(31 Aug 2012) Blasko Gabric and his friends found it hard to cope with the collapse of Yugoslavia, so they made a miniature one of their own. Now, they could lose this one too.
The Yugoland theme park, for years a gathering spot for the admirers of the former communist state, faces closure because Gabric put up part of the property as collateral in a bank loan that went bad.
Gabric's mini-Yugoslavia is squeezed on 3.5 acres (1.5 hectares) of land in Subotica, Serbia.
It features a fake mountain, a ditch meant to represent the Adriatic sea, Yugoslav flags and communist red stars.
Gabric, who spent many years in Canada during the communist era, returned in 1983 and set up a business in Subotica, a town near Hungarian border.
In the early 1990s' he witnessed Yugoslavia's collapse. First Slovenia, then Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia left the federation in a series of bloody ethnic conflicts.
Facing a new reality of shrunken lands and free market chaos, many ex-Yugoslavs started to look back at the former communist dictatorship as a dreamland that offered equality and job security.
The trend became known as "Yugo-nostalgia" and Gabric is a main proponent.
Gabric registered Yugoland on his land in February 2003 after Serbia and Montenegro - the two republics that had remained together - abolished the name of Yugoslavia altogether.
He and his friends put up border stones and a bronze bust of the late Communist dictator Josip Broz Tito.
They recreated Mount Triglav, Yugoslavia's highest mountain, by piling up several tons of soil they dug out to create a miniature Adriatic Sea.
They even started issuing virtual mini-Yugoslavia passports.
"People were queueing for two-and-a-half hours to get their Yugoland passports," he said.
"The mood was euphoric. It was an emotional pleasure for people who have had their country stolen from them by force."
Over the years, thousands have visited the park, mostly to mark Tito's birthday on May 25, or other former Yugoslav holidays.
On such occasions, the theme park organises picnics, music and dance.
Yugoland today has over 8,000 'citizens.'
But over the years Yugolandians have encountered one major obstacle to making their dream come true: money.
The miniature country is shabby and dusty, the Adriatic Sea has bushes growing at its bottom and Mount Triglav bears no resemblance to the Alpine original in today's Slovenia.
A sign at the theme park gate reads: "Yugoslavia will live as long as we live" and Gabric says won't give up.
He hopes to organise a charity concert to gather funds to pay off the bank and keep Yugoland from closing down.
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