History

To begin with, people gather impressions of other people based upon what they see on TV. Only few of them have visited some part of Serbia. The people visiting Sebia expect to find here the atmosphere from Kusturica’s films. However, most of them get surprised by the urban character of Belgrade.

The image of the country has changed much due to the isolation.The ordinary people abroad watch Serbs as villains in the American movies. As well as being the result of the politics, these stereotypes are historically based. From the medieval age we had a reputation as great warriors in this corner of the world.

It is important to know that we also didn’t have help from abroad to organize two armed uprisings agains Turks,as Greeks and Bulgarians did. The only trace of this belligerent spirit today are Serbs who work as bouncers in night clubs all over Europe. The stereotypes are often centuries-old, and don't get updated. As a conclusion, there cannot be a stereotype which would cover all Serbs as we consider ourselves a mixed bag of temperaments and characters differing from village to village.

Neighbours

Although Serbs and Bulgarians have been relatively hostile against each other in history, they still see Belgrade with its brand stores and discotheques as the city of dreams . The Romanians nurture positive stereotypes about Serbs. Romania is the only neighbouring country which has never been at war with us.