Joe the Revolutionary Digger
Joe the Digger stands in a builder鈥檚 yard just outside Belgrade showing me the rather dilapidated vehicle that made his name. 
The front window of the now engineless orange earthmover is pocked with bullet holes.
Joe, as Lyubisav Djokic prefers to be known, was in the forefront of . Quite literally in the forefront.
As police tear gassed the crowds surrounding the parliament he drove his digger at the building. Pointing at the bullet holes in the windscreen he says: 鈥淵es those are the scars, but the most dangerous were the two in the back window.
"The policeman who climbed up the back said afterwards in an interview that the minister of the interior had ordered him to kill me. 
"The type of machine saved me because the whole cab moves with the scooper and when I turned the wheel he fell off.鈥
He tells how he smashed in the basement windows of the parliament and then people climbed on top of the scoop and he lifted them up so they could get in the building.
Joe鈥檚 rather watery eyes light up when he starts to remember that day on October 5 2000.
鈥淭hey were stuffed in the scoops, then they broke the window and then they swarmed in over my machine and set the first floor on fire. I wasn鈥檛 afraid. I thought I was in a movie. Still, I thought I would die.鈥
But he feels betrayed by . He says until last year, when he got a job advising the local council, he couldn鈥檛 ever afford to buy bread. He says everyone in Serbia is much poorer.
'Nothing has changed'
鈥淚n my opinion, nothing important has changed. Maybe we鈥檙e not buying petrol out of a canister, now we can get it from a petrol station. But then I had money and now I don鈥檛. What good does it do me having petrol at the petrol stations if I can鈥檛 afford to buy it?鈥
He says shortly after the revolution everyone was saying 鈥淜osovo is still ours鈥 so he decided to test this. He called on people to march behind his digger, saying if they were right, the Albanians would run away when they approached.
No one took him up. A few years ago he did make the journey and UN forces allowed him to cross the border. He says the Serbian media lied and said he鈥檇 defied the troops, rather than made the journey with their help.
鈥淜osovo is lost and there鈥檚 no doubt about that. Everybody likes having a big state but they tried keeping . Montenegro was important. Slovenia, Croatia, they were important Every part of Yugoslavia meant something to me.
"It鈥檚 too late to change anything now. The way we鈥檙e being led will lose other parts of Serbia to Hungarians. Everything will be taken from us. Anyway the Serbs who are in Kosovo will be better off than if they were in Serbia. They鈥檒l be with the west.鈥
Joe definitely doesn鈥檛 like the idea that after the elections Serbia could move closer to Russia.
鈥淗ow can we turn towards Russia when we know that in 1948 it was hard for Tito to get rid of Russia? If they鈥檙e so good, how come the Czechs and Poles and Hungarians, Bulgarians and Romanians couldn鈥檛 wait to get rid of them? And I see the Germans are under America for the last sixty years and no one鈥檚 complaining. I want that too!鈥
Tourist attraction
He hopes one day the digger will stand outside the parliament as a tourist attraction. He鈥檚 put it on sale for 90,000 euros. 鈥淲ell, ,鈥 he says.
As we go he has a final thought: 鈥淧ut in your piece that I need a second-hand engine. Not a new one, just second-hand,鈥 he jokes: 鈥淭hen I can bring down this government as well.鈥 At least I think he鈥檚 joking.
Anyone out there got a spare 1981 D2 402 IHC engine for a 530 A (series 2) rubber-tyred loader, and we鈥檒l see if he鈥檚 serious.
I鈥檓 Mark Mardell, the 大象传媒's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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To Mr. Mark Mardell from Vladimir Bozhinoff, Sofia:
I thank you for elaborating such genius mean of communication between the East and the West as your Euro blog is. It seems that after the last two enlargement of the EU with twelve new member states, including the former Baltic Soviet republics, the Central European countries and the two Balkan states, your blog is going to win the golden palm among the journalistic communities of Europe and of North America. This is not a compliment; it鈥檚 just a personnel prediction鈥 I shall be glad to take part in the dialogue no matter whether it would please to all of your readers or not鈥
I cease this opportunity to send my best wishes to Mr.Lyubisav Djokic鈥 No doubt he鈥檚 a brave man who is eager to see his motherland as EU member state鈥
It is high time that our orthodox sister Serbia should reconsider all her Balkan policy in order to prepare her entry to the EU鈥 I think, we Bulgarians are interested to have on our west boarder a trustworthy and close partner whose membership will bring more stability and prosperity to the Balkan states鈥
Regards, Vladimir Bozhinoff, Sofia, Bulgaria鈥
Mark,
Joe the Digger - what a superstar. Any chance of having a word with Jeremy Clarkson and getting him on Top Gear ? I'm sure the boys could think up some great stunt for Joe & his digger !
Thank you for this very interesting piece, Mark. It's always nice to read about the human dimension of all these large political developments, but it usually gets blotted out in news-articles.
So he's "much poorer" and can't afford bread and petrol, but his biggest fear is still of Russia. Some people never learn, do they? Also, I found his making light of fellow Serbs' suffering in Kosovo pretty distasteful.
Dear Mr Mardell,
Thank you for joining the anti-Serbian propaganda that all of your 大象传媒 collagues are promoting.
When Serbia gives up Kosovo, then Vojovodina, then everything else, and Greater Albania spans Macedonia, Greece and Montenegro too, life will truly improve for Serbians.
Can't wait.
Stay well,
Adrian
Good point that about Tito. Even when Juguslavia was at it's strongest they knew better then to fold to the Bear, how can Serbia expect to have any kind of relation with Russia today that isn't one of master-puppet?
Keep on traveling around Mark, keeping us informed of the Balkan pulse. Good job.
I am realy sorry for the author of the blog as he has to read comments from people who dont make difference between TV 'heroes' and real life heroes.
On the other hand I wouldn't mind seeing the Top Gear boys performing their stunts under a shoot-to-kill fire. They won't look so much 'heroic' running for their lives, would they?
There's a trail for [Top Gear] repeated on "Dave" digital TV where Jeremy Clarkson is saying critically "Exciting - in the same sense as being shot at"...
Do we want to see the programme team competing to invade Kosovo in different vehicles? Maybe not.
Brilliant interview, it is interesting to get a bigger extract of his story...
I'll keep a look out for a motor, couldn't find one on eBay though.
There was a nice artice in the Daily Express on sunday about the bbc getting money from THE EU but the bbc says it as no influence on there judgement on Europe.Do pigs fly Mark how much are you getting From the EU for you Pro comment instead of being neutral get someone else in who stays in the middle.Now the EU is buying our media what next.At least the expess and the sun and other sceptic papers state the facts.
This Joe the Digger is honest enough (or just simple enough) to say what really people around him want: no word about democracy, freedom, independence etc., but a search for better,wealthier patron. Sure he thinks he can't live on its own and prefers some quasi-colonial status for his country, and if US or EU can give better donations, then Russia, so lets go to the West! For me, it is not that decent, but it is too often the real idea behind the drive to join EU.
I may be able to get him a spare 1981 D2 402 IHC engine for a 530 A (series 2) rubber-tyred loader, but I don鈥檛 like this business every time someone disagrees with the politics of his own elected government running the buldozer into the Parlament building.
Otherwise, you need no election: just get the Bob The Bilder on your side and Bob鈥檚 (!) your uncle.
Mark, this tale says more about the realities of Derbia and Kosovo than any other piece of reporting I've read: thank you.
However, your preface tells a more important story. So often contributors to your blog show their ignorance of the EU, what it does and how it impacts our daily lives. Clearly the public of the UK are deprived of such information by editors and/or owners of news media. It is much the same in many other EU countries, I fear (not quite so bad here in France but poor nonethless).
Keep up the blog - and I'll second any vote for your palmares!
Dear Mr Mardell,
Your friend Joe's comment about having money then but not now is one I hear frequently - I've been living in Belgrade for some years. It isn't quite accurate, however: certainly people had money, but there was practically nothing in the shops to be bought. People here often make the same comment as Joe about the Tito years, and the same caveat applies.
Of course it isn't possible for a visitor to obtain a broad or balanced perspective of what's going on here; but it might be interesting for an investigative journalist interested in the realities of everyday life in Serbia to make a few inquiries into the various mafias who are actually running the 'economy' here and into their relationship with the politicians now seeking election.
"Anyway the Serbs who are in Kosovo will be better off than if they were in Serbia. They鈥檒l be with the west."
The why don't Serbs from Serbia proper go to Kosovo while Kosovo Serbs go to Serbia proper?
Someone should really do a longer biographical piece on Joe as I can think of few people currently with us today with such a depth of character and funny to boot - I'm guessing he's a funny guy that's just my impression but I find it as hard to shake as pulling a sock out of the mouth of a terrier.
Mark, this guy should be President in Serbia, he has the guts, and is sincere after all.
'This week Today and PM are broadcasting my radio reports on my Balkans trip.'
Mark, it's good to know that the 大象传媒 is somewhat interested in your Balkans trip. Last week, when Parliament started debating the Lisbon Treaty, which according to the Eurosceptic press will put an end to a thousand years of British history as an independent and sovereign nation, this is what the 大象传媒 reported as BIG stories INSTEAD of the parliamentary debate to 'save' this country's independence:
Monday 21st January, Radio 4鈥檚 6 O'clock News: Can't remember the leading story, but the second story by order of importance was about the man who plunged with his son from his hotel balcony in Crete. I don鈥檛 think that the imminent EU treaty debate even got a mention in the half an hour long news bulletin.
Tuesday 22nd January, Radio 4鈥檚 鈥楾oday鈥: Again can't remember the leading story (not the imminent demise of British independence, though) but the second major story was about 'Cookery lessons for schoolchildren'. To be fair there was a two minute debate (starring Bill Cash) in a gap filler slot devoted to the parliamentary EU debate the night before, but it was short and abrupt, rushed to a speedy conclusion by the presenter, as undoubtedly the 大象传媒 had much more 'important' stories to cover, e.g. the one on cookery lessons.
I wonder if there is a chance of a grown up debate about the EU in this country when a) the anti-EU brigade portrays every new EU treaty as the demise of the British nation (despite the UK hardly participating in the real EU anyway, i.e. opt-outs from most key policies, e.g. the euro, Schengen, the Rights Charter鈥ust be that anything with the words EU next to it is enough to set the great British eurosceptic 鈥楾hink Tank鈥 into overdrive) and b) the 大象传媒, which we all devotedly fund, considers that cookery lessons in schools is a much more pressing political subject for the media consumption of the nation's elite (let's not forget that the Today program is supposed to be avidly followed by the political elites) than a supposedly important parliamentary debate about the EU.
My opinion, for what it鈥檚 worth: Grown up debate about the EU (and many other important issues) doesn鈥檛 even stand a chance.
Ps. Mark, while I do think very highly of you, when you get a minute after your trips to the Balkans, Kurdistan, the Polish border, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia et al can you find a minute to report on the core EU鈥?
Mark,
Great start.Public will learn a lot from a typical serbian citizen.He been through a lot.His words are all facts,imagine asking a politician a same questions,you would have 99% diversion to facts.
Mark,
The machine is not a Digger, it is actually a Front End Loader.
As for your piece, I don't see the relevance of placing a non influential persons views (Joe) towards Serbia's territory and imply this is this is the general public's views. Couldn't find anyone more important to tell you that they believe Kosovo is lost? I think you probably won't! Next you will try and do a serious piece with Cedo Jovanovic, at which point your credibility will be completely shot.
I also struggle to see how you got Joe from Ljubisa. Also a note, you will very seldom find a Serb by the name of Joe or Joseph, as these are considered Catholic names by the Serbs.
Why not do a piece on smething a little more positive, like how the Serbian tennis players have kicked everyones butt lately, about how they will recieve a hero's welcome and what this means to the people. We are sick and tired of the same old stories that if we don't agree with the WEST's plicies our lives are miserable. Talk about moving on from the cold war!
Happy to discuss further.
Zeljko.
I think it was very nice of you to do a story on this man. If our country had changed after the Revolution, this man would be a true national hero and not some poor old man. He was the symbol of the revolution against a mafia-fascist regime, of the struggle of the common man who didn麓t give in to the regime麓s propaganda. I really hope that he doesn麓t pass away before Serbia manages to stabilize itself and raise him to the level of a working-man hero.
The revolution continues, the Serbs need to carry it out completely!
And I do think you should do a piece on Mr. Jovanovic, he is the future of Serbia, not Kostunica, not Nikolic.
I think it was very nice of you to do a story on this man. If our country had changed after the Revolution, this man would be a true national hero and not some poor old man. He was the symbol of the revolution against a mafia-fascist regime, of the struggle of the common man who didn麓t give in to the regime麓s propaganda. I really hope that he doesn麓t pass away before Serbia manages to stabilize itself and raise him to the level of a working-man hero.
The revolution continues, the Serbs need to carry it out completely!
And I do think you should do a piece on Mr. Jovanovic, he is the future of Serbia, not Kostunica, not Nikolic. When things come to their place, it will be Mr. Jovanovic on your homepage and not empty rhetoriticians like the 19th century zombie Nikolic.
As for the dinnertable Mussolinis, the Serbs publishing xenophobic and chauvanist comments on this website: Please stop embarassing us. Take your opinions and keep them in your inferiority complex-ridden circles. It麓s about time that the different voice of Serbia reaches the headlines.
A different voice is a compliant and obediant voice?
Dear Daniel, real change in Serbia will occur only when real examination of anti-Serbian propaganda is done and acknowledged. I will remember daily stories during 1999 war that Serbs are bleeding Albanians to death (Serbia is in close proximity to Romania, so count Dracula is most likely Serbian by origin). Stop spreading your lies first, then come to ask what should be future of Serbia. Remember, regardless of current Kosovo population, no real Serb would say that we should give it up.
You can take it by force, as you did so many times by now, but no Serb will ever forget it.
"As for the dinnertable Mussolinis, the Serbs publishing xenophobic and chauvanist comments on this website: Please stop embarassing us. Take your opinions and keep them in your inferiority complex-ridden circles. It麓s about time that the different voice of Serbia reaches the headlines." [#23]
You're absolutely right. Unfortunately most people tend to extrapolate from examples they're familiar with, such as this post in "East or West..." debate:
"At 10:51 PM on 17 Jan 2008, Zoran Popovic wrote:
"NO to EU - YES to Russia! We will build nuclear arsenal with Russian help and aim the rockets at London and other British cities and then you will sing and dance, (edited)"
Mark,
Please tell Joe the Digger that I'm prepared to buy him just such an engine if he diggs up those Moscow lackeys' graves who give Serbs such a bad name. Single-handedly.
Just find out its market price.
If you set up an escrow acccount and send me particulars and I'll deposite the full amount in it to be paid out to Joe as soon as he burries them.
[my money is not funny, and I don't keep it in a Societe Generale's acccount]
If you talk to Lyubi again, tell him that anybody who would rather die than live on his knees sucking comrade Liliputin's and other crypto-commies-turned- jingoists little...hmm...fingers can have not only my respect, but my tangible support as well.
Ask him also whether he has any friends just like him. Because if so,
I know some top gear guys who would gladly buy them new pooper-scoopers.
Just to watch the poop scooped.
Make sure to check, though, how to get the thingamajig to Lyubi without it being scooped by Milo/Rado/Ratko/ and Vlado the Impaler's sympathisers.
[they have long and sticky paws just like Erich's, Janos', Nicolae's, Todor's and Wojciech's aficionados do]
Dear Mr Mardell,
as one of readers already said:
Thank you for joining the anti-Serbian propaganda that all of your 大象传媒 collagues are promoting.
Stay well,
Nikola
What a pity Mark that nobody among your readers has ever protested against such irrelevant, although separate declarations that favor the idea of 鈥楪reat Albania鈥 stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. It sounds as if, we orthodox people (Greeks, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Romanians , Bulgarians, etc.) are doomed to disappear in order to make enough room for other, Muslim nations that are eager, ever since the Middle ages, to invade the old continent in order to settle there forever鈥
What a pity Mark that some 鈥榩ro-Albanian鈥 followers cannot see the real danger for us, Christian European Nations, when putting all the blame on the Serbs (for the bloodshed that has taken place in Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina), and, are ignoring at the same time the unrealistic ambitions of many Albanian extremists who are expected to extend other territorial pretentions over Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia鈥nd why not over Bulgaria, as soon as the Kosovo independence is recognized 鈥
I presume Mark that the so called 鈥榓nti-Serbian鈥 club may turn soon into 鈥榓nti-European鈥 one鈥 And then no wonder that some orthodox people will turn anew all their hopes to Russia as it was the case in the XIX century鈥
However, I appreciate your efforts to cover all the peninsular and give the 大象传媒 audience an impartial and a realistic idea of how we, Balkan nations, co-exist in the post cold war era鈥
Welcome to Bulgaria Mark!
Vladimir Bozhinoff, Sofia, Bulgaria
What a pity Mark that nobody among your readers has ever protested against such irrelevant, although separate declarations in favor of 鈥楪reat Albania鈥 stretching from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. It sounds as if, we orthodox people (Greeks, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Romanians , Moldavians, Bulgarians, etc.) are doomed to disappear in order to make enough room for other, Muslim nations that are eager, ever since the Middle ages, to invade the old continent in order to settle there forever鈥
What a pity Mark that some 鈥榩ro-Albanian鈥 followers cannot see the real danger for us, prevaling Christian European Nations, when putting all the blame on the Serbs (for the bloodshed that has taken place in Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina), and, are ignoring at the same time the unrealistic ambitions of many Albanian extremists who are expected to launch 鈥 just another portion of territorial pretentions over Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia鈥nd why not over Bulgaria, as soon as the Kosovo independence is recognized by the EU and the US鈥
I apprehend Mark that the so called 鈥榓nti-Serbian鈥 club may turn soon into 鈥榓nti-European鈥 one鈥 And then no wonder that some orthodox people will turn anew all their hopes to Russia as it was the case in the XVIII and in the XIX centuries 鈥
However, I appreciate your efforts to cover all the peninsular and give the 大象传媒 audience an impartial and a realistic idea of how we, Balkan nations, co-exist in the post cold war era鈥
Welcome to Bulgaria Mark!
Vladimir Bozhinoff, Sofia, Bulgaria
What planet are people like Mr Whittle on? The 大象传媒 took out a loan from a bank with the word Europe in its name!!!!!!!! It accepted a grant from the EU to help our children to read and count!!!!!! It is jepodising its neutrality! The loans were paid back, the grant would not even pay for one FA Cup match! Some of these eurosceptics should get out more and join the real world. The 大象传媒 shows less bias than any other news organisation in the world, but i am sure that Mr Whittle and Mr Spink would prefer it if our only information came from Fox News and the Sun. Greg, Leeds