Identification - Part II

On the 25th of June I wrote about the competition for a flag for Kosovo. In the mean time there has been some progress. The rest of the world doesn't notice that since all international media coverage on Kosovo is about the negotiations between USA, Russia and the EU on its final status. But behind this diplomatic veil the contours of a new country slowly become visible.

Late June the working group on the symbols of Kosovo met to evaluate the submissions for Kosovo’s flag and emblem. 972 Proposals were recieved. The working group decided to delay the opening and screening of the submissions for flag and emblem for a week, to allow for those sent by mail to reach Kosovo (the proposals from the Kosovar diaspora). On the anthem, it was decided that there would first be a competition on the music and possibly one on lyrics at a later stage.

The music for the anthem seems to be ready. The rumour goes that it has been decided that the anthem will not have any lyrics. They could not find away around what language to use: Albanian or Serbian. So the Kosovar anthem seems to become an anthem that you can only humm. Like the first verse of the German one.

Since a few weeks the draft law on the use of state symbols circulates here. Since it is status related (only a country can have such a law) it waits at the parliamentary secretariat to be approved when the status is settled (read: after Kosovo has declared its independence). It is no secret anymore that this will happen soon. Some political analyst expect it even before Christmas.

The plot thickens.

Brotherhood and Unity

Here in the Balkans lives an endangered human species. It is called the Yugo. A Yugo is a person who grew up in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and who still has good memories about that time.

Yugos are the opposite of Schatzies (see this blog 30/08/2007). They are educated, urban and political moderate. They are nostalgic about Tito's time, when they could travel without visa, were able to consume like Europeans and were a force to be reckoned with in almost any sport. But - most of all - when they had an identity that was widely accepted and respected.

Yugos among each other have a lot of fun recalling memories of Tito's time. Typical "Yugostalgia" is the TV show “Allow us to address you”. This show was aired every Sunday morning on the national channel (the one and only TV channel). It was about the newest developments in Yugoslav army. Every time the show would close with the following line: "All of you can sleep tight tonight because we are here to protect you." That line does not only sound funny and naïve nowadays, but also sarcastic in hindsight (Serbia used the Yugoslav army to fight the other republics). On Sunday evening the series “The written off” was aired. It was about urban partisan resistance against 'zee nazees'. The series became cult for the Yugos. Nowadays it is re-aired in some ex YU countries. There is even a techno remix of its tune.

Last month, the tragic death at the age of 26 of a pop singer from Macedonia - Tose Proeski - brought the Yugos together again. His voice was widely appreciated across the politically divided Balkans. He was mourned and commemorated in ALL former Yugoslav countries including here in Kosovo, being it more discretely and only by those who still dare.

With his death Yugoslavia got buried a little more. Sad, very sad.