By Jean Christou
WEDDING bells rang out in Paphos on Sunday for American Steve Reese and his Serbian bride Tanja Tomanovic as their countries continued their unrelenting war over Kosovo.
Catholic Reese, 31 from Maryland, and Orthodox Tomanovic, 23 from Belgrade, exchanged vows at a small church in Paphos. The simple ceremony was officiated by Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos.
The bride was given away by a local mayor and two managers from the Azia Hotel where the coupled were staying acted as best man and best woman.
The only guests were a group of locals and journalists interested in the couple’s plight.
They came to Cyprus to marry because neither could get a visa to the other’s country and neither needed a visa to come here.
“This is the best day of my life,” Reese told reporters as he and Tomanovic emerged from the church.
According to Reuters, a Cypriot family hugged them and handed them a pair of bed sheets.
“This wasn’t exactly what we planned, but now it seems that what we wanted was impossible,” said Tomanovic, a law student.
“It was even impossible for us to be together.”
Nato air strikes on Yugoslavia began while the couple were on a short holiday in Budapest. From there, they e-mailed the Azia Hotel, which they found on the internet.
“When they e-mailed us we told them to come to Cyprus. It was the least we could do to help,” said Antonis Papakyriacou, director of marketing at the hotel and best man.
“I have travelled to Eastern Europe several times,” Reese said, “and Tanja (has come) to the United States several times and now with the situation it would be difficult for Tanja to get a visa so we said we had to move our plans forward. Unfortunately our parents couldn’t attend,” Reese said.
The couple will now wait for the American embassy in Nicosia to process Tanja’s visa applications for the United States, which could take around five weeks.
“We don’t know where we will go. Maybe we will stay here, maybe we will move on,’ Tomanovic said, adding she was angry at the Nato bombings, and worried for her family in Belgrade.
“I feel angry and I feel scared. But I wouldn’t like to discuss politics on a day like this,” she said.
