How did the Yugoslav Wars affect your childhood? What do you think about other Balkan countries now? Would you like to see Yugoslavia back?
That is a loaded question! I was 5 while it was going on, so I don't exactly remember much, what did affect me was that male soldiers, including my father, had their rage and violence excused with 'he was in the war', which makes me so mad. For all I know they went there to rape women and shoot people, I have zero sympathy for that.
I don't think Yugoslavia will be back unless we the women abandon the boarders, and form our own female-only Yugoslavia, which I would be into. Wars and borders are male construction, we don't benefit from it at all, and there's no reason for us to stand by them.
I love all of the women from all balkan countries. I think all other balkan countries are great, only croatia sucks! I do believe that croatia is specifically a bad country, because we're hushing up the genocide of serbs still, and it's always making me mad. It's still openly nazi, fascist, racist, nationalist and extremely patriarchal country, and it drains me every day to live here.
I find all other balkan nations are at least a bit more chill and tolerant, maybe because they're not constantly hushing up a past genocide. I've noticed croats are very focused on putting blame and bad word on their neighbour countries, which I also believe is a part of the huge victim complex croatia has.
I don't remember anything of Yugoslavia, and my family never told me much (except my mom still being weirdly into the dictator), but I found books in the library detailing how life looked back then, and how close the people were in the past and the community they've formed, and it sounds... like nothing I've ever experienced. I would have loved to see it. All older people talk about the past with the fond, nostalgic tone, describing the local dances, villages working together to harvest crops, having big friend groups and stable work, having much more fun and relaxing times in life than I've ever seen anyone have right now. That made me feel like Yugoslavia had to be much better than what we have right now. But it is all stories, I've never experienced it myself past the age of 5, so I can't speak from real experience.