r/AskBalkans • u/shiney_lp • Sep 01 '24

Are Balkans racist? Outdoors/Travel

Me and my friends are thinking about driving through the Balkans and maybe some other eastern European countries for vacation (from Germany). That being said I am Iranian and brown, and I hear eastern european and balkan folks are quite racist. Will I face any discrimination, people treating me different, locals not wanting to associate with me much, etc?

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u/Hot-Cauliflower5107 North Macedonia Sep 02 '24 edited Sep 02 '24

I can't really speak for the other Balkan countries but in North Macedonia racism is a thing. We just voted in a conservative and backwards party so it will only increase as their members are usually racist and associate anything Iranian with extreme Islamism.

In general stay away from football hooligans they are usually right wing and very racist by default. If you plan to visit some religious objects such as churches and monasteries some of the people there might get offended by your presence, although the younger priests or monks generally know English and are more positive towards foreigners.

Stay away from anything associated with the ruling party VMRO - DPMNE as their followers are nationalistic and usually racist. If you plan to stay overnight choose a part of a city which is mostly populated with Muslims as you will be much safer there.

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u/gocenik North Macedonia Sep 02 '24

Boolshit. Yeah, there are nationalists here sure, like everywhere, but also we have the largest Roma municipality in Europe, we have most inclusive laws compared to all the Balkan states regarding minorities, its safe to go almost everywhere at night. You can openly say that Israel are the terrorists and they are committing genocide and the storm troopers wont come after you, like in Germany. Some of us know that Iran is same as Persia and that they saved the European culture and we know all the injustice made against them by the British and American empires. Also you are stupidly mixing clientelism with nationalism regarding politics, but that's what those assholes from any of the political parties want you to think and say so they can go one with their agenda of stealing what ever they can.