To paraphrase Karl Auerbach, any prudent prospective country should check
out its domain name first: CY is the country code for Cyprus.
Antony
+-----Original Message-----
+From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Kerry
+Miller
+Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 1999 9:10 PM
+To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
+Subject: [IFWP] 'Yugo-Nostalgics' Start Cyber Republic (fwd
+
+
+
+------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
+/** ips.english: 452.0 **/
+** Topic: RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA: 'Yugo-Nostalgics' Start Cyber
+Republic **
+** Written 9:06 PM Aug 9, 1999 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english
+**
+ Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
+ Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
+
+ *** 09-Aug-99 ***
+
+Title: RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA: 'Yugo-Nostalgics' Start Cyber
+Republic
+
+By Vesna Peric-Zimonjic
+
+BELGRADE, Aug 9 (IPS) - A ''Cyber Yugoslavia (CY)'' without
+armed
+forces, police, supreme leaders, ideologies nor ethnic hatred is
+now giving virtual citizenship to people who feel deprived, or
+nostalgic, of their homeland.
+
+The virtual state grants its citizens many rights often denied
+in real life by the ethnic states created after the disintegration
+of Yugoslavia in 1991. ''We lost our country in 1991 and became
+citizens of Atlantis,'' says the web site at http://www.juga.com.
+
+''Juga'' was a popular nickname of the former Yugoslavia, the
+multinational country constituted by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
+Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
+
+''We don't have a physical land, but we do have nationality and
+we are providing CY citizenship and CY passports,'' the organisers
+say. They are also planning to apply for United Nations membership
+when the registered citizens reach five million.
+
+The site welcomes anyone who ''feels Yugoslav, regardless of
+current nationality, to apply for CY citizenship''. ''We are
+allowing double and triple citizenship. If you feel Yugoslav, you
+are welcome to apply ... and you will be accepted'' the site says.
+
+The invitation is a fine irony that thousands of former
+Yugoslavs understand too well: many faced enormous problems when
+Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina broke away
+from the federation.
+
+Slovenia and Croatia were swift in denying citizenship or
+raising bureaucratic hurdles to people who could not prove ethnic
+''purity,'' in spite of the former federation's discouragement of
+nationalistic attitudes.
+
+Ethnically mixed Slovenians and Croats - born from mixed
+marriages - still face problems when they want to claim or sell
+property, obtain working permits or just stay in their country of
+birth.
+
+Hurrying to do away with anything that would remind people of
+the country they once shared, all newly created states also denied
+dual citizenship rights.
+
+The same was done to thousands of non-Serbs in what since 1992
+became the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), integrated by
+Serbia and Montenegro.
+
+Once Cyber Yugoslavia reaches a citizenship of five million, it
+will apply for UN membership and ''we will ask for 20 square
+metres of land anywhere on Earth to be our country. On that land,
+we will keep our server,'' the site says.
+
+The founding father of CY is Zoran B., a computer programmer
+who emigrated to western Europe along with more than 300,000 young
+and qualified people who have left Serbia since 1991.
+
+Zoran B is a seclusive person, who has given only one interview
+so far - via electronic mail - to the Croatian independent weekly
+Feral Tribune.
+
+As being Yugo-nostalgic is one of the least desirable
+characteristics in Croatia, the weekly asked Zoran B whether he
+plans to reestablish Yugoslavia in any manner.
+
+''No,'' he says, ''CY does not represent the reestablishment of
+any Yugoslavia...It is not even a movement...It is a thing of its
+own, living only in cyberspace.''
+
+Most of those who have applied for CY citizenship come from the
+former Yugoslav republics, Holland, Portugal, Germany, Spain,
+Great Britain and the United States. But in a way that once used
+to be good manners in the former homeland, in Cyber Yugoslavia
+ethnic origin is not an issue.
+
+Like any other country, CY has ministers, constitution and
+symbols.
+
+Unlike any other country, however, every citizen can head a
+ministry of his/her choice.
+
+Every applicant names his or her portfolio, which so far range
+from fishing, knitting, , cocktail making to disarmament, nice
+talking, dancing, sunset watching or wining and dining. A list of
+citizens and ministries is available at the site.
+
+Mocking the rigid and sometimes pompous constitutions of the
+former Yugoslav republics, CY's constitution is ''variable''.
+
+''Every citizen has the right to suggest a change in the
+Constitution. This suggestion has to be accepted or rejected by
+the entire CY population through the method of public vote,'' the
+chart states. A two-thirds majority vote is required to implement
+changes.
+
+''No person can become President, King or Prime Minister of CY,
+nor to impose his/her personal will on the citizens of CY,'' the
+republic's founding chart warns, wary of bitter experiences in the
+region, where leaders tend to identify themselves with the nations
+and states they rule.
+
+CY's symbols - anthem, flag and coat of arms - are also
+''variable.'' Citizens may vote for or against them. Again, this
+is an irony referring to the new states' hostility to any symbols
+that may remind people of the former federation.
+
+Croatia is probably the place where such hostility has been
+most visible, with the new authorities establishing symbols and
+names from World War II, when Zagreb was a German puppet state,
+including those of the feared ''Ustasha,'' the local fascist
+paramilitary organisation.
+
+Cyber Yugoslavia's official language is ''any language
+suggested'', the site says, mocking the fervent desire of former
+Yugoslavia's rulers to get rid of linguistic links among them.
+
+Although it is hard to distinguish differences between Serbian,
+Croatian or Bosnian except for the alphabet (Serbians use
+Cyrillic), the Croatian government insists that its language is
+completely different and has even introduced ''court
+interpreters'' for languages that are basically the same.
+
+''This land will grow as our citizens wish. Neither faster, nor
+slower. Neither more, nor less. So, this site will always be under
+construction.
+
+For a solid country to grow, even a virtual one, it takes some
+time'' the CY's creators say.
+
+The virtual republic was launched in July and it has already
+more than 2,000 citizens so far, with some 300 people applying
+every day. (END/IPS/vpz/ak/99)
+
+Origin: Manila/RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA/
+ ----
+
+ [c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
+ All rights reserved
+
+ May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or
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+
+** End of text from cdp:ips.english **
+
+***************************************************************************
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+For more information, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (you will get
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+IGC is a project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
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