VOA常速英语2008年-Serbian President Calls for End to Violence

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
22 February 2008

Serbian President Boris Tadic has called for an end to violence after rioters opposed to Kosovo's declaration of independence ransacked¹ U.S. and other embassies in Belgrade, killing² one person. The call comes amid new clashes across the border in Kosovo and mounting European Union pressure on Serbia to rein³ in violent protestors. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest.

President Boris Tadic said Friday he would call an emergency meeting of Serbia's top security body, the National Security Council, to deal with mounting tensions and violence following Kosovo's declaration of independence.

 

In a televised appeal, he urged Serbs to protest in a peaceful way, after Thursday's attack by protesters on the U.S. and other embassies of countries that recognized Kosovo's break from Serbia. He said the attacks on embassies do not contribute to Serbia's integrity or dignity or its claim that Kosovo belongs to Serbia.

President Tadic, who is regarded as pro-Western, made his appeal after the European Union and the United States condemned⁴ the embassy attacks.

In addition, the European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana warned that Belgrade's failure to rein in violent protesters could undermine Serbia's prospects⁵ for joining the EU and the signing of a key Stabilization⁶ and Association Agreement, or SAA, with Europe.

"These acts of violence lead nowhere. They cannot help anybody," he said. "Things will have to calm down before we can recuperate⁷ the climate that will allow any contact to move on the SAA."

Serbian authorities were quick to point out that police detained some 200 people in connection with Thursday's violence that reportedly left one person dead and at least 130 injured.

Across the border, in Kosovo, there were new clashes on Friday.

Several thousand Serb demonstrators opposing Kosovo's independence, attempted to march over a bridge separating the Serb and ethnic⁸ Albanian sides of Kosovo's ethnically⁹ divided city of Mitrovica. Several protesters hurled¹⁰ firecrackers and flares¹¹ at United Nations police, who tried to keep the protesters away from the bridge.

Serbs waved Serbian flags and chanted "Kosovo is ours."

Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has expressed concern about the clashes. Mr. Thaci, recalling the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, asked Serbs to move forward.

"My message to Serbs in Serbia is to look forward and not to work with the mentality¹² of the past, with the mentality of Milosevic-time," he said. "And the pictures of yesterday in Belgrade were pictures of Milosevic's time. They are not a reaction against the people of Kosovo or against Kosovo. It was a reaction against a democratic world."

Belgrade says although it condemns¹³ violence, it will continue a diplomatic campaign against the loss of Kosovo, including withdrawing ambassadors from countries that recognize the independence of the Albanian majority province.

Serbs comprise less than 10 percent of Kosovo's two million population.

1 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

7 recuperate   

v.恢复

参考例句：

• Stay in the hospital for a few more days to recuperate.再住院几天，好好地恢复。
• He went to the country to recuperate.他去乡下养病去了。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

10 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

13 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》