5 NOVEMBER 1988, Page 29

Balkan standards

Sir: Richard Bassett's article on Yugoslavia (`Mob-handed in Montenegro', 15 Octo- ber) is as frivolous as it is malicious. Already in his second sentence he informs us that the mob, otherwise 'always un- pleasant', is in Serbia 'particularly dis- agreeable'. One wonders what this means. Has Bassett made a study of mob be- haviour and concluded that the Serbs out-mob any other national mob? Which other mobs has he seen, and in what political contexts?

He goes on to observe that recent violence in Montenegro was — wait for this — 'mild by Balkan standards'. So, there apparently exists such a thing as the Balkan violence standard. Perhaps Bassett will kindly tell us, in one of his future articles, what exactly this is, how it is measured, and what makes it peculiarly Balkan.

But there is no end of Bassettisms. For this man is merciless. We learn from him' that a 22-year-old student speaker in Titograd recently 'mesmerised' his audi- ence with his anti-capitalist views. One wonders which country Bassett is reporting from. Perhaps Albania? Anyone who knows anything about Yugoslavia today will immediately conclude that the last thing the Yugoslays are 'mesmerised' by is anti-capitalism. Or maybe, to be fair, the audience in question was a hand-picked anti-capitalist audience. In which case, however, Bassett should tell us so.

One continues, breathlessly, to look for more Bassettisms. And sure enough, the Eastern Europe correspondent of the Times does not disappoint. He warns us, in all seriousness, that the wife of Mr Slobo- dan Milosevic, the Serbian communist leader, was 'overheard' to say that capital- ism is finished. She was overheard. Now, Bassett finds this a great cause for alarm. 'It may well be', he writes, 'that Mrs Milosevic is less formidable than her hus- band, but somehow I doubt it.' So there, he doubts it. In case the enormous signifi- cance of this analysis is lost on any of his readers, he reminds us that, as illustrated by Rumania, 'in the Balkans few women close to the seat of power remain in the kitchen'. It seems that we have here another specifically Balkan phenomenon,

LETTERS

that of power-hungry, formidable wives of politicians, pushing their husbands, order- ing them what to say and how to behave in the political arena, and of course refusing to cook meals for them.

Not entirely content with these remark- able observations, Bassett is desperate to try again. He does so in some style: 'The crux of Yugoslavia's problem is the pas- sionate Balkan need for a leader with a "strong hand". This basic human instinct is satisfied at the moment in Serbia by Milosevic.' It is all there. A basic human instinct is at the same time a passionate Balkan need and the crux of Yugoslavia's problem at the moment.

Among many categories of British amateurs there exists a kind that is not altogether well known. Its members attend good prep and public schools. They go on to Cambridge and Oxford. They probably read history. They develop a sentimental attachment to the Habsburg Empire and its so-called 'easy-going' ways. And they are drawn to Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda and similar phantasies. They decide that they hate the idea of central and south-eastern Europe not since 1945 but since 1919. Then they become journalists. They talk, and often write, unbelievable rubbish.

John Zametica

24 Park Parade, Cambridge