Gypsies in Serbia is not only insulting to mainstream Serbs, it is ridiculous.
If the Shantytowns were allowed to remain your criticism would surely be that Belgrade, Nis, Krajevo etc. are cities not up to European standards and should do something to clean up the Shantytowns. You cannot have it both ways.
Finally it is true that the Gypsies of Serbia and really all of Eastern Europe, have a specific lifestyle that they choose to embrace and part of that is a free spirited, ready to pick up and move our tents to the next town, mentality. The word used in the Balkans to describe these nomadic people are "Chargashi" which means 'tent people'

It would be wrong to think that all Serbs are racist so I disagree with the article and being from the Balkans, yes the Roma live in some of the worst conditions around; Serbia is not unique to this sad situation. What I disagree with is the comments being placed on this website that blame NATO or the west for Serbia's problems and believe that it is the Serbs being cleansed or being discriminated against. Wasn't it Milosevic who committed genocide and went on a cleansing spree? Who's president was he? Who's army did he use to accomplish his sick goals? Please don’t start blaming your countries problems on something your past presidents and leaders created. Serbia has major problems just like every other Balkan country trying to make a place in the international community but your problems were much bigger way before NATO or the “West” came in.