Musician Goran Bregovic, banned from entering Moldova, denies being pro-Russian

2023-08-23 14:34:12
Goran Bregovic, at the French Embassy in Belgrade (Serbia), February 25, 2014. ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP

From his villa in Montenegro where he is waiting to leave for his next concert in Portugal, Goran Bregovic talks about a “dumb story”of ” bullshit “. “All of a sudden, I become pro-Russian! I don’t understand “, is indignant, on the telephone, the Bosnian composer and musician. His famous Balkan brass band orchestra was prevented from entering Moldavian territory, where he was to perform on Sunday August 20 at a festival organized about sixty kilometers from Chisinau.

Read the review (in 2010): Goran Bregovic, Balkan rockstar and excess

This small country bordering Ukraine, which also faces serious threats from Moscow, concerning its security, particularly accuses the musician of ambiguous positions on the conflict. The Minister of the Interior, Adrian Efros, thus defended, on Monday August 21, the decision of the Moldovan police by advancing “security reasons” about a “artist who demonstrated a pro-Russian vision and supported the annexation of Ukraine by the Russian Federation”. After the expulsion of his orchestra, which always travels a little in advance, Mr. Bregovic immediately gave up going to Moldova and canceled the concert.

In the viewfinder of the Moldovan authorities is, among other things, a concert, held in 2015, in Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea, which is still worth criticism of the artist in certain Ukrainian circles. “It was a concert that was connected with the Ukrainian tour, organized by the same agency”defends Mr. Bregovic today, assuring that he was then able to play several times in Ukraine without arousing protests. “I am from Sarajevo, I am traumatized by the war, I cannot be in favor of any war or any aggression”adds the artist born in 1950 and who became immensely popular throughout Yugoslavia in the 1970s.

“A hysterical moment”

Spearheading the wave of Balkan music that then made Europe dance in the 2000s, the musician has always taken refuge behind his desire not to “not wanting to do politics”, to avoid speaking more directly about those responsible for the war in Ukraine, following the same caution as in his public comments on the sources of the Balkan wars. His huge tube Kalashnikov (1995) has occasionally drawn criticism from people who accuse it of promoting violence, “while it’s an ironic song that just makes fun of people who like to carry weapons”he assures.

Without sharing the openly pro-Putin excesses of director Emir Kusturica, for whom he composed the music for several cult films before getting angry with him, Goran Bregovic nevertheless sometimes held ambiguous speeches on Russia. During his trip to Sebastopol, during a press conference, he thus criticized “It’s up to the West to maintain a form of paranoia” vis-à-vis Moscow. “In the Balkans, we have always felt the greatness that comes from the East, from Russia”, he added, taking up a trait very shared in Serbian nationalist circles or by some of those nostalgic for Yugoslavia. Coming from a multi-ethnic family, Mr. Bregovic now provides “not to remember [ses] statements »which date “before the war” (current).

You have 22.22% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.