While the history of Balkans is filled with blood, oppression and violence, it’s important to realize our differences, respect them and move forward for the sake of people and the future generations.

with respect,
a.

There’s still a distance between Slovenia and Austria in terms of GDP per capita, and a bigger gap in consumption per capita, but by the latter metric Slovenia’s consumption is on par with that of Portugal and almost twice that of the rest of former Yugoslavia save Croatia.

As for the heavy state control of the economy, see here:

http://books.google.ca/books?id=RJ6PHRLKGxoC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=slovenia+state+control+economy&source=bl&ots=c4CeCaqyXn&sig=Qu4L_HV54KQXjg3eUjpwPUzP7Sk&hl=en&ei=k99wSrOfNoajtgfx4KmMDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5

I’d like to suggest that what you call “subserviance” might more accurately by called “pragmatism and good sense.” Slovenia, uniquely of all of the republics of a Yugoslavia that could have become a second Spain, first gained its independence with a minimum of fuss and then went on to acquire a good–and steadily improving–standard of life for its citizens. What’s subserviant about that?

The mention of the Gottschee Germans, by the way, came in relation to your suggestion that Slovenia’s the Germanophone worlds southernmost province. If Slovenia really _was_ dominated by the Germans then, would that displacement have happened at all? And if Slovenia really was dominated so by Germans, wouldn’t it look rather different?

Doug M.

No comment.

This year in March, I think, majority of Slovenia’s workforce were in the strike. They are living on the edge.

“Subserviance, pragmatism, who really cares? In the end it’s Slovenia that managed by far the best deal for its people. Are we seriously claiming that Communist Yugoslavia was entirely hands-off in its relationship to the various federal units?”

You ignorance speak for itself and what is your insight in the matter.

In SFRY or if you wish COMMUNIST SFRJ, control Federal Gov. over Republic Gov., was way far less than it is for example control of Washington over, say, Louisiana Gov. In Louisiana or any state, how they call them, they can not build school, road, bridge without Federal help, which is of course one of the way to control local government.

“The Gottschee Germans”? I do not know anything about them, however I found this:

“Kočevska area is the example of the country, which was under the influence of the highest Nazi authorities and co-operative domestic nazified leaders, during the year 1941, suddenly and almost entirely abolished of the majority of its population. Contemporary Nazi politics which based on the destruction of Slovene nation as an ethnic entity actually destroyed the Gottscheer national group. Their cultural heritage was almost entirely ruined by the flames of the war fires and crude afterward national and ideological intolerance. Resettlement of the Gottschee Germans, war destruction and the afterward downfall along with the deliberate destruction were responsible for long-term and fateful consequences for this area. Extensive parts of prior cultivated land, today is overgrown by forest, villages destroyed and abandoned. Former inhabitant’ s culture was almost completely erased. All this changes in the whole area of Kočevska is the example, which is hard to match.”

http://www2.arnes.si/~krsrd1/conference/Summaries/Ferenc.htm

Anyway, it is well known fact that German minority in then Yugoslavia (Volksdeutsche in Vojvodina particularly) were involved in war crimes against local non-German populations.

Again, if you are interested in Balkan you should read more, not just throwing something around that you have no clue.

http://globaledge.msu.edu/countryinsights/economy.asp?countryID=72&regionID=2

Subserviance, pragmatism, who really cares? In the end it’s Slovenia that managed by far the best deal for its people. Are we seriously claiming that Communist Yugoslavia was entirely hands-off in its relationship to the various federal units?

And southern German province? The Gottschee Germans were deported after the Second World War, German’s only a widely-spoken second language, and stats on claimed ethnicity and language suggest very strongly that immigrants in Slovenia are adopting not German by Slovene. Is Austria a German province, then?

Famous Croatian writer Miroslav Krleza, call them (Slovenes), Wienna’s Horsmen, he had in mind their subservient mentality. That mentality hasn’t changed much. Idea of South Slavic state initiated from Zagreb and Ljubljana – Austro-Hungarian principalities. One should have in mind that they were (Slovenia and Croatia) most prosperous republics.

Despite their fierce nationalistic rethorics they are just, I would say, the most southern German province. Neither Ljubljana nor Zagreb, not to mention Sarajevo, may make any decision without consent/approval from Berlin/Brussells. Or, for that matters IMF and WB, known as Wall Street. Before dissolution Yugoslavia had $23 billion of debt, today Croatia alone have more than 50.

BTW, I’m not Serb, I’m Bosnian.

You know Sir, what happened in ex Yugoslavia is best described in Naomi Kelin’s book Disaster Capitalism. That recipe is applied on the region with full force and ruthlessness.

I’m sure that would surprise the Slovenes.

Not so much the Serbs, perhaps, but, well.

Or, more precisely vassal state/s, as Mr.Brzezinski called it in one of its testimony before US Senate Foreign Relation Comittee.

I guess it depends of one’s definitions of the Independence.

“I think the language issue is relatively minor, actually. Finland and Sweden are very close.”

There was a poll about this back in April, conducted in all Nordic countries. One of the questions was “Which of the other Nordic countries would you most prefer to live in?” Less than 4% of the Swedes were interested in living in Finland.

The reasons are what you might expect. Language barrier, negative stereotypes of a melancholic, drunk, violent and primitive “eastern” nation, and so on. Some progressive Swedish pundits and commentators, such as Henrik Arnstad, have also augmented these stereotypes with their view of Finland as a former Nazi ally, which is lying about its past.

Of the Finns who were interviewed, 41% picked Sweden as their destination of choice, followed by Norway, which racked up 30% of the votes. On the other hand, the question was phrased “which of the other _Nordic_ countries would you most like to live in?”. These days, those Finns who are interested in living or working abroad usually don’t pick Sweden as their number one candidate any more; instead, they go straight for the Continental Europe.

With the EU membership, the traditional links across the Gulf of Bothnia have faded somewhat. Finland and Sweden obviously still get along (more or less), but I wouldn’t describe the two countries as “very close”. This would require a post of its own, but I think it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that Finland and Sweden are also in the process of isolating from each others. And the language issue is, I think, a relatively major part of it.

Of course, when compared to Kosovo and Serbia, any combination of countries would appear to be very close to each others. Even Estonia and Russia.

Cheers,

J. J.