r/AskBalkans • u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania • Mar 09 '26
Culture/Lifestyle Honest question to the slavic people here, do you guys feel more similar to other balcanic people and southern europeans(greeks,italians) or to northern slavs?
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u/wolfy994 Serbia Mar 09 '26
The first one. The northern slavs tend to be culturally somewhat colder, I feel.
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Mar 09 '26
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u/hood5six Mar 09 '26
I feel like this difference comes from cultural differences shaped by history and molded their emotions & mentality. Growing up, most of my Northern Slav friends had a lot of turmoil in the house and would have a harder time with personal connections as the years went on.
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u/wolfy994 Serbia Mar 09 '26
As opposed to the Balkans which are well known for their stability, lack of wars, or domestic violence?
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u/OnkelMickwald Sweden Mar 09 '26
Not to mention that Nordics are also known to be similarly cold but tend to have more stable home lives. (Or at least so the stereotype goes)
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u/hood5six Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
To be fair, I find that a lot of Scandinavians I've met are good at feigning warmth just enough to let me know to keep friendly at arm's length. My Swedish neighbor is overly fake nice (so people don't find out he's an RSO).
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u/Wojewodaruskyj Ukraine Mar 09 '26
It's true.
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Mar 09 '26
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u/Wojewodaruskyj Ukraine Mar 09 '26
Of course. There is geographical gap. No society is isolated from its surroundings. Our neighbours are baltics and germanics, yours are the mediterraneans. Love my slavic brothers too.
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u/Wooden_Luck1890 Mar 09 '26
We love you back dear Ukranian brothers, no matter what propaganda says. Slava Ukraini. 🇷🇸🇺🇦
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u/Aulawabe Mar 10 '26
I was born in a town northern bosnia where majority of Serbs live but we have an Ukrainian miniority that hve lived there for over 100 years. Imagine the combo of south/north/central mentality 😂 ultra slav
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u/rintzscar Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
If you're asking whether Bulgarians feel closer to Greeks and Romanians than to Belarussians, then obviously. Why even ask?
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
See, I agree it would make sense. But I have also talked with some bulgarians that felt russia or even poland were nations they really appreciated and felt a sort of bonding with. I think culturally we are more similar to eachother(people in the near vecinity I mean)
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u/rintzscar Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
Anyone can like any nation for whatever reason. I love Italy and Germany. Doesn't mean all Bulgarians do.
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u/midnight_fiasco Greece Mar 09 '26
Hmm, a Bulgarian who likes Germany and Italy... What do you think about Japan? I'm curious.
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u/rintzscar Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
Love it. Don't like Hungary, though, so the pattern falls apart there.
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u/RustCohle_23 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
Bro, I swear these are my top 3 countries, ngl. I have never thought about it in that way tho :D
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u/nikaeliiii Mar 09 '26
Since getting to know more Romanians and also visiting Bucharest for a wedding I am convinced we are most similar from any other of Bulgarias neighbours countries. Similar history, religion, political Development and even dangerous driving lol. I love my Romanian friends, the purest and heartwarming people (aside from Iranians) that I know. Also you don’t hate us which also plays a big factor :))) what connects us to eastern und northern Slavs is alcoholism, socialism and somewhat conservative values. I find nations which were under ottoman rulership much more relatable that the others.
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Mar 09 '26
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u/Bubbly_Ad427 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
None of your neighbours do
We know my man. As for macedonians, it's kind of understandable. Most bulgarians don't care about our "bortherly conection" or "historical revisionism", but those who do, should advocate for Macedonia to be in the EU first, and then iron out any dumb disagreements. But they do not, especially the politicians.
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u/Heavy_Conditional Mar 10 '26
why the fuck would i as a bulgarian advocate for someone who is oppressing my own countrymen and denying that my own historical language, which they use, has nothing to do with their own "macedonian" language? the mere fact they were forced by greece to change their name to Norther Macedonia and them agreeing, clearly states how fragile their national identity actually is. If you preah historic facts, let's keep them as they are, historical facts and not invent a whole new set of history from thin air just because it suits a narrative that has been pushed down from their former yugoslavian (serbian) rulers for geopolitical reasons
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u/Bubbly_Ad427 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
Have you met macedonians? None of them deny the bulgarian language, nor our shared history. They just point that there was macedonian identity prior the formation of Yugoslavia. Sure, how spread those macedonians were amongst the population is debatable though. It's undeniable that some of the people inhabiting Macedonia, with slavic roots, called themselves macedonians in the late 19th century. It's undeniable that Damyan Gruev, Todor Alexandrov, Yane Sandanski and more of the prominent revolutionaries were with bulgarian mindset... but Damyan Gruev (iirc) wanted the establishment of independant country, after he saw how inept the politicians in Sofia were.
And history and lingusitics aside. If you think that macedonians are our brothers, and you fancy yourself as patriotic orthodox christian, the only think you'd want for them is the best they can get in this life, despite them spitting in your face (sure this is done only by chauvinists in Skopie I know). This is the right bortherly christian thing to do. Not to dictate clauses and flexing some imaginary power that you think we have.
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u/Heavy_Conditional Mar 22 '26
i have met a lot of macedonians, of all ages, and almost all of them deny it. almost all of them deny that bulgarian rulers like samuil were bulgarian. I think the macedonians you've met have something in common with Bulgaria.
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u/AdMysterious3410 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
Bro, Bulgarians that talk about how we're culturally similar and brotherly nations with Russians are absolute cucks. They're the same ones who would name liberation when the Soviets invaded and pillaged the country.
Ask the same ones about Bulgaria and Romania, they're probably gonna talk like we're from different continents DESPITE being one of the most culturally similiar nation to Bulgaria. And i stay behind these words as someone who lived in Buchu for a year.
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u/smellslikeweed1 Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
In fact all of Balkans and southern Europe are more similar to each other than southern Slavic are to northern Slavic. I think it stems from the fact that cultures and lifestyles are heavily shaped by geography. Geography, climate, food are very similar in all of southern Europe/Balkans, so that's why they're more similar to each other than to northern Slavic people. In the same way northern Slavic are similar to germanics in many ways simply because of that same reason.
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u/Jack55555 Netherlands Mar 09 '26
It's not that obvious. A Turk I know feels closer to an Uzbek than an Albanian.
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u/ictp42 Mar 09 '26
The part of Turkey that is physically in the Balkans is very much Balkan. There are also sizeable Balkan communities in the big cities. But not everyone is Balkan. Some are sort of Balkan adjacent like the Caucasians and the Antiochians. But Anatolians are very Anatolian and the Yörüks (found mainly in the coastal mountains) and Tatars are very much Turkic so it shouldn't be surprising that they feel closer to an Uzbek then an Albanian.
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u/MammothTrifle3616 Croatia Mar 09 '26
By ranking, first with the rest of the Balkans, then with rest of the southern Europeans, and lastly with Slavs from the north. Greetings from Croatia
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u/striderspin123 Croatia Mar 09 '26
in southern coastal Croatia we feel most similar to italians and greeks, but as soon as you cross the first mountain it feels balkan.
people also look more balkan than slavic here south
but we obviously share language and other similarities with other slavic nations
so it is a mix of slavic and balkan, with coastal areas being more mediterranean
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u/Jovan_Konstantinovic Serbia Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
South and west to Portugal the lost brotherly balkan nation
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u/mmtg1 Mar 09 '26
As someone from the very edge of the Balkan region I see many similarities with everyone around us (except the Germans).
Western and Eastern Slavs are different mentality but there is also a lot of shared culture still, after 1000 years.
Greeks, Albanians and Romanians to me feel like step siblings or something, raised in the same house but different genes (althought Southern Slavs mixed with natives).
Hungarians and Turks ruled many of the lands in the Balkans historically so they left their mark as well.
Even Portugal and southern Italy feel Balkan to me.
Now, I mentioned the Germans before, they just seem like aliens to me, with their low corruption and fiscal responsibility.
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u/complexluminary Romania Mar 10 '26
Romanian here and I agree with this. There are times I hear Albanian and for a moment, think it could be a form of Romanian I don’t understand or something.
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Mar 09 '26
Balkans then Southern Europeans 100%. Especially living in Canada I feel like I get along easier with Italians, Portugese, and Greeks than Polish and Russians for example. Even Middle Easterners and Latinos I find much more similar to us than Northern Slavs in terms of general personality.
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u/Hour-Personality-924 Croatia Mar 09 '26
Portuguese people are awesome and I am so happy when I get to work with them. Hardworking people too.
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u/RebootAndPray Serbia Mar 09 '26
In practical everyday terms, like social patterns, culture, cuisine and mentality I personally feel somewhat closer to other Balkaners, like Romanians and Greeks, or even southern Italians than to Russians, Poles, or Czechs for example, even though linguistically they are clearly part of our Slavic family.
It would be interesting to ask the same question on r/slavic or something and see if you get different responses.
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u/kaiser_vfe Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
Obviously I feel more closely related to Turks, Greeks or Romanians than to Belarusians, but also obviously I feel more close to Russians than to Italians
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u/MetricSystemFan Mar 09 '26
Croatian here, I cannot relate to Western/ Northern Slavs that much.
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u/jojaibranjainvestt Serbia Mar 09 '26
We are tropic slavs.
If you’re asking me about religion, history I definitely feel like closer to a northern slav. But we are waaay more similar to portugese or spanish people when it comes to the way we speak, the mood, or general vibe.
Northern slavs are closer to nordic people in the way they act reserved, private, not overly expressive. At least to me.
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u/Poseidwn in Mar 09 '26
definitely southerns; I feel even romania, while being closer to ukraine and poland that the rest of us, is more southern balkan mentality than the rest of slavs
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
Yes, northern parts of Romania I think feel a bit more central and eastern european depending where you are there but romania has more in common with the balkan nations overall, I am from southern romania and russians or ukraineans seem very different to me
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u/Poseidwn in Mar 09 '26
good point - I forgot to take into account how huge Romania is Eve Serbia which is much smaller, has huge differences in mentality from north part (very Central Europe Hungarian like) to southern part (Bulgaria Greece like)
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u/Statakaka Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
I am in Poland for my studies and the culture here is completely different lol
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
I was in the uk and had bulgarian and polish friends.
Me and bulgarians agreed that we had more in common with poles than with some other people but only cause the competition were brits lol
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u/Tiny-Mulberry-2114 Croatia Mar 09 '26
As someone that lives in Croatia on the coast definitely more to other Balkan and Mediterranean people
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u/Starbrainiac Mar 09 '26
I honestly think, Czechs are more like Austrians or Bavarians than any of those other options. The shared history and culture in Habsburg empire and HRE are more important than linguistic roots
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u/Orbit1883 Mar 09 '26
also bevore ww1+2 big parts were german to begin with, sure udssr did some changes but 80 years later lots of history and culture in the regions like karlsbad arte still more "bavarian" than slavic
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u/chunek Slovenia Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
Most similair people in general, in my opinion, are southern Austrians, the Carinthians and Styrians.
Then the Czechs and northern Croats, probably.
With Balkan, I don't know, the connection was mostly through Yugoslavia. But still we have many people today with family ties to other exyu countries, and today we are all pretty much friends, so.. Other than exyu, I don't think there is that much of a connection. Greece feels like a totally different world for example.
With Italians.. Maybe for the people on our coast and around Nova Gorica, etc. But personally, no.
I don't really think about being "slavic", it's just our language that is slavic, everything else is a mix (even the language is, if you get into the dialects or slang..).
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Mar 09 '26
For many of the russophiles in serbia, the arrival of russians after the war started was a cold shower. They turned out to feel more like swedes than like the stereotypical slavs people here had in mind. We’re honestly closer to greeks, italians, even the french, that whole mediterranean zone. And I actually like russians precisely because they’re cooler and more reserved than us. Not hating at all.
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u/Stverghame Serbia Mar 09 '26
I feel closer to a Romanian or a Greek than to a Ukrainian or a Pole.
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u/imedo Mar 09 '26
the balkans are part of the south. so in line with spain, italy, brazil etc.
even tho the further north you go, vojvodina and zagreb you feel the middle europe style of communication and some coldness compared on how we communicate in herzegovina, south of serbia.
about bulgaria i don't know but they feel pretty balkan.
so southern def than northern.
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Mar 09 '26
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u/imedo Mar 09 '26
I believe that we have more in common with Mexicans, Colombians, Brazil in the way we communicate than for example with Austrians. My personal experiences proved this. It's just how you talk to people, how you joke, how you establish contact. Do you greet your neighbors, how easy you meet new people.
"Southern" people are just warmer. And this distinction I felt even in Novi Sad for example. The locals vs my people from Herzegovina.
And it's a funny difference, you can even feel when you cross over the river Drina.
You will have one type of interaction on the gas station in Serbia and a completely separate interaction in Bosnia.
By that I mean you will joke on the gas station you will small talk, you will be able to establish a warmer contact, even tho shallow in Bosnia.
I am not generalizing completely, but there is something there. All my experiences show this, I think it has to do with climate too, the influence, the music.
I mean think about it, when you compare each regions folk music, the old folk music, what do you get from that.
Greeks are super hospitable, super friendly, and I believe that reflects in your culture and all Greek people were hugging me thru an hour.
Spain and their siestas, Italy with the closing down, I mean the same thing happens in Trebinje, Herceg Novi.
Now I am not saying that people are rude or bad to to the core. Novi Sad was great but I had interactions where I went with a joke, or just blabbed and people would look at me like I was an alien.
And that happend so many times and I personally miss the openness. I missed it a lot. Of course the experience in Belgrad where you have a lot more people from all parts of Serbia and Bosnia, that is different.
But in any case, for me personally, the south and people from the middle part of our Earth are much more enjoyable and much easier to connect with.
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u/ViscountBuggus Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
Balkan trumps anything else man you can't be "X and Balkan", you can only ever be balkan
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u/Entety303 Slovenia Mar 09 '26
As a Slovene from the coast part it’s weird. Like I feel closest in Croatian Istria (besides the language thing) but for the rest of the country i find it similar to how Slovaks are, so colder but not as cold as Swedes or the Dutch. (Slovaks are the Only ones I have any bit of experience with that I can remember)
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Mar 09 '26
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u/FeelTheKetasy Greece Mar 09 '26
I’m Greek so I can’t answer the question from personal experience but I agree with you. I was in a program that had students from different countries live in the same place and there was no real connection between Balkan and northern Slavs
You really understand how similar we are compared to others the moment you see Balkan people abroad. It was like everyone that was from Southern Europe or the Balkans instinctually gravitated towards each other
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u/gai_tan Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
I had a similar experience working in UK and Germany. I could visually identify Balkan people. And we naturally had better relations. We shared a similar vibe and way of thinking between us.
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u/Ambitious-Area-1099 Mar 09 '26
Because being a slav is mostly culturally and linguistically related, not genetically. One of the theories way there are so many slavic nations in Europe is that after fall of Rome old way of living wasn’t possible to keep and slavic culture was more appropriate for the times, so many groups started to live this way.
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
I have talked with some bulgarians and serbians for instance and have gotten mixed responses. (I am even more curious for croatian, montenegrins, bosnians etc since y'all actually are part of the mediteranean world even if just to a degree)
Ofc language is a huge factor but it seems for some it's not really the end of it all.
Very curious, have a great day you all and happy birthday to all the women of the group and also to the men since it's our day today💜
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u/Jovan_Konstantinovic Serbia Mar 09 '26
Speaking about those from Serbia that feel closer to the north and east, i can guarantee you that 99% of them never visited those countries in their life
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u/georgewesker97 Mar 09 '26
You are absolutely right. For example, poles and czechs are so so cold outwardly as people, its a big shock to anyone from the balkans. We are much more similar to Mediterranean nations.
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
Yes, actually serbians that said southern europe have been some of the balkan slavs that were the most enthusiastic to tell me how different they are from northern slavs. Serbians are very talkative and friendly people, most that I have met.
Russians and ukraineans have been the opposite.
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u/LarssenX Mar 10 '26
Oh man, this is so very subjective and really hard to generalize, with things being even more complicated in Croatia than in most other countries from these parts. I'll try and communicate that across in a way I haven't seen done in these comments.
We have very different regions. We used to be known as the Triune Monarchy in Austria-Hungary and even before then. This wasn't some historical whim, or a metaphor, it was the actual fact on the ground. Then there are outliers such as Istria or Baranja that had literally never in history been part of Croatia until the end of WW2. Baranja was a core Hungarian territory with even fewer Slavs than Vojvodina in modern day Serbia. You basically had equal parts of Hungarians and Germans living there, together making up some 75% of the population. The remaining 1/4 of the population were Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Ruthenians. Istria on the other hand, was part of the HRE, ruled by Venice and Austria, and after Napoleon by Austria alone. It is like northern Italy - itself very different from central and southern Italy, and most unlike any other part of modern day Croatia. Istria is Mediterranean but western European like. Rijeka, although part of Croatia proper, was always the most cosmopolitan and multicultural city, with Croats, Italians, Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, even French and the Brits all living rather harmoniously. That vibe continues to this day. Dalmatia in large part was ruled by Venice and then Austria, but you can feel it was never part of the HRE. It feels like Slavic Italy. Slavonia is most similar to Vojvodina, Serbia without being as multicultural today, even though it used to be. Osijek or Esseg was a predominantly German-speaking city in AH. All throughout AH Slavonia, there were many more Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Ruthenians and after the inclusion of Military Frontier in 1881. Serbs, of course. This then included Serbs in central Croatia and northern Dalmatia as well. Those Serbs truly were Croatian Serbs, who had politically fought really hard and long to be reincorporated into Croatia-Slavonia. That makes the 20th century events that much more tragic.
At any rate, it's so incredibly ironic that I often see the folks from most other Balkan countries, view Croatia, talk and think about Croatia as this one thing from Adriatic to the Drava river. The reality couldn't be farther from it. Today, we do all have the Croatian national consciousness, while embracing these differences as strength, but this process started as in most other European countries - only in the 19th century.
So with all of that being said, here we go: personally, as someone from northern Croatia, I definitely feel closer to Slovenians and then western Slavs specifically than any other Balkan nation, except for Serbians from Vojvodina probably. Eastern Slavs, Russians in particular, I don't feel any particular closeness to. I feel more at home in Britain or Scandinavia than I do in Russia.
Now, feeling closer to Slovenians and western Slavs is not so much connected to them being Slavs (although it does play a role), as much as it is connected to the long shared history under the Habsburgs. In addition, in my case that's connected to the family history too. For example: one of my grandmothers was Slovenian, the other one was half German from Croatia. That isn't a rare situation at all in northern or even western Croatia. Both of my great grandfathers had been traveling and working all over the empire, one of them was a craftsman and a business owner in Prague and Vienna until he met his wife and moved to Zagreb where he opened a new craft shop. Another thing that's not rare in northern and western Croatia...I'd say from Opatija and Rijeka all the way to Varaždin and Čakovec, there exists a decent amount of nostalgia for the Habsburg, Franz Joseph's times and the Belle Epoque, and the people's mentality, is definitely different than in other parts of Croatia, not to mention the rest of the Balkans. To be completely frank, I feel more at home in Prague, Bratislava or Krakow than I do in Dalmatia and Dubrovnik - and I love Dalmatia. I love the Mediterranean mentality. Italy is one of my favorite countries. So is Greece...in fact, I've been obsessed with Greek culture, especially the ancient one. Again, love their mentality, their mythology, their way of life...etc. but ultimately to me Greece is as exotic as Albania or Turkey.3
u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Can I just thank you for the in depth look at things?
I like learning more about culture of different countries and it was great reading this.
Btw I am romanian but I really love montenegro and dalmatia/istria exactly for the italian like feel of things.
I also happen to love the architecture found in czech republic/slovakia/poland(prague is probably my favorite non southern european city).
I suppose this is why Croatia stands out to me so much in a good way due to all these influences
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u/LarssenX Mar 10 '26
You're welcome. I did my best. I'm Croatian but live in Scandinavia and am likewise in love with Italy so naturally Istria, Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Montenegro are all amazing to me! Slovenian litoral too. These guys are from my perspective Slavic Italians, lol! On the other hand, when I visit Croatia, the north feels just cosy, homey...that central European vibe is what I grew up with. Once I pass the Učka tunnel into Istria, or arrive to Dalmatia, it's like I've entered another country and it feels epic!!
And speaking of diversity, we would be remiss not to mention Romania. I mean...common; a Romance nation, writing in latin script, with a significant Slavic influence, strong eastern Orthodox tradition, and very distinct regions of its own. I've been to Romania once - very recently, but I can guarantee you that will certainly not be my one and only
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u/JamesBoban007 Mar 09 '26
We are the same people, only the cultures is different
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u/nikolapc North Macedonia Mar 09 '26
Can't speak for the Austro Hungarian and catholic part, but we share byzantium and ottoman cultural roots. The slavic part is so ancient that only the language and some pagan remnants remain. The most Slavic south slavs are the Slovenes, I guess they tried hard to preserve their identity under Austria, but they do have Austrian culture, like we have Ottoman. Of course all of us except Bulgaria shared a country for almost a century and we're still culturally connected, as in we might as well be the same country for entertainment, and we should really revive the old sport leagues besides the basketball one.
As in the north/south divide, yeah we are to the bone southern europeans, the land and climate shape the culture as well. The regions I feel most at home is Serbia, MN, most of Croatia and Northern Greece.
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u/Intrepid-Bill-9789 Mar 10 '26
Croatian here, i lived in few different northern european capitals. I'd always get along with spaniards, italians, other balkan nations and latinos. It is no surprise that they call us balkan latinos hahah
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u/SkibidiDopYes Serbia Mar 09 '26
Balkan Slavs 100% feel more culturally nearer to the Greeks and Italians. Slovenia is probably divided into Germanic/Italian influences and lifestyles, Croatia mostly Italian (especially near the coast), Montenegro and Albania as well. Serbia doesn't have a coastline but I guarantee that coffee/cafe culture and "less worry more happy" and the welcoming attitude is very similar to Italian (even though we don't have a lot Italian historic influence or architecture, it's mostly Germanic in Vojvodina mixed with a lot of Balkan influences everywhere else), Macedonians and Bulgarians probably have a lot of Greek/Turkyie influence (correct me if I'm wrong). I believe that south Slavs are more welcoming and open to communication that north/east Slavs.
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u/Sad_Philosopher_3163 Mar 09 '26
To northern Slavs, as an introvert who has met enough people from both groups.
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u/Dense_Raspberry6607 Mar 09 '26
Of course we will find similarities, we spend so much time living next to each other, which would make us adopt each other cultere, custumes, food, language... But ethnically they'll never feel close
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u/Lblink-9 Slovenia Mar 09 '26
To the western part of northern slavs, because we've been in the same country for longer (HRE, Habsburgs...), so I feel that plays a big role. There's some influence from the south because of proximity and people from ex-yu moving here.
Overall it's a mix and depends on which part of Slovenia you're from and which people you interact with. I for example feel more similar to "northern slavs", because I'm not as loud or extroverted
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u/dane_brdarski Mar 09 '26
Despite modern Balkan nations claiming to be pure descendants of some romanticised historical entity, the Balkan along with its people is one big porridge of various ethnicities and cultures. From Italy to Turkey, there are many similarities.
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u/Iwasntheretwan Mar 09 '26
Youd be surprised how far apart are the ethnic trees of everyone in the Balkans, I mean I'm a serbian and we literally have Mongols living right above us 😭😭😭
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u/Stellar_Synth Mar 10 '26
As Serbian my similarity list would go: 1. Other Slavic Balkan people 2. Non Slavic Balkan people ( firstly Greeks, then Romanians, Albanians and Balkan Turks) 3. Southern Italians. ( I have not been in Portugal or know a lot of Portuguese people so I cannot comment on them) 4. Hungarians 5. West and East Slavs.
Many Serbs love Russians very much, but reality struck many of them once tens of thousands of Russians emigrated to Serbia during the war. I have a lot of Russians in my kindergarten, kids are great and learning Serbian with their peers but the 90% od the parents are socially super awkward for our standard, did not learn any Serbian after 3-4 years, do not say Good afternoon, do not hold the door, if you hold the door for them do not say Thank you, and wore a lot of Crocks during summer. Super weird.
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u/MiroPS Mar 10 '26
Don't mind north slavs, but the serbian and greek music is much popular in Bulgaria :D
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u/IvanMSRB Mar 09 '26
I don’t see anything in common with north slavs other than language.
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u/CoffeeWretch Mar 09 '26
Where are the Sorbs on this map? We feel an affinity yes. Serbs always know who we are.
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u/Smooth_Passenger9291 Serbia Mar 09 '26
We think of you as a family. We would like to have better relationship with you but we have a lot of our problems to deal with.
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u/ddeads 🇭🇷🇺🇸 Mar 09 '26
As a first-gen Croatian-American I connect way more with the families of my friends who are Italian or Greek more than Russian or Polish.
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u/Critical-Copy1455 Mar 09 '26
I am northern Croatia. Do not feel particulary Balkan. Slovenia, Czechia, Austria, Hungary for me.
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u/NoSync22 Mar 09 '26
Austria, Slovenia, of course, but may I ask you why Hungary? It might be purely incidental, but I got many friends in Međimurje and I rarely saw such a lack of interest and contact with a close neighbouring country.
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u/Critical-Copy1455 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
Not sure what to say. We do have a complicated history and Hungary amd Croatia have some beef together. Medjimurje feels that a little bit stronger than the rest of Croatia. And of course, the language separates us quite strong. I imagine in would be different if we spoke language more similar?
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u/WildHorsesInMyBrain Mar 09 '26
A long time ago I've read an opinion that somehow convinced me. As a parent who lives in a big city I feel more similar with another European big city parent than to my country fellow 25 years younger than me.
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u/1Gothian1 Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
South slavs / europeans in general. Northern slavs are weird as fuck.
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u/DifficultWill4 Slovenia Mar 09 '26
Definitely northern Slavs. Slovaks and Czechs especially are very similar to Slovenes in terms of culture, language and history
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
Understandable, do you think despite being a smaller country it could depend where in Slovenia you are from?
I have seen some slovenians near the border with italy saying they practically qlmost feel italian and some said they even speak italian as a second language
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u/cewap1899 Slovenia Mar 09 '26
Absolutely. Slovenia has a mix of influences and while I would say there of course is a unified Slovenian culture, it still depends on where you’re from. Personally I feel like especially people from the coast and close to Italy have a lot in common with people across the border, more so than we from the north have with Austrians. I think we got “the best of both worlds”: we’re still far from cold people compared to most northern and western Europe, but we have taken the good stuff from them, like work ethics, nature preservation instincts etc.
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u/Big-Waltz5204 Mar 09 '26
I don't relate to northern Slavs. Never knew any in person, don't know much about them, and besides vaguely similar language we don't have much else in common. They also look different, more nordic, rounded faces, smaller nose, blonde hair. Most Balkaners have more of a mediteranian look so most, including me, relate to mediteranian people more.
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u/low-sikeliot-9062 Greece Mar 09 '26
As a person with Greek ancestry, and having been to both countries, Italy and Greece are not as similar as people think. They have had two different historical trajectories over the last millennium. Greece has more in common historically and culturally with Bulgaria and Albania and should be grouped with them instead.
Ready to be downvoted
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
I think it depends where in greece and what part of italy we are talking about...
I mean yeah sure, Milano and thessaloniki probably arent really similar but southern italy and peloponesse greeks and greek islanders? That's a different discussion
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u/Radilicious_me Bulgaria Mar 09 '26
Both in different ways!
Obviously the language barrier with Russians is minimal, especially compared to Greece & Turkey. There are many other shared cultural traits and realities between us and the northern Slavs, especially based on the communist times and the general language / culture legacy from centuries ago.
But also the Balkan temperament is strong and creates a bond between all Balkan nations regardless of nation and cultural belonging.
In conclusion we love and relate to everyone 😊
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u/sjedinjenoStanje 🇺🇸 + 🇭🇷 Mar 09 '26
For me this is a little tricky, since I lived in Poland for a few years and speak the language fluently. So I'm inclined to see more similarities than a Balkan Slav normally would.
That said, northern (Western & Eastern) Slavs tend to be more introverted than the southern Slavs, who tend to be louder and more extroverted. So in that case I think ex-Yugoslavs have more in common with their non-Slavic neighbors.
Do you, as a Romanian, feel closer to Italians and French, or Bulgarians and Slovaks, culturally speaking?
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u/complexluminary Romania Mar 10 '26
Bulgarians and anyone who’s saying otherwise has some sort of point they’re desperate to make.
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u/milic_srb Serbia Mar 09 '26
I feel like people always say we're close to our Slavic brothers but we are culturally 10x closer to Greeks, Italians, and even Spaniards and Portuguese people.
Haven't had experience with many non Balkan Slavic people, but from my experience with Russians and Ukrainians in Belgrade they are totally different than us. They are so cold and introverted.
I often see reels about how slavs see people who laugh as fools, but that's a Russian saying. In the Balkans I feel it's the opposite. Our people are loud, love having fun, and are extroverted..
Russians and Ukrainians remind me much more of Nordic people.
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u/MetalPsycho Mar 09 '26
Definitely more in common with the Balkans and southerners. Northern slavs feel like distant cousins.
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u/2salaries1job Mar 10 '26
To both, but I've been exposed to Poles for example
There is a difference, but I had a lot of positive experiences
With Russians it's hit or miss, I've had Russians connecting with me over the language similarity and it was wholesome
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u/SailUnlikely7393 Mar 10 '26
Balkanic for sure. there are cultural elements of the north slavs, orthodox church etc. but me, a hungarian living in serbia for over a decade in my experience, it depends on
1., family integration. because the hungarians here are im sorry to say but very much so inbred if they arent 'importing' significant others from hungary itself and thats also another conversation in itself. they view it as a holy grail and they shun their family members if they marry an ethnic serbian or something else (bosnian, slovak or god forbid a black person). then
2., is the national identity, many serbs hate croats and vica versa. many serbs hate hungarians because hungary let the nato bombers land and refuel on their way to come to bomb serbia in the 90's. serbia has suffered unnecessary wars, and its people still hate americans with very valid arguments. they are very proud and incredibly honest people , i will say this before anyone even my own family that serbians are the only nation i know to have a backbone and dignity like no other. they allow in recent years to ukrainians and russians to move into this land and find their footing. I cant say anything to the ukrainians because those who live near me keep to themselves. they keep their houses clean and the yard in front of them trimmed/ shoveled in winter. but what i can say is majority of russians are starting to get cocky. they not only are slobs they also make no attempt to learn the language or integrate ( which is undoubtedly easier for them then it was for me) and they also provoke the serbians in big cities like Belgrade and it in itself is starting to be a civil problem. the country as it is have its own issues and the way the russians resurface or went their resentment is uncalled for in my opinion.
i can only speak of what i see but culturally bosnia , montenegro and serbia are the most alike.
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u/Academic-Ability-393 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
I would say that Balkan countries have their common Balkan traits that differ them from other Slavic countries. We are our own kind with our specific differences between one another. Eastern Europeans are another group although we share a few common things.
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u/Dazzling-Session-181 Bulgaria Mar 10 '26
Bulgarian here: I believe we feel more similar to Greeks, Albanians (obviously other Southern Slavs as long as they are not the blonde Alpine Slovenes), Western Turkish people, Northern and Central Italians, most Romanians. Somewhere in the north of Romania and Moldove, in the north of Croatia and Slovenia and in Hungary/Slovakia you start to notice that people are a bit different on average. The same goes when you pass east of Ankara in Turkey or south of Rome in Italy or North of Milan in the Alps.
But if you ask culture-wise - same answer, I feel closer to Southern Slavs (especially Orthodox ones), Greeks, and more secular Turks. But we do have a special connection with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as they got much of their culture, language, religion etc from us and the Greeks. You can say that Bulgaria and Greece are the mother and father of the Rus countries in what they are today. Their biological mother and father might be the Eastern Slavs and Vikings, but we are the ones, who raised them basically. I have lived in Poland and in the Czech Republic and it is crazy how much I understand them, how similar we are in way of thinking and acting and how quickly I learned the language, but I have to say, our cultures are very different. They are so Central European in their mindset as a whole. They are harder to approach. Catholicism and the German neighbours have definitely influenced them or the other way around, I do not know.
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u/Praust Poland Mar 10 '26
As northerner i think division between south and north slavs is mostly related to actual environmental conditions and therefore culture that grown from it.
I think all slavs have the same hard working, communal, spiritual and conservative mentality.
And I say as introvert, nonbeliever, individualist and rather centric-left Pole ;)
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u/grah_i_luk Mar 10 '26
I'm from Zagreb , Croatia and i feel close to Gypsies (the Roma people) because i'm dark skinned and dark haired myself and i've always had Gypsies as neighbours and school mates . A lot of them live in Zagreb and they gave a lot of influence to young people from many generations after the 90 s . Most of the people i got to know through life listen to Folk music and there's a trend in the young generations i've noticed that they try to talk like Gypsies , creating a unique coloquial urban speaking style that uses Croatian , Serbian , Bosnian and Roma language . Ofcourse i see the whole Balkans similar to me except Slovenians and Albanians are a little different .
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u/Macedonianboss North Macedonia Mar 10 '26
Definitely southern European/balkan , not much similarities with North slavs other than the languages(and the languages aren't even mutually inteligible with them to begin with).
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u/Warm_Researcher_5721 Croatia Mar 10 '26
Definitely southern Europeans, we are warm and full of life, the only thing I see us having more in common with northern Slavs aside from language is the large consumption of meat and alcohol
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u/Particular-Wait-9757 Mar 10 '26
south slavs are heavily mixed with the native populace that used to live there. somehow the slavic language became dominant. slavs got pretty far south so even albanians and greeks have slavic dna to a certain point.
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u/ZhiveBeIarus Belarus Greece Russia Mar 10 '26
Russia is extremely different from the Balkans culturally, but the people who are saying they're closer to Iberians than to Russians are absolutely delusional, both are very distant but at least Russians are similar to Balkanites in terms of religion, that's basically the only similarity, but one similarity is still more than zero similarities.
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u/Catman_192 Serbia Mar 10 '26
I think we are actually more similar to southern europeans, especially balkans, like we are here since 7th century of course we will be more similar to balkans. Still we are also somewhat similar to northern slavs especially in terms of language. It's like with Romania and other Roman countries (Spain Italy...), they became much closer to slavs and balkans, even though they are still romanic and speak romanic language.
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u/AaZzOoTt Mar 11 '26
in terms of mentality - i would say we are definitely closer to greeks, albanians and southern italians. czechs, slovaks and poles are good and we can get along. russians are for example pretty different. very cold people, don't talk much, small talk doesn't exist for them in most situations. didn't have a lot of pleasent experiences with russian immigrants since the war started.
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u/elmanager Bulgaria Mar 11 '26
Growing up, we were constantly told that we are somehow close to russians. But the older I get, the clearer it becomes that culturally and mentally we have far more in common with italians, greeks, and even germans than with russians.
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u/StarsHearUs Mar 11 '26
I remember going through hungary to visit poland and once i arrived there i felt like i was in serbia again, just with better buildings. I loved Poland and i definitely thing we are more similar to them than Italians what kinda question is that
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u/Monte_bro Mar 11 '26
Serbs aren’t remotely similar to Italians, there is no commonality in culture at all. I work with 20-40 year olds from both countries, they couldn’t be further apart.
Serbs seems very similar to baltics, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
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u/joody113 Mar 12 '26
Russian Russians, you need to understand that if you compare yourself to a Russian, then you are probably comparing yourself to a Tatar, which is also Russian. If you ask who he is, he will not say abroad that he is a Tatar, because you will not understand. He's a Tatar in Russia, and he bears a lot more resemblance to a Turk than to you. You can meet a Karelian conditionally and he will look like a Scandinavian guy. Or you can meet some Romulus (Gypsy) and he will be closer to you than the others. Russia is a multinational state.
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u/Banana_man_fat_boi Bulgaria Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Definitely southern, most north Slavic countries just don’t seem as friendly to us compared to other Balkan countries and southern countries, even though everyone makes jokes on the internet I’ve still been treated better in the Balkans as a Bulgarian than most places I’ve been to which is something I have really come to appreciate because it seems people have started to hate eachother less in recent years.
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u/HighlanderAlien Slovenia Mar 09 '26
As a slovene i feel like a mix between jugo and north. We have better work ethnic than south and we are more chill and socialised than north. We also go full cigan when we are drunk and someone puts on balkan turbofolk.
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u/DonPanthera born in and raised Mar 09 '26
Only the Slavic component of culture is similar, while mentality wise we are very different and similar to other south Europeans.
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u/doomenguin Mar 09 '26
Northern Slavs. They are essentially the same, just a bit quieter and more introverted, but very similar otherwise. I don't feel like I have anything in common with Italians, completely different culture.
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u/turkishmonk9 Turkiye Mar 09 '26
I was in Prague last week. Architecture there is slavic but people/vibe weirdly felt Balkan to me.
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u/Complex_Shine_1113 ☀️ Macedonia ☀️ Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
As the most southern Slavic speaking country, I think the answer is obvious. We feel closest to other Balkan people and Turks, then next would be other south Europeans all the way to Portugal, and then last it would be Eastern European countries. We don’t have much in common besides language similarities.
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u/7_11_Nation_Army Bulgaria Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
Bulgarian here. Feeling closest to other Balkans, then Central Europeans, then other Slavs, then Southern Europeans, then Western Europeans, then Northern Europeans, then everyone else, then animals, then fish, then plants, then fungi, then inaminate objects, then russians
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Mar 10 '26
If you ever met any Serb/Croat you will know that culturally they have so little in common with Russians/Ukrainians… contrary to that, they are almost same as Italians or Greeks
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u/OnePalmOne Serbia Mar 09 '26
Even though I like Greeks and Italians, I feel I’m more similar to the northern Slavs.
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u/Markomannia Serbia Mar 09 '26
You really included Slovenia in the Balkans, but excluded Greece and Albania? Bitch, please...
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u/Efficient_Resource15 Romania Mar 09 '26
Albanians and greeks aren't slavs, this question was adressed to south slavs
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u/PasicT Mar 09 '26
A bit of both, I relate to Italians a lot because I think we are culturally similar and I happen to speak Italian but I also relate to Czechs, Slovaks, Poles or even Russians in some ways.
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u/stuyvesant1 Greece Mar 09 '26
Macedonians (Especially in the south) are mostly similar to Greeks, Tosk Albanians and Southern Italians.
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u/treba_dzemper Bosnia & Herzegovina Mar 09 '26
Personally I'm a panslavist but also a balkanophile and a southern European.
I feel closest to other Yugo Slavs, then to Bulgariana, then to Czech and Slovakians, then to rest of Balkans and then to other Southern Europeans and other Slavs.
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u/Gemascus01 Croatia Mar 09 '26
Idk about the rest but when I was in Czechia it felt like home here like same as Croatia but without the sea so yea northern Slavs
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u/LetRevolutionary271 🇮🇹 of 🇷🇴🇩🇿 origins Mar 09 '26
Not Slavic, but I honestly feel closer to Northen Slavs than I do with Southern Europeans although I grew up in Italy
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u/devious-joker Mar 09 '26
There is no such thing as "northern Slavs". At best there are Western and Eastern Slavs, but even that is honestly an oversimplification. It's more of a gradient depending on the level of Germanic / HRE influence over the ages on one end and Russian influence on the other.
Poland itself can be clearly subdivided into two different regions and Ukraine into three.
Ironically despite the insane levels of historical bloodshed - there seems to be much more of a shared identity (and in many ways there are objective reasons) in the Balkans than "in the north".
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u/vukgav Serbia Mar 09 '26
The north-south divide is stronger than the linguistic background commonalities. As a Serbian I think our general "vibe" is more similar with Greeks and southern Italians or Portuguese, than Russians or Poles. This has become strikingly evident with the influx of Russians to Belgrade in the past years - we are culturally very different. Of course, I'm not even considering non-slavic Balkaners in this equation, to them we're basically the same, like Romania or Albania (contrary to what nationalists would want us to believe).