The Balkans needs less whining, more wine-ing

Written for Kosovo Online by Srdjan Garcevic, founder of The Nutshell Times

My experiences at the regional meetups of journalists, activists, and other members of "civil society" have always been pleasant, but they always had the same rhythm.

You go to a decent hotel somewhere in the region (the more rural, the better!), and after exchanging pleasantries, you start talking about vague things you have all spoken about before. You know all smart and decent people you are surrounded by will agree that corruption is rampant, there should be more money for culture and education (and especially for whatever your cause is), the people are insufficiently willing to do whatever you think they should be doing, and the foreigners (who are usually paying for your little get together) are also not doing enough.

Of course, you avoid any tricky historical and current political issues ("We are all good people after all, yet sadly deceived by elites/rich people/great powers"). Still, in case they are brought up, you either nod along, thinking whether the sauna is open, or if you want to risk never being invited again, you enter a discussion that is, ultimately, just another rehash of a debate you or many others had before. After a few days, you all pack up and leave, and the impact report is written about how it was a huge success.

More than thirty years of such regional meetups have resulted in a stagnant cycle, with little progress beyond an increasing number of those meetups. The region still needs 'healing', 'coming to terms with the past', or whatever the trendy term is now. It's time for a shift.

Last year, however, I decided to attend a different event that seeks to promote regional cooperation and growth: the second iteration of the Open Balkan Wine Vision wine fair. Below the majestic domes of the Belgrade Fair, people from the wine business from Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia were presenting the best they had for the world to see, taste, and, of course, buy. Unlike my friends from civil society seminars who, despite being very much into diversity, are generally similar types of people, the exhibitors were a very diverse bunch: some had their vineyards for generations, some got into them recently as they made money in tech or business, and some, of course, because they were at the right place, at the right time during the 1990s and 2000s. While the aesthetics were as varied as the wine styles - from hipstery flat-designed labels of natural wines to knights quaffing "autochthonous" varieties - everything was harmonious as there was a common, very tangible goal: making the Balkans richer by selling what we have been good at for ages.

The event also brought great names in wine journalism from all over the world, and it was nice to know that there will be people abroad reading about something interesting going on in Belgrade without the usually tired phrases ("troubled history," "bloody wars," etc.). While I was busy sampling as much wine and food as I could get my hands on, I am sure the winemakers were exchanging know-how and building networks, which will hopefully mean we will get to enjoy Shesh i Zi with Karađorđeva schnitzel in Belgrade, or more importantly, that we will all be selling a lot more of our wines across the globe.

What was the best, however, is that the event left me with a hopeful, confident vision of the region: one where we make things better by focusing is on what we have and can do. Maybe it was from all the wine, but this seems like a more promising approach than the ones presented at whinefests I normally attend.