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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) In the Balkans, football is so political that it has created sharp divisions over Croatia's surprising success at the World Cup.
The team will face France Sunday in Moscow Montenegro and Serbia to the east and Slovenia to the west, the neighbors of Croatia are divided on the opportunity to support Croatia or France, reflecting persistent disagreements arising from the conflict of the 1990s.
While many in these countries expressed the pride and joy that a Balkan country reached the final, the stellar achievement of Croatia has also aroused nationalist envy and explosions evoking the era of war
. It's a joyous event, but in the Balkans we are successfully kicking off, "said Draza Petrovic, an editor of the liberal daily Danas in Serbia
. was also strong among the Balkan nations even though they were all part of the former Yugoslavia, while it was also rare to see Serbian or Croatian teams supporting each other. the bloody break-up of the old federation turns sporting competitiveness into something more. "Wars are not so far away, people see things not as sports," he says.
Nearly three decades after the war, a number of unresolved problems weigh on the relations between the former Yugoslav republics, while the nations stick to their own versions.
Illustrating the te After the war, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, publicly declared that he would support Russia against Croatia in the quarterfinals, and that the Foreign Minister openly supported the United States. England in the semifinals. Djokovic was criticized by a nationalist legislator after openly supporting Croatia, while the subject triggered a pbadionate debate on social networks.
Petrovic noted that "these divisions are bad, especially if fueled by state media and senior officials, including the president."
Some Serbs – whose team did not go beyond the group stage – joked about the fact that Croatia was a better team, with a popular message on social media stating that the greatest success Serbia 's football was next to a World Cup finalist. Hundreds of supporters are expected to travel to Croatia to attend the match visit on Sunday. A Slovenian contributor congratulated Croatia for its victory against England, noting that: England wanted Brexit and they got it!
In Montenegro, the national divide The country's loyalty to the Slovak Orthodox and Slavic Serbia was reflected in the support to Croatia: "I can not support Croatia because they are our enemies, "said Milan Bulatovic, from Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. 19659002] But retired Igor Nikolic, also from Podgorica, told the Associated Press that when Croatia beat England to reach the final "I felt as if my old dream of Yugoslavia at the top has become reality. "
– [19659002] Associate press writers Predrag Milic in Podgorica, Montenegro, and Ali Zerdin, Ljubljana, Slovenia, contributed to this report.
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