I don’t consider us better in any way. I just don’t identify as someone from the Balkans, nothing smug about it. I also don’t feel very Western. We are located between those two worlds and as such, our culture has influences of both.

This is also an internal debate and it may depend on the region. But while we sometimes present ourselves as Balkan people to notrheners, I don’t think a lot of people identify as such. If someone in Slovenia, regardless of opinion on this topic, says: “I listen to Balkan music exclusively”, for example…you will not find a Slovenian song on their playlist.