It’s just a notion of an idea and I know I’m stirring the pot, but… If (in the words of an old Vulcan proverb) only Nixon could go to China, could it be that it is only a right wing government in Israel which can achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians?
In light of today’s friendly between Belgium and Slovenia in Genk, dr. Arf prepared another guest post which I’m more than happy to publish. Not in the least because I’m having trouble keeping with the regular pace of posting (which I think is pretty obvious). Things will improve, however, as things are heating up yet again within the coalition. More on that tomorrow, as well as the fate of Croatian NATO membership bid.
And now for something completely different
Twenty-two guys chasing a single ball and selling enormous quantities of beer in the process 😈
(If you are a football enthusiast with no sense of humor (although, in my opinion the one automatically confirms the other), please look away now)
The nation known as Belgium, as you all know after having read my ?Belgium Explained To Slovenes’ guest posts, is fractured to the point of breaking up, but it – or rather, the football adoring sheep that populate it and they are many – comes together whenever the national team is playing. And why? To see them lose and have the national coach explain that it a) was undeserved, b) the ref was unfair, c) they didn’t do all too bad in spite of the loss. Or, in a more positive scenario, have him declare a draw to be a major victory for the team (“We’re doing better”; “team spirit is great” etc…). Anyhoo, I vowed to never, ever watch an entire football match while being conscious and sound of mind for the rest of my life, just like I’m doing everything in my power (up to putting fingers in my ears whenever an unsuspecting or foolhardy DJ is torturing me with a song of theirs) to avoid being subjected to music by The B*****s. But the latter is an altogether different story, best served in a bar along with several helpings of certain alcoholic beverages…
So why this hatred and utter disdain for football? Because football, my dear Pengovsky.com readers, ruined my childhood. It permeated through every aspect of my childhood in a negative way. Friendships were forged and/or lost on the high school playground, depending on which team you favoured. If you had none, had two left feet to boot and a lot of book knowledge, you were a nerd in the making and hence not deemed worthy to run with the alpha males in the making. I was lucky enough to have only one left foot (the right one apparently was good for kicking round, blown up pig skin in whatever direction it needed to go very accurately, even though I’m born a left hander and footer), and survival instinct compelled me to join in supporting the biggest team in Belgium (Anderlecht, nothing has changed since, even though they try their best to fuck up, I am told). But I was also bookish and smart. And my real sports were cycling and tennis. Not the most wowing sports in those days – save for one Eddy Merckx who was cycling in the Autumn of his career by then but was and still remains the greatest cyclist of all time (sorry, Tadej Valjavec 😉 ) and Björn Borg being the Swede everyone knew as the Eddy Merckx of tennis.
Football also ruined any hope of family respectability. Whenever there was football on TV, my granddad commandeered the thing and we had to sit in silence while he and his sons gazed at the black and white screen. And this was usually at the time when my favourite music programs were on. This did not help my growing antipathy towards what I considered to be one of the most boring sports of all (besides golf and curling). Even watching grass grow, I felt and still feel, is more interesting than this sport. Or what to think about having to sit through all the match results of all leagues being read over national radio (yes, ALL of the eight leagues, 18 matches each) while having Sunday dinner. It made the most boring day of the week even infinitely more boring. I think that’s when I became suicidal, which only passed after having been abstinent of this overblown and overhyped game for at least a decade.
Because that’s what it is : an overblown and overhyped game, with twenty overpaid sissies – who manage to roll over and act out certain death when being slightly touched by an opponent and then call this ?strategy’ – running after a ball and two trying to catch it when it’s shot towards them. There is a scene in a Simpsons episode (stemming from when the WC ?soccer’ was played in the USA, if I recall correctly) where the sheer boredom of watching this is perfectly illustrated. Art imitating life. I love it. But then, one single Simpsons episode displays more intelligence and excitement than the entire Champion’s League season.
“Why”, I can hear you think, “am I reading this here?” Simple : Belgium is playing Slovenia tonight, which compels me to break my vow, if for nothing else than to support the team of the country I feel more at home at than my own. And I hope I will derive no small amount of satisfaction when the Slovene team kicks Belgium’s team’s ass into oblivion. Please do, ?tis only just…
It seems that this week on pengovsky.com belongs to the Big O. exclusively. The man himself took care of that as he took the oath of office again. Just to be on the safe side.
(source: BBC News)
But this does pose an intriguing question, which applies both to the US and to Slovenia: Since the text of the oath is written in the constitution (Article 2 of the US Constitution and articles 104 and 113 of the Slovenian Constitution), what happens if the text of the oath taken does not correspond exactly with the text written in the constitution?
Any thoughts?
Throughout the Big O’s speech I had the nagging feeling that something was missing. Don’t get me wrong. ‘Twas a good speech. Indeed it was a great speech. But it wasn’t one for the books and it didn’t provide a decent one-liner. In that respect it wasn’t an inspirational speech.
Word cloud of Big O’s speech (source)
On a purely emotional level I was somewhat disappointed by this. It would be kind of cool to see a 21st century equivalent of “I have a dream…” or “Ask not what your country can do for you…“.
On a politically rational level, however, there is little that the speech left to be desired. He clearly laid out his priorities, pointed out the weaknesses but reassured the people that things are doable. The fact, that he took a big but well measured swipe at Dubya only strengthened the power of his words. However, he apparently felt the need to support his words by drawing from history, not in the least by quoting George Washington and following (quite literally) in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln.
I must admit, however, that I was slightly unsettled by Obama putting communism and fascism in the same basket when he said that “(…) earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.”. Without trying to put too fine a point on it, it should be noted that while Fascism and its equally despicable offspring, Nazism, were defeated by brute force, Communism crumbled because it was outspent, outdeveloped by capitalist (or liberal) democracy. Hence, fascism was defeated by missiles and tanks whereas communism was defeated by sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. I’m sorry if I sound too anal about it. I realize that the above might make little to no difference on the other side of The Pond, but I feel these things should not be left unsaid. History is important over here as well.
In any case, The Big O set himself the task to remake America. Good luck!
Today is the Big O’s day. He will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States at noon local time, ushering in a new era of US politics.
A new era? Depends on how you look at it. We already covered some aspects of this, but the last 70+ days of the Big O preparing to become the top dog have given some clues as to what the US and by extension the world can expect from the MoFo-In-Chief at least in the very beginning of his term.
Firstly. Forget revolution. That has already happened. The mere fact that the US didn’t split along the lines of Orry Main and George Hazard is surprising enough. Even more surprising (to an outside observer, at least) is the fact that the country seems to be totally cool with it. Despite all the hubbub about the colour of the man’s skin, it is no longer an issue and it seems as if it never was. But that was the revolutionary moment of Obama presidency. Short of actually driving around in a purple limo as well as releasing the files on JFK, Roswell and 9/11 CIA involvement, there is little that Obama can do to eclipse the moment when he became the first African-American to win the US presidential elections.
Secondly. Forget revolution. Revolutions are popular in times of deep and/or protracted economic crises. Just as Russians or Germans. But Barack Obama was not elected to replace the current order of things, but to mend and restore it. You can be sure that while tackling the economic crisis, Obama and his administration will not reinvent hot water but will rather try to find the right combination of known measures. If there ever was a hint of socialism in Obama’s policies, it was long overshadowed by the crashing sound neo-liberalistic stupidities made when they crashed with the harsh reality and when staunch believers in the free market were nationalising banks and insurance companies faster than you could say Federal reserve.
Thirdly. Forget revolution. Even if he ever entertained any such thoughts, the new president will not make a U turn with regard to Middle East, Iran or any other troubled hot-spot. Especially not with she-Clinton as the secretary of the state. She’s there to ensure that America gains friends without losing a lot more ground. Dubya and Rummy excelled in that particular department, but you can be sure that Israelis and Palestinians will not be rushing into each other’s arms just because the man was elected president. Nor will Iran go “here, have our plutonium. No, really, have it. We just didn’t like the other guy”.
But that doesn’t mean that The MoFo in Chief does not have his work cut out for him. It starts today and it won’t stop at least for the next 1461 days.
Today a bit more on the Slovene-Croat diplomatic crash which happened shortly before new year, when Slovenia effectively blocked the continuation of Croatian EU accession negotiations.
The SLO-CRO border solution as proposed in Drnovšek-Račan Agreement (middle of the Bay of Piran shown as well). Adapted from (source)
As you know, the border dispute between the two countries is as old as the countries themselves. While Yugoslavia was still a country (and not a semi-mythological term of the good old days), it had well defined and furiously defended borders with all its neighbours. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Italy and Austria. As the federal country broke appart, most of the emerging new states inherited the defined international borders (Bosnia-Herzegovina being the obvious exception as it bordered only on republics). They did not however inherit well defined internal borders, as these were often only superficially defined to serve administrative purposes. I mean, who cared if the River Mura changed its flow thirty metres to the north?
I remember when I was still a kid, we’d go on summer vacations and some point mid-way my father would say that “we’re in Croatia now”, but there was no sign, no flag, nothing. Just a road juncture. Even more to the point, parhises of Roman Catholic church did not follow the borders between republics, which caused a lot of bad blood some ten-plus years ago, when the tiny parish of Razkrižje was “claimed” by Zagreb Archdiocese. Well at least that particular dispute was quickly solved as the Vatican redrew borders to match the reality on the ground.
And it was exactly the reality on the ground which in the end proved to be the straw which broke the camel’s back. Be it out of political necesity of a country ravaged by war or out of sheer cold calculation, Croatia sought to execute its sovereignity at what it saw as its territory in relation to Slovenia (some would say that it overcompensated for the fact that it could not do so in a significant part of the rest of its territory). This included a part of territory which Slovenia claimed as its own, but – contrary to Croatia – always maintaned that the territory was disputed rather than Slovenian.
Always? Not exactly. It takes two to tango and in this case Slovenia is not without blame. Specifically, the Slovenian parliament at some point early in the game passed a binding resolution, laying claim to entire Bay of Piran, instantly creating a curious negotiation position where Slovenia in effect demanded that a tourist on the Croatian side of the bay would sunbathe in Croatia, but would enter Slovenia when jumping in the sea for a swim.
While the stupidity and naivete of such a resolution can in part be attributed inexperience of a fledling country and its decision-makers, it should be noted that the main proponents of this resolution (even after the imbecility of the text was realised) was the Slovene People’s Party (SLS), whose former presidents, brothers Janez and Marjan Podobnik are known for creating border incidents when it suits them politically
.
Yes, the Bay of Piran. An unsignificant pond of water in its own right is vital for Slovenian access to international waters. Specifically, the way the borded is drawn makes all the difference between Slovenia being a maritime and a nearly landlocked country without direct access to international waters. If the border is drawn midway across the bay, Slovenia can go suck a lemon with its excuse for a sea. Even worse, its strategic Port of Koper would probably be turned into a third-class marine because it would no longer have access to international waters.
The problem is, as noted here, that the maritime border was never drawn (as opposed to borders between republics, which were drawn, but never enforced), leaving the problem with little to no actual precedent to draw from. So both Slovenia and Croatia dug in, each proving to the other why the border should be drawn exactly one way and not the other.
In any case, Croatia imposed its sovereignity on the disputed area and was always seen as playing the table against Slovenia, its poorly and unconflicting neighbour whose foreign policy was in complete disarray. At least, that was the prevailing view in Slovenia. You won’t be surprised that in Croatia Slovenian foreign policy was seen as masterful, with Croatia continually receiving the wrong end of the stick. But in recent years, as Croatian aspirations for EU memberships began to take shape, the country’s pre-modern concept of sovereignity, which is defended at the borders and in full, clashed with European modern concept of sovereignity, where the latter is exerted in relation to other countries via a set of (more or less) predefined rules and – barring that – tends to avoid escalation.
Thus in the beggining of 2008 Croatia basically had to revoke its Ecological Maritime Zone, because it clashed with EU fisheries policies – among other things. The zone also extended all the way to the middle of the Bay of Piran and was yet another attempt to create a new reality on the ground, as it would be imposed by Croatian Navy. And then, at the end of 2008, when Croatia was due to open additional chapters in the negotiation process, Slovenia blocked the move as Croatia in its documents cited its legislation which put the maritime border in the middle of the bay of Piran.
Slovenian move was in stark oppositon with its attitude to date, but it was probably the last chance to defend its maritime interests as all previous attempts to solve the problem have failed. The closest the two countries ever came to an agreement was the so called agreement Drnovšek-Račan, where PMs of both countries, Ivica Račan and Janez Drnovšek agreed on an unconventional solution (the picture above), where Croatia would declare a corridor of its sea as international waters, while keeping a maritime border with Italy, thus giving Slovenia control over most (but not all) of Bay of Piran as well as access to international waters. The agreement met its premature demise in the Croatian parliament, but is now reffered to by Slovenia as a significant point in settling the dispute.
So, what to do? Apparently Slovenia is playing the table against Croatia – this time for real. While it may be the sole voice of opposition to Croatia continuing the accession process, rumours have it that there are other member states which think Croatia should be slowed in its tracks, albeit for differend reasons – mostly to do with corruption and the rule of law in the country. Or the lack thereof, rather. The dispute took EU mostly by surprise, as shown in the now-famous exclamation of French foreign minister Bernard Couchner: “But it’s only 25 kilometres of disputed border!“.
That may be, but small disputes can turn into big problems, especially in the Balkans. And fact of the matter is that Slovenia apparently opted to play hardball, which will probably come in handy in times of economic crisis, keeping people’s mind off more important things. That goes for Croatia as well, mind you, which is apparently nearing an economic collapse not unlike the one in Iceland, because of its overpriced currency, the kuna.
In any case, a compromise will have to be reached. And a compromise during EU negotiation process will hold indefinitely more weight in front of any international border tribunal than any other unilateral move by either party. So they might as well go for broke and settle this thing once and for all. There are two dangers, though. One, that Slovenia, with its new-found confidence will try to compensate for years of being pushed around and will get to brash and will start making humiliating demands. And two, that Croatia, used to getting its way, will continue to over-react as it is completely unused to Slovenia being tough about anything, effectively putting off its EU membership for years or even decades. Imagine the indignation of Serbia making it to the EU before Croatia.
As you can see, this festive season is taking its toll on this blog as well. One of the drawbacks of a three-week workday is that one has until Wednesday what one would normally struggle to do until Friday. But we deal with the pain by consuming copious amounts of mulled wine and honey brandy.
Father Christmas under protection in Zagreb
But you’re wrong to think the world stopped. Only yesterday did Slovenia remember the 18th anniversary of the referendum of independence, which was held on 23 december 1990. The results were declared three days later (hence the Day of Statehood is celebrated on the 26th) and all this set the stage for Slovenian declaration of independence six months later, on 25 June 1991.
One of the more lasting side-effects of disintegration of Yugoslavia was the Slovene-Croat border dispute. As you probably know, Slovenia vetoed contiunation of Croatian negotiations on EU accession, citing documents which either directly claim that the maritime border between the countries lies in the middle of the Bay of Piran, or cite Croatian legislation which states the same.
Apparently no-one saw it coming and what was suppose to be a nice Christmas present from EU to Croatia is now turning into a major political disaster. Slovenia wants Croatia to sign a legaly binding document which would state that a) these documents do not prejudge the border between two countries and b) that Croatia will not use them in a possible mediation procedure. In plain-speak: after years of pussyfooting around Croatia which happily used every and all Slovenian concessions, starting in 1991 when Slovenia erected it border check-point two hundred metres to the north of the River Dragonja, Slovenia suddenly got tough. As a result, noone is taking it serioulsly. Except Croatia, which realised too late that Slovenia will indeed veto the negotiation process. Consequently the Croatian government is up to its old trick, accusing Slovenia of having teritorial aspirations and PM Ivo Sanader sounded very tough when he said that Croatia will not buy its EU membership with land.
Who’s to blame? Fuck knows. I’ll have the skinny on this some time early next year. But as of Friday noone seems to remember that we are in deep economic shit or that Croatian capital Zagreb was under siege only a month or so ago. All that matters now is that fucking little speck of land which somehow cast a spell on evey government on every government Slovenia and Croatia ever had.
So instead of a Christmas family huddle, where everyone looks smart and wears tie, we are faced with a storm in a teacup where Slovenia and Croatia are again at each other’s throats. One would think that we never shared a country. But I guess everyone needs an enemy. Even on Christmas.
