"WW3 has started'

Third World War

'The third world war has already started. In Bosnia they have millions of landmines scattered over the country. Perhaps they will be sending these as little parcels to our friends in the USA and the UK'.

That was the alarming reaction from one Balkan politician to the USA and UK's recognition of the independence of Kosovo. Understandable from a Serb, perhaps.  But this was a Slovenian. I expected that as his country had broken way from Yugoslavia, he would sympathise with Kosovo's move. Not a chance. He said that he has been worried about the threat from Greater Serbia all his life. Now he is anxious about the threat from Greater Albania.

Having spent a day listening to what Croats thanks of Serbs, and Greeks and (former Yugoslav) Macedonians thinks of each other, it's difficult to have much hope for the future. Today's colloquy was designed to build bridges. One speaker who wanted to speak in what is now called  'Serbian' was told there was no translator available. He was silenced although half the delegates could understand the language.

One bridge broken. Lots to go.

Size Matters

We asked for a sandwich in a street cafe near the triple bridge in Ljubljana. It was either ham or cheese. We ordered  one of each.

What turned up was two small loaves.

The pillows in our hotel are on a similar scale. Is it because Slovenia has to compensate as one of the smallest independent states in the world, by having everything else on the large size?

March towards peace

On 7 March, from 17.00 onwards, a Drug Peace March will take place to the seat of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna. The march marks the start of a counterevent organised by the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) on the occasion of the annual meeting of the CND that will take place from 10 to 14 March 2008. The purpose of the CND meeting is to evaluate the results of a ten year strategy that was decided upon in New York in 1998, a strategy whose goal was “to eliminate or significantly reduce the illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of drugs”.

According to the latest figures of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the production of illegal drugs in the past ten years has increased, with 100 % in the case of opium, 19 % in the case of cocaine, and 40 % in the case of cannabis. ENCOD, an independent platform of NGOs and individual citizens involved in the drug issue as consumers, health workers or researchers, maintains that the prohibition of drugs maximises the burden for those with little or no participation in the drug market, while it has no measurable impact on the global size of this market at all. "In fact", says ENCOD,"drug prohibition increases the size and negative repercussions of this market."

In a message to the CND meeting (see
http://www.encod.org/info/ENCOD-BULLETIN-39.html ), ENCOD wishes the governments’ delegates in the CND meeting "a clear head. You will have the opportunity to make a historical contribution to improve the living standards for millions of people, and at the same time attack the main income source of organised crime." ENCOD proposes that governments "adopt non-repressive strategies in drug policy that do not threaten the livelihood of peasants in developing countries, do not damage the health of consumers and do respect the rights of citizens, such as the right to grow and use natural plants for personal consumption. Strategies should be implemented that would create legal means for the production and use of hemp/cannabis, opium and coca, plants that have served humanity for thousands of years."

The counterevent will also include a conference with (inter)national experts in the Vienna University (Altes AKH). For more information please see http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN-YEARS-AFTER.html