Banja Luka, Bosnia — Here in the administrative entity known as the Republika Srpska, the Serb-controlled part of the country properly called Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina, abbreviated “BiH” locally), they wave the Serbian flag in preference to the national flag of the country they reluctantly belong to; and the people pretend that their national language is three different languages. The mystery of the three in one.
Here is what it says on every pack of cigarettes in BiH:
That’s once for the Bosniaks, once for the Croats, and once more for the Serbs. The Bosniaks and Croats use the roman alphabet, and Serbs often do as well, but hardliners like to use Cyrillic. What “Пyшeњe yбиja” says when you romanize it is “Pušenje ubija”—for the third time.
Smoking kills, Smoking kills, Smoking kills: They have said it thrice …