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Serbia grants citizenship to Steve Wozniak
- zmxz 3y agoExciting news! Glad to find out Serbia was the pioneer and helped create Apple!
- jacquesm 3y agoIs there any context to this?
- ahoka 3y agoWhy would Woz want Serbian citizenship? It’s not an EU country and let’s say it’s not exactly Monaco either.
- medo-bear 3y agoIt's one of few remaining militarily non-aligned countries. If Big War breaks out it is unlikely Serbia will be enacting conscription. It is also not a likely nuke target.
- jacquesm 3y agoSerbia non-aligned militarily? I'm not sure that is accurate.
- SergeAx 3y agoCare to elaborate? Serbia is not a member of NATO or other military alliances, does not supply arms to any country involved in current conflicts, and says it loudly.
- medo-bear 3y agoDespite that, it is accurate [0]. On a somewhat related note, Yugoslavia was one of the founding countries of the Non-Alligned movement. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Military_alliances_involving_Serbia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Military_alliances_...
- fmobus 3y agoThe country not being a nuclear target is only a relevant advantage if you move there. Also, conscription is absolutely irrelevant for someone his age. Besides, citizens living abroad are usually not pressed into service, even in times of war.
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- vanattab 3y agoNot that I think that's why woz accepted citizenship, but it would allow him to move there in the event that tensions escalated to the point he thought it nessesary.
- dragonwriter 3y ago> It's one of few remaining militarily non-aligned countries. There are lots of countries that are strictly militarily non-aligned (as in, not members of any mutual defense pact.) It is true that there are relatively few countries that are not either militarily aligned or strongly in the geopolitical orbit of one or more of Russia, China, or the US, but...Serbia isn't in this category, either.
- medo-bear 3y ago> There are lots of countries that are strictly militarily non-aligned (as in, not members of any mutual defense pact.) In Europe? > It is true that there are relatively few countries that are not either militarily aligned or strongly in the geopolitical orbit of one or more of Russia, China, or the US, but...Serbia isn't in this category, either. Actually, Serbia often gets criticized for playing a juggling game between EU, Russia, and China. As far as orbits go, for all its bravado about 'brotherly' Russia, it is actually mostly dependent on the EU
- vasac 3y agoThe election campaign is in full swing, and I don't doubt the government wanted to trumpet this as much as possible. By the way, Wozniak mentioned that he and his wife were on vacation in cities along the Danube, so I guess that's the reason he's in Belgrade.
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- beaeglebeach 3y ago[flagged]
- CoastalCoder 3y agoI didn't notice anything in the article suggesting the citizenship is just honorary. But the article was also surprisingly silent on why they were becoming Serbian citizens.
- colechristensen 3y agoThere are plenty of reasons that aren't xenophobia to not have open borders.
- dbrgn 3y ago...I guess unless you're one of the minorities, or speak the "wrong" accent. Then all of a sudden you're not welcome anymore.
- vasac 3y agoPlease do share what's happening with minorities and people with the wrong accent daily in Serbia. I live there, perhaps I'm missing something. P.S. my accent is also wrong, should I be afraid?
- jacquesm 3y agoWhat's happening is what's happening everywhere else: there are different Serbians, some are great, some are nice, some are not so nice and some are terrible.
- financltravsty 3y agoAsk Serbs what they think about gypsies, gays, and jews.
- vasac 3y agoEh, I kind of hoped for at least an attempt to substantiate opinions, but fat chance.
- mc32 3y agoI like how they translate/transliterate his name into Serbian: Stiv Voznijak. Wish more languages would do that and not try to keep the original spelling just because.
- dbrgn 3y agoI guess in Germany/Switzerland/Austria he'd be "Stefan Wosniak" :)
- dsego 3y agoThat's actually what they used to do in the old days. All the saints, kings, politicians, etc would be localized, eg croatian count Josip Jelačić is József Jelasics in hungarian or Joseph Jellachich in german, Franz Ferdinand is Franjo Ferdinand in croatian, etc
- the_af 3y agoI rather they kept the original spelling because that's his name, but only if Serbs can figure out how to pronounce it. Which, in the modern world, is a reasonable assumption for names written in the Latin script.
- frogpelt 3y agoIt says he is the "creator of the global IT industry" and that GPS is the acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System. Is this just a bad translation?
- khuey 3y agoIn English "Global Navigation Satellite System" is a generic term for any system like GPS (i.e. also including the Russian, EU, Chinese, etc equivalents) so I would suspect it's a bad translation.
- andsoitis 3y agoWhat a weird thing to say: "It is the greatest honor for us that I believe that the Government of Serbia will grant the creator of the global IT industry a Serbian passport. I congratulate Wozniak and his wife, who will become citizens of Serbia today or tomorrow," said Vučić. "We can boast that the computer genius is a citizen of Serbia," he said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić met in Belgrade with computer engineer and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
- tunnuz 3y agoI thought the same thing … but I didn’t read the whole article so perhaps I’m missing the significance here.
- the_af 3y agoIt's a bit weird, but I'm going to guess it was said in jest.
- ZiiS 3y ago"creator of the global IT industry" might have been a miss-translation of "founder of largest global IT company"? Either way it is indisputable that he is a computer genius and it is a worthy boast that he chose to become their citizen.
- sgt 3y agoOne could interpret it as the creator of the PC, which is true. There was really no "Personal Computer" before Jobs and Wozniak came along. Not to say they also didn't stand on the shoulders of giants.
- andsoitis 3y ago> One could interpret it as the creator of the PC, which is true. The record differs, even if the hype supports it. Specifically, the John Blankenbaker Kenbak-1 is considered to be the first personal computer. https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/personal-computers/17/297 https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/personal-computer...
- neutered_knot 3y agoI wonder if this is the "one weird hack" to expand the tax base of a country. Just grant citizenship, then start sending tax bills. "Dear Mr. Musk, here is your Argentinian Citizenship! We welcome you with open arms! P.S. please note that as of 2020 we have in place a tax on high-wealth individuals. The appropriate agency will be in touch. Renouncing citizenship takes about a year"
- ztetranz 3y agoMost countries don't tax their citizens when they live elsewhere and have no income in the country. There is one notable exception.
- Svip 3y agoEritrea? Since there are actually two exceptions, although one is definitely less notable than the other.
- impish9208 3y ago> There is one notable exception. There are two actually.
- simondotau 3y agoThat one notable exception also charges a tax for renouncing citizenship.
- PopAlongKid 3y agoYou mean the income tax on income sourced to the U.S. prior to leaving?
- simondotau 3y agohttps://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/10/23/u-s-has-worlds-highest-fee-to-renounce-citizenship/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/10/23/u-s-has-w...
- jgilias 3y agoWhy though? Did they just figure they’d grant one, and he just went ahead and accepted? Or is there a reason he needs one that wasn’t explained? I know that people sometimes shop around for a passport from whatever EU country for reasons, but Serbia isn’t one. (With all due respect to Serbia)
- unsupp0rted 3y agoThis is neither here nor there, but Serbia is an EU Candidate, likely to get membership in the coming years.
- kranke155 3y agoUnder current trajectory it would be a Russian-friendly Trojan horse inside the EU. Doubt it’s goanna happen.
- yreg 3y agoSerbian accession is not at all likely in the coming years. They have had full candidate status since 2012. Last year the European Parliament passed a resolution saying it "strongly regrets Serbia’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia, which damages its EU accession process." There's also the problem regarding their relationship with Kosovo. Also, only 34-43% of Serbians want to join according to polls. Compared to Albania's 97% and Montenegro's 79%. I think Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and even Ukraine are more likely to join the EU next.
- unsupp0rted 3y agoI've lived in both Serbia and Albania fairly recently. Yes, 90-something % of Albanians would be glad to instantly improve their standard of living. Culturally (i.e. 'European Values') they're far from aligned with the EU right now. Serbia, on the other hand, does largely share "European Values", more and more so every year. Its political alignments can change very quickly. But the cultural trajectory is clear.
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- keiferski 3y agoI obviously don't know why Wozniak personally wants Serbian citizenship, but it is worth noting that Serbia is a good second passport for anyone that already has a US/EU/CA/UK citizenship. This is because Serbians have visa-free access to China, Russia, and a few other places that Western citizens tend to have more difficulties with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Serbian_citizens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Serbian_...
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- KolmogorovComp 3y agoTangential question: Could a country force its citizenship to any person on the planet like that? ‘From now on, Mr X is now one of our citizen, with all the taxes/restrictions it entails’
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- vasac 3y agoFor Serbia to collect taxes, one must live in the country for more than 180 days per year, so I doubt Woz should be worried.
- layer8 3y agoIn principle yes, but other countries may not recognize it on the basis of human rights. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality." So it should at least be possible to renounce such a citizenship. International law regarding nationality generally focuses on preventing statelessness, so there isn’t much on prohibiting additional citizenships.
- razakel 3y agoYes. Iran does it. You can only apply to renounce it in person in Tehran. This obviously causes problems for critics of the regime.
- SergeAx 3y agoOf course not. A person should file a signed citizenship application, and then literally put a signature into their new passport.
- keiferski 3y agoIn practice it works more like this: the state passes laws that deem anyone with X qualities is a citizen. Usually this means “born there” or “has parents born there.” This theoretically makes the person a citizen, even if they’ve never interacted or visited the country in any way.
- medo-bear 3y agoCool! Belgrade is one of the best cities in the world
- NKosmatos 3y agoIsn't Woz of Polish origin? http://www.woz.org/letters/about-your-last-name/ http://www.woz.org/letters/about-your-last-name/ It's customary for us here in EU to grant citizenship/titles/university degrees to various important people who have contributed to a specific field. Some countries do it out of recognition others for country/political gains, but it doesn't hurt to have a collection of passports :-)
- virogenesis 3y agoIt's just a presidential campaign for the coming up elections.
- nixass 3y agoWozniak getting Serbian citizenship is the least weird and cringe thing in current election campaign cycle. Vucic and his cronies are in full swing,
- nixass 3y agoIn other news Elon Musk is also Serbian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbHLzA4JLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbHLzA4JLg
- SergeAx 3y agoOf course he is, like Tesla before him.
- seydor 3y agoIt seems that he is serious about the region and in particularly promoting serbia from now on: https://www.tanjug.rs/english/politics/63147/wozniak-i-want-to-help-promote-serbia-and-its-interests/vest https://www.tanjug.rs/english/politics/63147/wozniak-i-want-... Apparently some friend introduced made arrangements for him to get the citizenship
- des1nderlase 3y agoI'm wondering why would Woz care tht much about this publicity, even through a Serbian friend connection (tennis player Tipsarević). Serbian tech scene is getting stronger every year, getting some big tech presence, but still I doubt Woz would really care about it.