The 'Ganja March', Tzar Lazar Guards, and the British elections

I still can't get hold of news about what's going on in Belgrade right now. At around 3pm I spoke to a friend attending the 'Ganja March' (as a counter-protestor) and she informed me that riot police were arriving to secure the town centre. I'm not even sure whether there was a protest, since the march gathered a lot of publicity in the last week which resulted in nationalist groups threatening to block the march, as they did the gay pride parade back in 2001. Given the scenes in 2001, the organisers kept changing their position in the last couple of days, calling the march off one minute, and then saying they'd go ahead the next. Presumably they wanted to trick everyone into believing it wasn't going ahead, show up with about 30 people, pose for the camera's and then make a quick get-away. So I have a feeling some of the addicts did show up in the end even if the official march was called off, but I'm even more sure that they were outnumbered by counter-protestors that were not taken in by the misinformation. According to this article the following groups signed a joint declaration condemning the march
Serb Patriotic Movement “Obraz”, the “Nacionalni stroj” (National File), Serb congregation “Dveri”, “Blood and Honour”, “Decisive Battle” and “Tzar Lazar’s Guards”.

The joint statement supposedly included this passage:
"We believe that it is unacceptable to hold gatherings that promote social evils such as drug-abuse and homosexuality in this year of the decisive battle for the future of Kosovo and Metohija”

They announce that they will “intercept the protest march of the junkies and show them what the healthy national youth is made of”.

I have contacts with some of the guys from Obraz, but their site is not updated on a regular basis and I can't confirm that they signed this declaration. 'Nacionalni Stroj' is a newer group that was in the news a while back when counter-terrorist police raided the homes of some members after they disrupted a speech by a human rights activist at Novi Sad University, if I remember correctly. 'Blood and Honour' are skinheads, 'Dveri' I don't know too much about, and 'Decisive Battle I've never heard of. As for the 'Tzar Lazar Guards', they are a newly formed paramilitary organisation that I meant to blog about in any case. They have gained a huge amount of publicity in the past week after announcing that they are gathering volunteers ready to wage a war in case Kosovo becomes independent. They announced that they already have over 5000 volunteers and that May 5 would see “the establishment of the first uniformed Christian militia squad, comprised of war veterans from all over Serbia.”
Though at first glance such a move might seem positive, there are a number of issues which make me doubtful. Firstly I don't think that a paramilitary organisation can exist without the states blessing in present conditions. Not that the state's blessing is something I worry about from a moral stand point, far from it. Given the nature of our puppet government I couldn't care less what their stance is. But their stance is relevant, if for no other reason, because they are in power and are capable of mobilising force against anyone that doesn't toe the line. This was highlighted today at the swearing in ceremony at the Lazarica Church in Kruševac where I hear there were a number of arrests. Secondly the leadership of the group seems to include an opposition leader, and I am always doubtful about the motives of politicians. Thirdly, although the group no doubt has got fighters, where is it going to get it's weapons from? Fourthly how are they going to get into Kosovo? How are they going to get re-supplied when both their own state, and the state they are fighting against is manning the border? They surely cannot be intending to engage NATO in open battle, without heavy weaponry, but then there is not even a large enough (Serb) civilian population within the province for them to blend into and launch hit and run attacks. It all seems a bit far-fetched for me, given the current situation. But without doubt the biggest issue is this: with the Serb population currently falling by 40,000 a year, helped along by hundreds of thousands of abortions a year, is it really worth spilling blood for land when we will be a minority in that land which we have already. The sine qua non must be to get the birth rate up, and consolidate that which we have, together with agitating for unification with Republika Srpska (the Serb-administered half of Bosnia). The countless wars which we have been forced to endure over the last decade and a half have taken their toll on the people and I would hate to see brave, honest and honourable people mobilised in yet another losing battle. That's not to say that the other wars could or should have been avoided, but there's no question that the nation is drained, and we must be wary of getting people's hopes up with false promises and visions. These are my reservations, but at this point I don't wish to condemn or support the group, but wait until more is known. For those interested, this yahoo article and this San Diego news article provide more information. Incidentally I first found out about this group in this article on the top quality news site: Western Voices World News.
Oh before I forget, I thought I'd mention the local elections here in Britain. The British people voted en masse for the same old establishment parties, which confirms more than ever that democracy is useless if the electorate are clueless and ignorant sheep that can be coerced to vote for their own demise. Yes the people get tired of say Blair, or some other figure. But give them a fresh face, a new puppet, and they'll willingly stay on the disastrous course that this country and many others are set. I could elaborate and but I need to get back to studying. Suffice to say that it was all summed up by the sight of the media fawning over the first muslim elected to the Welsh Parliament. That after the leader of the supposed Welsh Nationalist Plaid Cymru Party had said that the parliament was 'too white'. Well he got his wish, and the British people are going to get what they voted for...
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