[LINK] "Let's hear it for the Yugosphere"

[rfmcdonald]

Eastern Approaches' T.J. has an English-language translation of an article from the Serbian Vreme newspaper talking about how the former Yugoslavia is beginning to form a coherent region, a new community.

Two years ago I coined the term "Yugosphere" in an article for The Economist. I thought the word encapsulated some of the dynamics I had seen developing in the former Yugoslavia in recent years. Some misunderstood me, but the fact that the word has since entered the lexicon suggests that it usefully captures something many people instinctively knew existed—and indeed lived every day.

Two years later, the idea of the Yugosphere bores me rigid. But it appears to be here to stay; if anything, the idea is more necessary than ever.

Let me explain. First, the Yugosphere was simply a way of describing the renewal of thousands of broken bonds across the former state. (Kosovo is a partial exception, for obvious reasons.) It does not mean that the state of Yugoslavia is coming back. Moreover, although I think it is a beneficial development, it is not irreversible.

To a great extent the Yugosphere is an economic and social phenomenon. When a Croatian company like Atlantic Grupa buys a Slovene one, Droga Kolinska, which in turn already owns Serbian ones, which in turn distribute across the former Yugoslavia, that is the Yugosphere. (And, I might add, nothing to do with " Yugonostalgia".)

When the Regional Cooperation Council in Sarajevo, headed by a Croat, organises endless meetings covering culture, law, industry, environment and whatever else, that is the Yugosphere. I could talk about which musician is performing where this summer, or why the Ratko Mladic story was broken by Jutarnji List, a Croatian newspaper.

But the idea also has political application. I expect to see ever-more co-ordination among the states of the former Yugoslavia. There are many models to follow. Think of the Benelux countries, which once worked together intensely before much of their co-operation was made redundant by the European Union. Another is the Nordic Council, which brings together a natural group of Scandinavian countries, some in the EU and some not. Likewise, there is the example of the Visegrad group of central Europeans.