Right in the Balkans: Pt. 1 - Serbia
Chapter 1 – Serbia:
“The Foreign office advises against all travel to Mitrovice, especially North of the River Ibar”
Me: “Ian, do you fancy a trip?”
Ian “Where?”
Me: “Mitrovice… especially North of the River Ibar”
Not many people joined us for the flight there - Is that a sign?
Mitrovice is a divided region. South of the river is inhabited by Albanian-Kosovans, but North of the river is inhabited by Serbs - Not only inhabited, but they will only accept Serbian Dinar, will only speak Serbian, the telephone code is Serbian, and if you look at addresses on Google, they’re listed as ‘Serbia’.
Serbian Butchers (I cant help think they've nicked the door number from #86 and re-purposed it)
On Google maps it’s a dotted border line. And 83 UN countries do not even accept that Kosovo is it’s own independent country.
The only thing everyone agrees on is that both sides hate each other.
Standing on the bridge between the territories
The war between them technically ended in 1999. But it didn’t:
Less than three years ago in September 2023 a very heavily armed Serb militia attacked the Kosovans, there were only 30 militia men, but they had rocket launchers, a heavily armoured vehicle, 24 automobiles, two 4×4 motorcycles, 150 explosives, three drones, 30 AK-47s, six machine guns, 29 mortars, and over 100 military uniforms – Implying that there were a lot more Serb fighter due to join them.
A huge battle ensued, and people from both sides lost their lives.
The hate is still fresh.
I doodled a 'lil Serbian Dictator onto one of my notes
Recently, a huge stash of Serbian rocket launchers were found in a bush on the mountain road in, thought to have been stashed in that attack. We had a walk up the mountain pass, occasionally looking in bushes, but the most sinister thing I found was a mannequin.
Unfinished Stadium at the top of the hill
View from the top of the hill
There is a famous bridge between the two halves. It’s closed to traffic, but you may pass on foot.
The thing is, neither Kosovo nor Serbia trust each other to guard it,
so who guards it?....
Historical Stock photo of the Ibar Bridge between the territories
…Italy!
Ha! When we crossed the bridge it was around -12c. The Italian guard looked absolutely frozen.
A Stray dog poses on the bridge
The Serbs hate the Brits. We bombed them heavily to halt their ethnic cleansing campaign. So kept our heads down. I did toy with putting on an accent, but figured that someone with chin-length, ginger hair talking in a Pakistani accent would probably just draw more attention.
I’m not sure that’s the original Volkswagen locking system
The nationalism seemed to have calmed down a lot. I’d seen photos of pro-russian murals covering the town centre, but apparently, they were painted over a couple of months back. Most Serbian flags hanging above the street were tatty and torn.
On the Kosovan side, facing the Serbian side is a billboard of the Military Leader with the caption “We will liberate Mitrovice”
As bad as all of this sounds; we went to a few bars and restaurants and were met with nothing but warm hospitality.
“The Foreign office advises against all travel to Mitrovice, especially North of the River Ibar”
Me: “Ian, do you fancy a trip?”
Ian “Where?”
Me: “Mitrovice… especially North of the River Ibar”
Not many people joined us for the flight there - Is that a sign?
Mitrovice is a divided region. South of the river is inhabited by Albanian-Kosovans, but North of the river is inhabited by Serbs - Not only inhabited, but they will only accept Serbian Dinar, will only speak Serbian, the telephone code is Serbian, and if you look at addresses on Google, they’re listed as ‘Serbia’.
Serbian Butchers (I cant help think they've nicked the door number from #86 and re-purposed it)
On Google maps it’s a dotted border line. And 83 UN countries do not even accept that Kosovo is it’s own independent country.
The only thing everyone agrees on is that both sides hate each other.
Standing on the bridge between the territories
The war between them technically ended in 1999. But it didn’t:
Less than three years ago in September 2023 a very heavily armed Serb militia attacked the Kosovans, there were only 30 militia men, but they had rocket launchers, a heavily armoured vehicle, 24 automobiles, two 4×4 motorcycles, 150 explosives, three drones, 30 AK-47s, six machine guns, 29 mortars, and over 100 military uniforms – Implying that there were a lot more Serb fighter due to join them.
A huge battle ensued, and people from both sides lost their lives.
The hate is still fresh.
I doodled a 'lil Serbian Dictator onto one of my notes
Recently, a huge stash of Serbian rocket launchers were found in a bush on the mountain road in, thought to have been stashed in that attack. We had a walk up the mountain pass, occasionally looking in bushes, but the most sinister thing I found was a mannequin.
Unfinished Stadium at the top of the hill
View from the top of the hill
There is a famous bridge between the two halves. It’s closed to traffic, but you may pass on foot.
The thing is, neither Kosovo nor Serbia trust each other to guard it,
so who guards it?....
Historical Stock photo of the Ibar Bridge between the territories
…Italy!
Ha! When we crossed the bridge it was around -12c. The Italian guard looked absolutely frozen.
A Stray dog poses on the bridge
The Serbs hate the Brits. We bombed them heavily to halt their ethnic cleansing campaign. So kept our heads down. I did toy with putting on an accent, but figured that someone with chin-length, ginger hair talking in a Pakistani accent would probably just draw more attention.
I’m not sure that’s the original Volkswagen locking system
The nationalism seemed to have calmed down a lot. I’d seen photos of pro-russian murals covering the town centre, but apparently, they were painted over a couple of months back. Most Serbian flags hanging above the street were tatty and torn.
On the Kosovan side, facing the Serbian side is a billboard of the Military Leader with the caption “We will liberate Mitrovice”
As bad as all of this sounds; we went to a few bars and restaurants and were met with nothing but warm hospitality.
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