Stephen Wordsworth

EXIT 09

On 9 July I went back to Novi Sad for the opening of the EXIT Festival.  We gathered on the terrace of the Petrovaradin Fortress, enjoying the fantastic view across the Danube to Novi Sad, as the Mayor, Igor Pavličić, and EXIT general manager, Bojan Bošković, both made short speeches of welcome.  Then we walked around the venue together, sampling the range of different musical styles of offer.  The fortress is in many ways a fantastic venue, with thick walls providing good sound insulation, so the different stages can be quite close together and work at the same time, without creating musical confusion.  The crowds were peaceful, with lots of young people clearly set on having the first of several great musical nights.  We visited the main stage for a while, and watched a British rapper, Roots Manuva, and his band.  To be honest it's not what I would normally listen to, but he got a great reception from the crowd.  Meanwhile our Embassy consular team had set up their stand at the Festival camp site, and were starting to provide a range of assistance to the roughly 4,500 Brits who were camping there - providing information, and helping resolve various problems including some suspected cases of swine flu and other medical issues.

Then in the early hours of 11 July we got the tragic news that a young British visitor to the Festival had been killed in an accidental fall.  The consular team in London were in touch with the family, and our team at the camp site worked with the local authorities and with the friends of the young man to establish what had happened and how.  Naturally the friends decided not to stay at the Festival, and our consular team and the organisers worked hard to help them return to the UK that afternoon.  For the young man's friends, it was a very distressing end to something that had started so well, and it left our team deeply saddened too; but they did their jobs professionally and saw the group to the airport and onto their planes. 

The rest of the Festival passed without serious incident, and most Festival goers seem to have had a great time.  The Festival itself ended early on Monday 13 July, but the camp site stayed open until Wednesday 15 July, allowing people to disperse slowly.  As always, a small number of people were detained for possession of drugs, having ignored all the advice that we and others had been giving out.  They ended up in court, and were fined.  And for the past few days we have been processing cases of missing passports, in some cases re-uniting people who thought they had lost them with their passports that had been found and turned in by others, in other cases issuing emergency passports to get people back to the UK. 

So that's it for another year.  But for many of us the abiding memory of this EXIT will be of a young man's tragic death.  Our thoughts are with his family.

Posted at 15:36 16 July 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[3]

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

We celebrated the Queen's official birthday in Belgrade on 16 June, with our traditional garden party.  Having spent the previous week worrying about possible rain, in the end the afternoon was the hottest on record so far this year, and our concern was more that some people might wilt in the heat.  We had almost 900 guests, from every area of Serbia's public life - Government Ministers, mayors, other officials, business people, the local leaders of the main religious groups, journalists, cultural figures, NGO representatives, other diplomats - all the people we work with during the year.  In our 40 minutes on the receiving line, my wife and I shook (or so I am told) some 700 hands, before we passed on the hand-shaking task to my Deputy and his wife, and got free to circulate.  The press were out in force, and I explained to them, as I do every year, why our Queen has an official birthday - it goes back to King Edward VII, whose real birthday was in November but who liked parades, so an 'official' birthday in June was the obvious only answer. 

I also explained that we see this annual event as our chance to say a big thank you to all our friends in Serbia - we are building ever closer cooperation in many areas, not just on big issues such as Serbia's EU integration process, but also many smaller but important things that most people don't know about (though if you read this blog regularly, you will know about many of them by now).  As the sun went down, it got a little cooler, and as the waiters bustled around with their trays, people relaxed.  We ended with both national anthems, and everyone seemed to drift off happily.  Job done, until next year!

Any Comments? - in Serbian or in English?

Posted at 19:10 17 June 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[5]

Young Lions

On 26 May I was invited to the Pasuljanske Livade training ground, where officer cadets of the Military Academy performed a military exercise, called “Diplomac 2009” - a sort of demonstration of all they had learned.  There were two parts to the exercise, the first a display of more traditional 'war-fighting' activity, with planes, helicopters and tanks blasting away at distant targets, the second a demonstration of 'peace-keeping' skills, with the cadets wearing blue helmets and UN flags flying. 

I found the second part more fun to watch, as the soldiers showed how they would search cars at a check point (we were asked to note how, at a UN checkpoint, the soldiers actually in close contact with civilians are always unarmed), and then checked individual civilians passing through on foot.  During the latter search, the soldiers 'discovered' that one man they were checking was carrying a concealed pistol, so he was led away for questioning, while his girlfriend followed behind, protesting vociferously (and in English) 'Let him go, he is my brother'! Let him go!', etc.  He was detained, but she was let go, and (predictably enough) she returned soon afterwards with 'angry villagers' who began attacking the checkpoint, pelting the soldiers with oranges (safer than rocks, for exercise purposes) and starting a small fire.  The soldiers remained calm, eventually some 'tear gas' (yellow smoke) was deployed, and the 'villagers' retreated.  At which point an even angrier 'villager' turned up and began firing at the checkpoint with a Kalashnikov, to which the soldiers - now allowed by their rules of engagement to use lethal force, in self-defence - responded. 

In all, it was a good show.  At the end President Tadic announced that Serbia plans to deploy a further group of soldiers to a UN mission in Chad, so the training should come in useful.  I wish them every success.

Posted at 09:24 01 June 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[0]

London Calling

Posted at 17:00 12 May 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[1]

Classical Mood - with feeling!

On 10 May I went to a concert at the Sava Centre by the London Symphony Orchestra, under their Russian principal conductor, Valerij Gergijev.  The programme was entirely of Russian music, Rachmaninov and Prokoviev - dramatic pieces, played with tremendous confidence and vigour. 

The orchestra's visit to Belgrade was the first night of a 'five day, five city' tour, taking in also Zagreb, Budapest, Vilnius and Tallinn.  The audience responded with great enthusiasm.  It was wonderful to see an orchestra of this top world quality in Belgrade - a sign that, in yet another way, Serbia is now firmly 'back on the map'.

Posted at 15:13 11 May 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[0]

Remember the Past, Look to the Future

On 9 May I and many other Ambassadors joined Serbia's Defence Minister in an act of commemoration of Victory Day, at the Mount Avala memorial.  It was a beautiful day, but a solemn occasion, as we laid wreathes in honour of those who gave the lives for the defence of their country. 

It was sad also to reflect that, for many countries of Central and Eastern Europe, victory did not bring freedom, but another occupation, with eight years of Stalinism and, in all, some forty five years of repression and impoverishment before the wave of democratisation led to the break-up of the old Communist structures and a new era of freedom.  So it was fitting to move straight on from Avala to celebrate that change later that day, with the 'Day of Europe' events in Belgrade's Knez Mihailova street, which was unofficially re-named 'Europe Street' for the day.  Most EU countries, including most of the new members who achieved their democratic freedom in the early 1990s, had a stall in the street with information material, and many also organised events. 

We had visits to our stand from Serbs who play our national sports, cricket, rowing and rugby, and other celebrities; we also organised quizzes, and showcased some of our latest music with one of our own staff as DJ. Our efforts were ably supported by RTV B92 sport journalists and by DJ Marko Gangbengers, who brought an audience of all ages to our stand. Their knowledge of British sports and music was very impressive.  We got a great response from the passers-by, the sun shone, and I hope many people went away with the sense that 'Europe' - in other words, the EU - is a little more real for them, and a little closer.

Posted at 15:10 11 May 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[5]

IT Blues

I haven't done much on this blog for a while, firstly because I was away for a while, but then because we were preoccupied with totally replacing our Embassy IT system - new hardware, new software, everything. 

Anyone who has been through the experience will know how disruptive this is, even with the best preparation.  Inevitably, some things don't work as they are supposed to when you first turn on, and key bits of data mysteriously vanish and have to be retrieved from the depths of the old system.  It'll probably be a bit longer before everything fully settles down, and we start to be confident that we know what we are doing.  But it'll be worth it.  The old equipment was fit only for a museum of ancient computing.  Now at least we are fully in the modern age.  It just takes a little getting used to!

Posted at 14:46 11 May 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[2]

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream...

I was invited to go today (4 March) to the Red Star Rowing Club on Ada Ciganlija in Belgrade by the Club's President, Dragoljub Kavran, and Director, Dusan Kovacevic.  I hadn't been before, and didn't know much about it, but I was interested to hear that they are sending a team to a race in London soon, and wanted to find out more.  I rowed in an 'eight' when I was a student at University for a few months - I have still got a photo somewhere to prove it! 

Anyway, I had a good tour around, and it turns out that 'Red Star' is now a lot more than just a rowing club - to raise funds for their rowing, they have a child care centre there too, a fitness centre, an indoor football pitch, a restaurant and other things, all open to the wider public.  I was glad I went - and hope they do well in London.

Posted at 16:19 04 March 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[0]

Crime Busters

I took a visitor from London - the International Director of the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency, Mr Rob Wainwright - to the Interior Ministry yesterday afternoon, to meet the Minister of the Interior, Mr Ivica Dacic, and to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.  This will further enhance the capabilities of both countries to exchange information and to cooperate to increase the risk to criminals who choose to commit organised crime in Serbia, the UK and beyond. 

Photo: FoNet News Agency

It is an unfortunate fact of life that British and Serbian criminals work across the world in such areas as drug trafficking, illegal immigration, the illicit firearms trade and other forms of organised criminality.  If we are to fight their activities successfully, we must work very closely together.  By its nature, it's not the sort of work we can talk about much in public, but this was a chance for a brief moment in front of the cameras. 

Posted at 13:32 03 March 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[4]

Boosting Trade and Investment

On 5 February I hosted a reception to launch the Serbian end of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (BSCC). 

Trade between our two countries is growing well - it went up about 20 per cent last year - but we want to do more to promote awareness in the UK of the opportunities for trade and investment in Serbia, and vice versa.  Sir David Roche, the BSCC Board Chairman, came out to Belgrade for the launch, which was even better attended than I had hoped, with a very wide range of Serbian companies represented.  Fortunately it was a mild evening, so guests could spill out onto the terrace outside, or we would have been very squashed! 

But that's a really good sign, and I hope that many more companies here and in the UK will sign up, now that they have seen and heard all about it. 

Posted at 15:01 07 February 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[0]

“Special Care for Special Needs”

I went this morning to witness the signature of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the UK-based Charity, Save the Children. The Memorandum covers the implementation of a project called "Special Care for Special Needs", and is intended to improve the quality of life and developmental opportunities for children with special needs in residential care here in Serbia. Minister Ljajic signed for Serbia. A representative of the European Commission was also present, as much of the external funding will come through the Commission.

The particular goal of this project is to support the Ministry's efforts to provide foster-parenting, rather than institutional care, for children in Serbia with disabilities. As Minister Ljajic made clear, there has been good progress already, with many more such children living with foster-parents than a few years ago, but of course everyone would like to see more.

This is an area that we have also supported bilaterally, as I mentioned in my 'Highland Fling' blog entry below - the money we raised from the 'Burns Night' charity event that my wife organised last year, some €46,000, went towards this too. 'Burns Night' is coming around again later this month, and our preparations for this year's event are well under way. We hope to raise even more money this year, again for Save the Children's work here. It won't be easy, with everyone worrying about the economic situation, but charities need support most when times are hard.

Posted at 21:53 13 January 2009 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[3]

Radical Storm in a Teacup

I see from news reports of yesterday's parliament session that some people from what's left of the Radical party didn't like my comment to FoNet last week, pointing out how their disruption of parliamentary business was harming Serbia's EU integration process. I can understand that they don't like having public attention drawn to this. But most people now realise that the Radicals' brand of negative nationalism has no place any more in a modern European democracy, such as Serbia. And most of those who once supported them seem to have moved away, towards more modern pro-European options.

Posted at 10:37 23 December 2008 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[3]

"Acknowledgements for the Best in 2008"

I was invited by Minister Ljajic to attend a ceremony to receive an award - "Acknowledgements for the Best in 2008" on 18 December.  It honoured the work that has been done here by the Embassy team from the UK's Department for International Development, to support the social welfare network in Serbia.  Two other Embassies were also honoured, and my colleagues from Japan and Norway were there to get their awards too.  So were a number of representatives of Serbian institutions, and several individuals. 

It was a happy occasion, and it's nice to think that the work that we and others have been doing has been noticed.  We all have social problems in our countries - individuals and families who, for whatever reason, need support, and may go on needing it throughout their lives.  So it's really important for us to work together, to share experiences and see how we can help each other.

Posted at 20:33 20 December 2008 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[1]

Small effort, big happines

Today this blog will host Nick Groves, Head of Commercial Section of the Embassy in Belgrade

"One of the things that I enjoy about this job is that, occasionally, I get to do something that has nothing to do with politics, business or the Embassy's targets and objectives. A great example of this happened on Monday during a visit to Nis. The main purpose of my visit was a series of meetings to talk about prospects for British investment in the city. But, apart from the business side of things,  I also had the chance to visit the Malisic family. They had written to the Embassy some months before, after seeing me on TV saying that I was a fan of Tottenham Hotspur - The Pride of North London. The Malisic family wrote to say that they too were Spurs fans, and that I would be welcome to drop by sometime to talk about the team.

Unknown to them, the Embassy got in touch with Tottenham Hotspur, who sent a pennant signed by members of the squad. It was great to see the surprise when I presented this to the family, and to realise that a small effort can bring such happiness. I think that the Malisic home is a corner of Serbia that will be forever lilywhite. Come On You Spurs!"

Posted at 15:02 18 December 2008 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[2]

Good News from Down South

Last night I hosted a small reception in Belgrade to mark the successful completion of a project we have been funding for over two years in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.  The project supported the development of local Municipal Safety Councils.  These meet regularly, in public, to bring together all those who are involved in the battle against crime, violence and discrimination.  They have consulted citizens about what worries them, developed plans for tackling the problems that have been raised, obtained funding for these activities, and reported on the progress they have achieved.  Among many other things, they have developed plans to combat corruption, to campaign against drug abuse, to promote child safety and to develop cooperation and integration among the various communities.  Now they are sufficiently well established that they can continue their work without our direct support. 

Leaders from all three municipalities were there.  It was good to see them again and to hear their news, as I had met all of them before on visits to the region.  I first got involved in the South Serbia region when I was working in London, as Head of the Department in the Foreign Office dealing with the Western Balkans from 1999-2002.  Then, our concern was to prevent violence spreading into the region from Kosovo, in the immediate aftermath of the Kosovo conflict.  With good cooperation among the international community, and from the Serbian authorities, we succeeded, and there has been a lot of progress since then.  The region is still very poor, with very high unemployment.  But everyone I talked to tonight felt that things were going the right way.

Posted at 14:22 11 December 2008 by Stephen Wordsworth  |  Comments[2]