The breakup of Yugoslavia

George Sassoon's thing is ex-Yugoslavia. Why I do not know, and I was surprised to learn that he followed his mother's instructions:"When I first went to Yugoslavia in 1958, on my mother's instructions I reported to the British Consul in Zagreb. The first thing he said was: "whatever you do, old boy, don't get mixed up in the local politics." Even then, everyone knew that it was a powder-keg. After I learned the language with a non-placeable regional accent, people would ask me from where I was. "Am Scot", I would reply."Ah, but are you Scottish Serb or Scottish Croat?" The 64-billion-dinar question. Like in Northern Ireland, they were always asking me to take sides. Finally, I learned the correct answer. "Zagreb is a very beautiful city, but in Belgrade I like the people." This satisfies everyone, because to Croats buildings are more important, and to Serbs, people".

Ronald Hilton - 7/11/03