Looking at Serbia from the inside

Impressions from Novi Sad and Belgrade

After meeting students from Belgrade and Novi Sad at the European Week in Eindhoven and Budapest earlier this year the authors paid a return visit to Yugoslavia (1). Some of their impressions are laid down in this article.

John Stienen and Stephan van Uijtregt, Eindhoven/Budapest

Like most people we did not know what to expect in a country that faces an embargo of the international community because of a complicated war. At the border, we noticed the presence of a lot of militia on the Hungarian side. Some of them got in the train to check the passports. At the same time others came in with torches, screw- drivers and step-ladders and took apart the whole train looking for contraband. At the Yugoslav side the situation was completely different. The militia came in, asked for our passports, only looked at the page where the visa was, put a stamp on it, checked some luggage and went on...

Black Market

Although there is an oil-embargo, cars are driving around everywhere. The petrol-stations do not work, there is a sign ‘Embargo’ on all of them. Petrol can only be obtained from people who are sunbathing on the bonnets of their cars and sell petrol in jerrycans for DEM 2.6 per litre.
While walking through the city of Novi Sad we noticed the use of both the Roman and the Cyrillic script. One reason for this is that Vojvodina, being a border province, has lots of Croatian and Hungarian minorities, living together with the Serb population. For example the cathedral in Novi Sad has ceremonies both in Serb and in Hungarian.
After the hyper-inflation of 1992/93, the government issued a new currency at an ‘official’ exchange-rate of 1 novi dinar =1 Deutschmark. Black market exchange rates are much higher, ranging from 2 novi dinars at every street corner cigarette seller to 2.2 novi dinars if you know where to go. Finally we managed to change at 2.15 in a flower-shop.
The next day we went to Belgrade. It is amazing how many goods can be bought from a wide range of different countries. In any store you can buy crisps from Belgium, beer from Turkey, Macedonia, Greece or Germany, cigarettes from Bulgaria, USA, Russia, the latest fashion from Italy, etc.
Prices of goods produced in Yugoslavia themselves are reasonable. Prices of ‘imported’ goods are higher than in the neighbouring countries. As average wages are around 200 Deutschmarks per month, a very small percentage of the population can afford all the goods. The majority of the people can only look at them.

"Please kill Milosevic"

In Belgrade influences can be seen from the Roman, Habsburg, Turkish and the Slavic culture. All this results in an interesting mixture of different buildings and streets. After all the stories in the Western media about nationalism, we were surprised not to find too many symbols of nationalism in the city. The so-called ‘Kosovo cross’ (2) could be seen quite often, but most of the times in an ‘official’ version, for example at the post-office. The use of this cross in graffiti could seldom be seen. The only widely available nationalist signs are the video coverage of Arkan’s (3) wedding and nationalist techno music. Compared to other former socialist states, the presence of military in the streets was not as high as could be expected.
The main impression from our discussions with Belgravian students was that they are completely fed up with the war and the current situation. While walking in front of the Parliament one night, we asked: ‘Well, do you think the light up there is Milosevic still working?’ The answer was: ‘Why? Do you want to kill him? Please do!’
Our general impression was that the students we met disagreed with their government and could not wait to see it replaced. They talked about it without being afraid of anything, even at the Federal Parliament square.

Embargo? Just kidding!

The explanations students gave for the support for the Yugoslav government were quite interesting. Because there is a district election system, some of the oppositional districts are put together with more loyal districts, giving an overall support for Milosevic. Another reason is that in some rural areas people can very well survive without being affected by the embargo and they can live their lives without big problems. The oppositional and independent media are mainly restricted to the cities, so lots of people in the province are influenced by the propaganda of a greater Serbia.
The independent media are popular among students. This popularity does not limit itself to the Yugoslav media, as we found out when we gave our friends some copies of the Croat independent newspaper "Feral Tribune". This newspaper, giving a very clear and objective view of the current situation in Croatia, Yugoslavia and Bosnia, is published in Split and therefore difficult to obtain in Serbia.

How to escape ?

Of course students in Yugoslavia are also interested in Europe. Because of the embargo it was sometimes difficult for them to obtain visa for certain countries. The visa situation changed when the cultural boycott was partly lifted.
To them a good way to escape from the regime is by communicating with students throughout Europe. Invitations would also create the possibility for students to discuss with other students from ex-Yugoslavia, providing a firm basis for a relationship that will hopefully prevent any of this from ever happening again.

Notes:
(1) Yugoslavia:
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia consisting of Serbia and Montenegro
(2) Kosovo Cross:
Symbol of Serbia, depicting a ‘+’ with four C’s, one c in every corner. The ‘C’s’, which are Cyrillic S’s stand for ‘Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava’ or ‘only unity can save the Serbs’.
(3) Arkan:
Nickname for Zeljko Raznjatovic, leader of Serb paramilitary forces (‘Arkan Tigers’), wanted by Interpol for crimes in Western Europe before the Yugoslav conflict. According to Helsinki Watch there is sufficient evidence for an investigation against him for committed war crimes in former Yugoslavia

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