Serbia’s Ambassador to the World Blog: “National Geographic Very Wrong About Serbia”

I generally don’t like to copy/paste content from other blogs or sites but I’m willing to make an exception in this case. National Geographic happens to be one of my all time favorite magazines and I have always had great respect for this particular magazine. Untill this month. Karl Haudbourg, an expat lining in Belgrade and author of Serbia’s Ambassador to the World blog, noticed this letter to National Geographic editors and staff by Mima Stanojlović and posted it on his blog along with his comment. Ms. Stanojlović could not have critisized the author of the photographs and article in question any better. I have nothing to say but that I agree with her entirely and hope to see an adequate reaction from National Geographic as soon as possible. I would also have to agree with Karl’s comment on the matter – I am not shocked, but am thoroughly disappointed. The following is just a portion of the letter (I strongly recommend you read the full letter in Karl’s post):

Belgrade is not, as the photographs indicate, a miserable city inhabited by miserable people. The citizens of Belgrade are not barbarians as we have been presented in the Western media for more than a decade. On the contrary, the city is vibrant, open-minded, and hospitable with a positive attitude and its people are eager to speak English. Not long ago, it was the capital of the most advanced country in the Southeast Europe. A meeting place of the two rivers, the Danube and Sava, have shaped Belgrade into a proud and beautiful city, where the locals have a refreshingly relaxed approach to life. It’s also a place that takes pleasure seriously, offering one of the best clubbing scenes in Europe and a diverse cultural life, which, I am positive, Mr. Anderson has witnessed himself.