`   Ooh, likewise! I love discussing the Balkan-question (as I like to call it), just as you do. I tend not to call myself ``Yugoslav`` but rather use hyphenated (ex: Serbo-Croat) terms (I just have a problem with entities that do not exist anymore [however great they were] because if someone called themselves ``Soviet`` I would feel the need to probe further).   You mentioned that ``problem with most people from the Balkans is that it is very hard to find something to unite us``, however, the problem is not FINDING something to unite us but RECOGNIZING the uniting traits that already exist! The most prominent one being LANGUAGE! I find the quest to distance and divide our various ``dialects`` and turn them into different languages absolutely absurd. Other uniting traits would be common history throughout various points in time (obviously there were many conflicts, but many do not realize the times we worked together!!!), common love for similar music, food, and entertainment, and even something as obvious as common geographical location! *Sigh... but it is, as you say ``so easy to turn us against each other``, because people let their passions get the best of them, while listening to fabricated lies and being manipulated by those with greater political agendas (or those who simply do not know any better.. such as certain wiki users who will remain unnamed heh)...   This is seriously enough to make me cry...   Socialist Yugo had its ups but it also had its downs (as any socialist country would), and I learned this through many conversations with my parents who both loved the country and disliked certain aspects to it. I completely agree with you when you say that stifling nationalism led to its outburst in the '90s. That was a very BIG mistake.... But one cannot ignore other factors that led to the dissolution of Yugo (I say that with such nostalgia even though I was still fairly young when war broke out hehe) which is a completely different topic.  However, I DO think the ``C-C-C-C symbol`` is a nationalistic symbol, yet NOT in a negative or aggressive manner (as some seem to imply)! It is simply a nationalistic symbol in the sense that a flag might be (therefore, not threatening, but meant to unite). [I have heard the song ``CCCC`` with Corba, Bajaga etc. and I think such use of the term might make one feel better and not feel so vulnerable, especially during the bombing of '99.] Once again, I agree with you when you say that nationalism is completely appropriate when used in a proper and unthreatening context, such as for unity, but definitely not for aggression towards another nation/ethnicity.   I also (having read your posts on your talk page) have a similar outlook on the situation in Kosovo. Yes, I do believe that under different circumstances, given the abundant history stored in the province, it should remain in Serbia. However, those circumstances are not present, and the benefits of independence outweigh the disadvantages. Currently, the only benefit from not separating seems to be that some Serbs will be pleased, that's IT! Their lives will not change for the better! However, the disadvantages are huge!   You put it VERY well when you said: ``Kosovo stays in Serbia now, the Albanians will not be happy, and there will be further conflicts. Maybe a new war. This is not what the Balkans need right now. Besides, when Kosovo becomes independent, Serbia will be in the EU faster, because Kosovo is the biggest problem of Europe, as it is the poorest region. History is weighing down the people of the Balkans. What happened, happened, nothing can be changed. Why torture the 1.5 million Albanians that want independence? Because of something that happened in 1389?...`` etc.  I must go now, but would love to talk on the subject further. Bye bye! )  Stop_The_Lies`