UPDATE: December 9th – it turns out we are NOT boycotting after all. After a somewhat mixed public protest, it seems that President Tadic decided that it would be too embarrasing not to send a representative. I think the fact that president’s own father was a dissident during Tito’s rule decided in the end. We are not sending an ambassador, though, but an ombudsman – Sasa Jankovic (who is really doing a good job, by the way). So there you have it, it’s decided. Two things that came to my mind after all this, one – China’s human right regulations have really been A LOT in the media here thanks to the previous decision, and two – we are still living in a country where one guy (Tadic) decides on all matters instead of common sense.
OLD NEWS:
This year’s peace prize will go to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, only symbolically, that is, because he is in prison in China, arrested for a horrendous crime of calling for greater freedom of expression, human rights, and for free elections – in China! But I’m sure you all know everything about this by now.
This is where Serbia comes in – today the country refused to send a representative from the embassy in Oslo who would attend the peace prize ceremony, and thus joined the team of other 18 countries who also in this way expressed their dissatisfaction with the Nobel peace committee’s choice. In comparison, when Martii Ahtisaari received the prize two years ago, there were 10 countries who boycotted the ceremony, Serbia included.
picture taken in the USA, not Serbia
The reason Serbia boycotts this year’s ceremony is kind of a mystery. It’s the only country in Europe who decided to do this. Most other countries are doing it merely as a sign of disrespect for the West, while others are very much dependent on China. Some countries, like Russia, for example, just have more important stuff to do at that time. Serbia, on the other hand, has no other reason than China’s stance on Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence. The public opinion on this matter, as always checked through comments left on news sites, is basically that Serbian MFA made a wise decision because “China is soon to be worlds leading superpower, let’s suck up to them” or “Nobel peace committee lost all credibility after giving the prize to Barack Obama”.
What do you think Serbia should have done on this matter? Would China even notice Serbia’s attendance in Oslo?
See more great photos at: Andreas H. Lunde
Tweet
Protest against the prohibition – updated
Belgrade Gay Pride Parade 2010 – news, live coverage, opinions, aftermath
[...] writes about Serbia's decision to boycott this year's Nobel peace prize [...]
[...] writes about Serbia's decision to boycott this year's Nobel peace prize [...]
I think Serbia is still sore about the 2008 prize going to Martti Ahtisaari, a man considered by many in Serbia to be a leading Serbophobe.
And they are keeping an eye on China. This Nobel prize seem to be a big deal to China, but not that big a deal to the EU or USA, so they are opting for the cynical, lowest cost option of siding with China and Russia.
I think it is a disgrace, and the government ought to be ashamed.
While it’s true that a lot of people here think that Nobel peace prize lost much of it’s credibility by giving the award to Ahtisaari and maybe even Obama, I don’t understand is how this boycott from the Serbian side is going to help restore the credibility of the Nobel peace price. I believe that this year the Nobel committee made one of the best choices in many years.
Today the Serbian govt said they had to do it because China boycotted the Ahtisaari award ceremony – this is sort of a payback.
Just another example of how abjectly provincial Serbs can be.
I’m not sure which is more astoundingly adolescent: The fact that they tie even this to Kosovo or the fact that they think anyone else gives a flying f*ck.
well, obviously people give a fuck if its drawing headlines all over the world. why not boycott the nobel peace prize?? China did for us over Kosovo, China could care less about this little piece of territory in a European country hundreds of miles away, yet because it was important to us, they did so. Why shouldn’t we also support China on an issue that they consider really important? They did it for us, and we need to give support back. pretty simple.
@asdf
Firstly, China isn’t for Serbia, China’s for China. China doesn’t care about Serbia, China cares about Taiwan and sees some parallels. China hasn’t done a single thing for Serbia out of “friendship”. The fact that many Serbs see this as “friendship” is an example of the appalling provincialism I referred to in my previous post.
“They did it for us, and we need to give support back”
This is the crux of Serbia’s Kosovo problem – Kosovo is lost and now Serbia is simply open to manipulation forever by it’s new “friends”
What is this “support” of which you speak, exactly? Supporting jailing innocents because of free speech?
Great values Serbia has these days.
The reason for Serbia’s refusal to send its representative is definitely connected to Taiwan because the situation in Taiwan is roughly analogous to that in Kosovo.
Om ni åker till Lund och vill äta något riktigt gott så bör ni verkligen testa en räkmacka på Grand Hotel.