Fall of the Berlin Wall had little impact in Serbia

15/12/2009

Twenty years ago, Serbian citizens didn't have much reason to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 15/12/09

German artist Frank Botler created the cardboard wall in Belgrade. [Nikola Barbutov/SETimes]

While Europe was celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, those in the former Yugoslavia had a different experience. At the time, Yugoslavia was slipping towards several years of bloody conflicts that, for Serbia, ended in October 2000 with the toppling of Slobodan Milosevic's regime.

"For the citizens of the former Yugoslavia, 1989, unfortunately, was not the year of the famous revolution, which essentially ended the tumultuous and totalitarian 20th century," Belgrade historian Cedomir Antic said at a conference devoted to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Before breaking apart, Yugoslavia was the most developed country in Southern and Eastern Europe, the one everyone said would soon join the EU. Only after 20 years are certain former Yugoslav republics close to that goal.

The dramatic historical events in Yugoslavia resulted in little coverage of the Berlin Wall's fall, thus, the public failed to attribute much importance to the event.

"We know nothing of the consequences of the downfall of communism, because we began to be overtaken by waves of violence and war after the fall of the Berlin Wall," University of Belgrade professor Jovan Teokarevic said.

Regarding the Wall, Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the biggest world leaders at the time had the wisdom to make the right decisions.

"Unfortunately, when the leaders of my country during the old Yugoslavia faced similar challenges, they made decisions that pushed us into a deep, dark valley, which, I believe, we are just now managing to get out of," Tadic said.

The biggest challenge facing the current Serbian government is to rebuild a society "that had been plunged into the abyss of war" and to lead Serbia into the EU, he said.

"The entire Western Balkans will bring down its Berlin Walls only after all countries of the region have become full members of the EU, and the process of uniting Europe will be completed at that historic moment," Tadic said.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the milestone in Berlin, a series of events, dubbed Days of Germany, was organised in Belgrade. One, in the central square, was a cardboard wall, created by German artist Frank Botler, to symbolise the Berlin Wall.

"Physical walls may be gone, but walls remain in the minds of people in all spheres of life," he explained. The artist said he chose Belgrade because it is a multi-ethnic city and the centre of the Balkans.

The cardboard wall stood about 3m tall and 14m long. It was to be torn down symbolically on November 9th, but it was destroyed a day sooner due to wind, one of Belgrade's trademarks.