For many people from the Balkans, Yugoslavia is "more than a sum of small, mutually opposing states," writes the German newspaper Kellner Staats-Anzeiger, concluding:
"There are ardent nationalists in the Balkans, but there are also those who regret their youth in a great, united Yugoslavia."
"Nobody symbolizes the melody of that sadness better than Bijelo Dugme," says the author of the article, who attended the group's concert in Düsseldorf on Saturday, November 29, 2025. The performance, the German journalist writes, "brought 4.000 mostly Balkan fans back to a mix of nostalgia, memories of the good old days, and first love under the Yugoslav sun."
Bregović – “the embodiment of Yugoslavia”
Goran Bregović, the leader of the group founded in 1974, embodies a united Yugoslavia like few others, says the Staats-Anzeiger. His father is Croat, his mother Serbian, his wife Bosniak – and he still identifies as Yugoslav. The newspaper also explains to its German readers that Bijelo Dugme, as the most popular band of the socialist state, filled stadiums in the 1970s and 1980s, and the media called it “dugmemania”.
But while his fellow countrymen – Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks – were shooting at each other, Bregović was living in safety – in Paris, and the residents of his native Sarajevo, which was under siege, resented him for it, the article states. “Would it really make more sense to stand in line for water every day and tremble under a rain of shells, instead of trying to express feelings through music? I am a musician,” Bregović said in an interview, the German newspaper reports.
Loud, melancholic and a little sweet
After the wars, the band started giving concerts again, but they were often criticized. “Bregović is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch,” wrote the weekly Slobodna Bosna. “That is a compliment in the Balkan way,” says Kelner of Staats-Anzeiger.
The list states that the sound of Bijelo Dugme remained "loud, melancholic and a bit sweet". But - "for the 4.000 people in the hall in Düsseldorf, the most important thing is the love for their homeland. Not for Croatia, Bosnia or Serbia. 'Tonight we are Yugoslavs again', says concertgoer Edin Karović, visibly moved by a whole series of anthems about a broken heart."
"Yugoslavia lives! Wherever Bijelo Dugme fills the halls," concludes the article in the newspaper Kelner Staats-Anzeiger.
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