Serbia & Montenegro Beat EU On Anti- Counterfeiting Laws & EU Standards

Serbia & Montenegro Beat EU On Anti- Counterfeiting Laws & EU Standards

http://trir684t4rdgfj.blogspot.com/2009/10/serbia-montenegro-beat-eu-on-anti.html


When traveling throughout Serbia & Montenegro in August 1999 for three weeks vacation. I also found Serbia & Montenegro banks to be 100% in accordance with EU anti-counterfeiting laws & guidelines.

In fact, as an American citizen with a United States Passport, I had an extremely difficult time when attempting to walk into any bank to exchange my United States Dollars into either Serbian Dinars and/or Euros. When exchanging money on my vacation, all bills (U.S. Dollars) had to be crisp and dry, without one tear or crease; I was always asked at all banks throughout my travels in Serbia & Montenegro to present them with more than two forms of official photo ID for transactions. When I asked them why, the bank representatives todl me they have to be extremely careful of counterfeit bills.

In fact, I was starving one day with some friends by the Kosovo border and one bank would not even exchange my United States Dollars into Euros at all! We were about 10 meters outside of Kosovo where western media was committing gross lies about hundreds of thousands of refugees being homeless by the borders of ALbanian and Kosovo. I saw noy one person anywhere insofar as refugees and/or homeless people during my trip in mid-August 2002.

Yet here I was, in a small ethnic majority Albanian town...anyway, back to my story...

I had been swimming earlier in the morning and had gotten all my money wet. Yet here I was, an American citizen and even 10 meters outside of Kosovo, not one Montengrin bank would easily exchange my US Dollars into Euros because it was a bit damp.
And I was hungry!

They would not even exchange it when I showed them my United States valid Passport along with additional forms of Identification. Talk about banks being overly cautious!

Since it has become a private joke of sorts between myself and my friends what we had to go back to our hotel rooms often and actually blow-dry our money; almost taking an iron to iron it perfectly dry, before any bank in either Serbia or Montenegro would exchange our currency (no matter how much I whined).

WHEN I EXPLAINED TO THE BANK TELLERS THAT I WAS VERY HUNGRY AND NEEDED TO EXCHANGE MONEYS TO BUY LUNCH, AND, ASKED THEM WHY ALL THIS ATTENTION TO MONEY EXCHANGES OF VERY SMALL AMOUNTS UNDER $50- EVEN, I WAS TOLD BECAUSE OF THEIR COUNTRY’S VERY STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF ANTI-COUNTERFEITING LAWS.

SO WHEREFORE SHOULD NOT SERBIA AT ONCE GAIN ACCEPTANCE IN THE EU?