Srbija do Tokija
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Srbija do Tokija, (Serbian: Србија до Токија), meaning "Serbia to Tokyo", is a slogan which was used by Serbian paramilitaries to glorify expansionism during the Yugoslav wars. It originated in 1991, with soccer fans.
On May 29, 1991, as inter-ethnic relations in Yugoslavia were growing tenser, Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade defeated French team Olympique de Marseille to win the European Cup - the first Yugoslav team to do so. As the winners of the European Cup, Red Star Belgrade earned a place in the Intercontinental Cup, which was held in Tokyo. Exultant fans coined the phrase to glorify their team's upcoming adventure.
On December 8, Red Star Belgrade won the Intercontinental Cup, defeating Chilean team Colo-Colo. By that time, the tension that had underlain the European Cup match had ignited into the Yugoslav Wars, with a short-lived war in Slovenia, and a full-scale war in Croatia. In this context, the phrase's associations with Serbian victory made it particularly appealing to nationalists and militarists.
Graffiti containing the message has been sighted in Vojvodina, in Central Serbia, and in Republika Srpska.[1][2][3] Such graffiti was also seen in Kosovo during the Kosovo War.[4]
This slogan has inspired a joke in 2006 in the time when Montenegro split from Serbia and Montenegro, and the line is Srbija kao Nokia (Serbia like Nokia), in reference to its ever smaller size with the dissolution of the two Yugoslavias, and the possible independence of Kosovo.[5]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Article on the 2006 secession of Montenegro from Serbia, exploring how "Srbija do Tokija" is no longer applicable, at the International Herald Tribune
- Article on Serbian/Albanian conflicts in 1999, including the use of "Serbia to Tokyo" as a graffito, at the New York Times
- Review of Melanie Friend's No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo, in which "Serbia to Tokyo" is compared to threats of rape and murder.
