He was in the army in 1984 before the Yugoslav Wars. Tito, former president of Yugoslavia, died in 1980. Life was better during the former regime based on what the guy in the photo told me. Real freedom existed in Yugoslavia. He had his own metal band and could travel to the West. He could listen to western music and watch western movies without restrictions. Tito opposed Stalin’s pressure from the Moscow Kremlin. It was very dangerous. Romania and Bulgaria began to mobilise their armies to intervene at Yugoslav territory.
Yugoslavia was a financially stable country. It got out of a bad post-war state after World War II without any American dollar. Nationalistic tendencies were a threat to the stability of the country. Nationalism was supressed absolutely by the regime. That is the reason why there was peace in Yugoslavia.
Tito didn’t use his power in a dictatorial way. He didn’t enrich himself and his family much from the state treasury. The rest of his family worked as standard employees after he had died.
A joke circled in Yugoslavia during the Tito’s regime which says: What the USA was for Yugoslavia (a dream), Yugoslavia was the same dream for Romania and Albania.
Nevertheless, nationalistic tendencies prevailed after 90s. Each Yugoslav constitutional republic began propagating only their own nationality. Each state started to claim someone else’s territory based on evidence like that the territory was owned by them in 16th century. The war began.
His father was a soldier. They often lived in various parts of Yugoslavia. He is half-Macedonian and half-Serbian. He is glad that he didn’t have to fight during the Yugoslav wars at any side. It would be like murdering your neighbours. He likes going on vacation to the Adriatic Sea. Today’s relationships with former federal republics of Yugoslavia aren’t good.
Beloved Tito.
