Belgrade is extremely safe for citizens and foreigners, that’s why these attacks are quite shocking and appaulling. Many foreigners, I’m sure, have been feeling less safe these days. Something I thought I would never say about Belgrade to be honest.

Hopefully, there’ll be no more incidents and things can get back to the way they were.

Unfortunately, some Serbs in the audience, all of them progressive people, considered my work nothing more than anti-Serb. Others, younger, thought I was right, but still I found very discouraging that people who have a certain level of influence within the progressive circles within the Democratic Party would think that a foreigner saying what I’ve said could be dismissed as anti-serb.

In April I was given information by a credible source that the government and BIA were making moves to tackle the problem, namely by attacking their sources of financement (an issue that I didn’t have the possibility to investigate myself, but which I think is the key to uncover who is behind them). I was glad to know about that, and my source also told me that as their money was drying up, these groupuscules were shrinking and disappearing.

However, this is an essential characteristic of such movements, they dissolve and reappear very easily due to their informality. If you’re interested I can send you my article, which is going to be published soon in a book.

OK, I think I spoke too soon.

I am starting to think that there were substantial reasons the government acted as they did. The extremists were MUCH more organised than I was giving them credit for. Reports of arms caches, rocks disguised as apples, petrol bombs hidden in drains etc.

I think the most telling statement came form the Interior Minister, Ivica Dacic:

“It wouldn’t just have been members of extremist organizations congregating in the streets of Belgrade, but, according to information from the intelligence services, members of the public too, who aren’t members of Obraz or the 1389 Movement,” Dačić said”

http://b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=09&dd=22&nav_id=61892

It appears that what tipped Dacic over the edge was the BIA (Internal Intelligence Service) revealing the extent of the extremists organisation, along with the prospect that the parade would be attacked not just by Obraz and 1389, but ordinary citizens.

Also, the Serbian government and the organization already decided on Friday to cancel the parade, not on Saturday. The threats were too real and large, and it was more then a handful of thugs, it was thousands of people that had organized to cause harm at it with detailed guerilla like tactics. Just from republika srpska alone over 2,500 people were ready to be bused into Belgrade for it, plus thousands more from around the country.

In one case on saturday over 200 people in Karaburma had armed themselves with guns and knifes, and they even had made bracelets and t-shirts to look like they were supporters of the pride. They had plans to infiltrate it inside before it was closed off at 11 am, and to cause harm from inside of it. Others also had detailed plans to attack people and wait for them after the parade in different places, where they were staying, en route, etc.

Serious and grave harm was going to be caused, and the Serbian government knew it. They had to do damage control fast and cancel the parade or else as bad as the reputation looks now, it would have been a helluva alot worst if the parade went on on Sunday. Whatever measures they took a lot of people would have been seriously injured or killed, and they did try to take a lot of measures up in the past month.

They had been organizing police escorts for everyone that was coming to belgrade for the parade, before and after, they tried and contacted with everyone from the organizations to the places they were staying, and they were ready to do it if they had to, but they spoke with the organizers and basically told them it is not going to go over well even with all of this protection that we give you and the organizers agreed in the end and cancelled it.

They are dissapointed of course, but give the police and the organizers both a little it of credit and respect for cancelling this parade. It is sad that they had to bow down to extremism, and that is the fault of the serbian government over the past many years as someone stated earlier, but they were trying finally not to, but in the end they realized they could not protect the people and it was in the best interest of everyone to cancel it.

Now this will spark debate amongst the politicians and people of Belgrade and serbia, and hopefully move the country more forward into doing more to break up these extremism groups, ban them, and prevent them from being able to organize so well in the future, but it will take time, and it could not be rushed and done within one or two months.

For us, friends of the city of Belgrade it is indeed sad to face this outcome. This is not to deny that things have been changing for the better, but rather to regret a missed opportunity to stand by the proclaimed values which helped this government get domestic and international support.