Bombed out buildings are just a part of the scenery in Belgrade, courtesy of the US and friends. Nebusha and Lepa, our hosts, fortunately, were out of downtown in an area called New Belgrade. They thought they were safe, until American planes destroyed the Chinese Embassy just a few hundred meters from their house. That Embassy is not near anything of importance. The US said it was an "accident," caused by using "old maps." I'm not joking. Of course, NO ONE (not just the conspiracy theory nuts) believe this. One story says that the Serbs were trying to give/sell the Stealth Bomber they shot down to the Chinese, and this was a warning to the Chinese. Who knows.
Why these buildings haven't been rebuilt (or at least torn down) in the past 7 years is another good question. It may be part of the national psyche, i.e. "The Serbs can be attacked, but they can't be killed."
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