Burn after Belgrade: trying to type over stereotype

After Sarajevo and Podgorica, the third stop of ‘Orient Express Reporter’ takes place in Belgrade, cafebabel.com’s maiden voyage to the Serb capital. History wears a heavy coat on the journalists’ investigations. From Belgrade’s museums, a German journalist learns more about a little known scientist national hero whilst a Canadian learns about the Kosovo myth as he ponders whether Serbia will become an official candidate for the European Union in late 2011. An Italian deliberately dives into the country’s stereotypes whilst an Irish asks if Serbia can beat its past to gain a brand. All the while a French photographer stops and starts in the city, capturing the serenity which has not been the easyjet party capital’s claim to fame. In this week’s cities column special edition, we learn that our quick pan-European stop in Serbia by no means defines a mostly misunderstood, future European city (Image: (cc) Andrej_Filev/ Flickr)