#33: Newsflash: Deported from Montenegro, Trying Again from Belgrade
6 July 2002
Since my last update from Belgrade, Serbia, I have been having a nice time in Bosnia and Herzegovina *Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Mostar) and southern Croatia (Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik). I have met a lot of interesting people, including former fighters of different sides in the Bosnian and Croatian wars of the 1990s, as well as top businessmen and NGO people. I will write more about these later on when I have the time.
Today I took a bus into the Republic of Montenegro, junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation, only to be refused entry on grounds that I do not have a visa. This is even though the Head of the Mission of Montenegro in London and the Ministry of Tourism of Montenegro have all told me I do not need a visa. I met a nice Russian couple at the border, and they drove me 250 km northwards to Split. In three hours’ time, I will be taking an overnight bus to Zagreb, the Croatian capital. It will be interesting to be back here since my last visit in 1995, during the war. I will then try to return to Belgrade as soon as possible and try to enter Montenegro from there, since the two are still nominally the same country and it might be easier. If that fails, I will then try to go on to Kosovo.
Wish me luck! If anything, life is getting more exciting.