黑山之旅（一）：走過黑山共和國

　　黑山共和國在2006 年宣告獨立，可說是一個新的國家。可是，稱她為新國家又好像不太對，黑山這個名字自中世紀威尼斯共和國統治時期已有，Boka kotorska 地區亦獲聯合國教科文組織列為世界文化遺產。這個在歷史上常被不同族裔統治的巴爾幹半島國度，20 至21 世紀再歷南斯拉夫解體前後與塞爾維亞的分分合合，如今已自立門戶，卻似乎仍在尋找她的身分。一個僅60 多萬人口的小國，在國際舞台正為自己尋找一個新位置，在爭取加入歐盟的同時，也正為自身的社會經濟發展路途摸索。

　　共產政權的痕迹在黑山考察，處處仍可見南斯拉夫共產政權時期的痕迹，和新舊社會交接的見證。在公路上駕駛，很容易辨認出不同時期興建的道路──據當地人介紹，兩線行車的多數都是共產時期所建，三線行駛的都是1990 年代或以後為紓緩交通擠塞而興建。在旅遊勝地科托爾峽灣見到共產黨政府所遺下其貌不揚的荒蕪酒店大樓，與現今熙來攘往的科托爾（Kotor）舊城區中滿是年輕人在開派對、聽音樂的熱鬧旅舍形成強烈對比。北部山區的科拉欣（Kolasin），雖然整個行政區域人口只有12000，但因佔自然美景力圖發展旅遊業，興建了更現代化的酒店。街道上燈柱貼了一些老村民過世的訃告，有的照片上方印上東正教的十字架，有的則印上代表共產黨的紅星，見證着在他們時代不同的信仰。

國會大樓正門

　　我們到首都波德戈里察（Podgorica）拜訪國會，這幢1948 年建成的國會大樓完全沒有氣派，一幢淺灰色的三層辦公樓謙恭地佇立一條街道上兩棵樹中間，樸素得行人經過也不會注意到。來自其他國家的訪問團成員確實有點意外，部分團員最初還以為我們進入的是後門。這個新的獨立國家正在建立新的國會大樓，預計兩年後啟用。

　　黑山早於1906 年已舉行首次國會選舉，在此以前已有公民議政的歷史，形式是二三千人坐在一起討論公共議題和投票。表面看來民主發展時間已不短，並且已有多個政黨競爭，但事實上24 年從來都沒來沒更換過主要執政黨。社會主義者民主黨（Demokratska partija socijalista，1991年前稱為共產主義者聯盟， Savez KomunistaCrne Gore）的執政時期跨越南斯拉夫聯邦時代、與塞爾維亞為聯邦的時代，一直至現今獨立時代。縱使該黨原為共產主義政黨，經過分裂後已逐漸走向私有化經濟、親近西方國家的發展模式，執政地位仍無動搖。其領袖久卡諾維奇（Milo Djukanovic）自1991 年起擔任六任總理和一任總統，就算減去兩度「退隱」的4 年，在位時間都比俄羅斯歷任總統和總理的普京還要長。即使他曾因涉嫌走私香煙罪案而被意大利當局調查，只因行使外交豁免權而不被起訴，在國內仍屹立不倒。

　　接見我們的國會議長、社會民主黨籍的Ranko Krivokapic 強調，歷史上黑山在多個大國稱霸之間獨立生存，雖是小國但具有強大的生命力。的確，在種族議題上分歧的社會建國並不容易，黑山很幸運地走上和平的獨立之路，不像她的鄰居波斯尼亞、克羅地亞和科索沃般經歷血腥的戰爭。

　　和黑山共和國的年輕人和學者交流，發現他們對國家經濟近20 年來「向右走」的看法很大分歧，有的很欣賞上一代的「軟性共產主義」社會，認為社會平等得來沒有鐵腕管治，有的則認為近年愈趨與資本主義世界接軌的發展給予國民更多選擇和自由。

　　27 歲的Dritan Abazovic 是該國最年輕的國會議員，屬於去年才成立的左傾新政黨Positive Montenegro Party（Pozitivna Crna Gora） 。以他的觀察，黑山在民主政制和經濟體系發展兩方面都處於危機，前者在於人們普遍不相信可通過民主為社會帶來改變，這體現於過去24 年來，該國獨立前後都從來沒有執政黨輪替；後者在於資本主義帶來的問題在全球逐漸湧現，從共產主義走出來的黑山共和國卻未找到她該相信哪一套主義。

黑山最年輕的國會議員Dritan Abazovic

　　擁抱自由經濟改革的黑山人，或許都不能忘記該國1987 年與馬其頓、科索沃均宣布破產的痛苦時期。雖然自1990 年代起執政黨無更替過，但1997 年分裂中的社會主義者民主黨 （Demokratska partija

socijalista） 在選舉中勝出的派系、即現任總理久卡諾維奇（Milo Djukanovic）領導的一支就是以高舉經濟改革政綱爭取支持。黑山政府自1990 年代末與美國等西方國家合作逐漸引進產業私有化和開放市場的法例，1999 年更成立專責部門推動私有化，又給予外商與本地投資者同等待遇。

　　黑山共和國的新發展模式在吸引海外資金方面取得成績，根據國際貨幣基金組織和世界銀行的數據，她自2006 年獨立以來的外國直接投資佔國民生產總值比率拋離西巴爾幹半島其餘六國。當中來自房地產市場的外資佔接近一半，而最大的外資來源是俄羅斯。

　　這些發展模式不僅呈現在數字上，就是在愛琴海岸旅遊熱點布德瓦（Budva）享受着陽光與海灘的遊客，舉目也能看見山上樓房大字標題ForSale，逛街隨處也可看見以俄文印刷的房地產廣告。布德瓦明信片上最常出現的度假區聖史提芬島（Sveti Stefan），就是私有化政策最耀眼的例證，該島發展權已判給一家國際財團，現發展為五星級酒店度假村。在海灘上朝另一邊望出去，見到的另一個小島、有黑山夏威夷之稱的聖尼古拉島（Sveti Nikola），就是年前傳出泰國前首相他信有意收購的對象。

曾傳出他信有意收購的聖尼古拉島

　　今日的黑山共和國是前南斯拉夫國家中失業率是最低的，尤其沿海城市受惠於旅遊業和房地產業發展，受區內鄰居羨慕。我在布德瓦所住的旅舍與兩名職員閒聊，他們都是來自塞爾維亞的年輕人，說得一口流利英語。我一到達他們便熱情地自我介紹和替我拿行李箱，沒有客人需要幫忙時， 則見他們在庭園打掃， 或者上網玩facebook。與N 談天，他老老實實說： 「我念了5 年經濟學，不是來幹這工作的，但塞爾維亞經濟太糟糕了，很多大學畢業生都找不到職位，所以我才來了黑山。」

　　不過該國產業私有化過程備受爭議，其中一個原因是企業被指為藏納貪污和有組織罪案的渠道，去年英國廣播公司的一宗調查報道便指由久卡諾維奇家族控制的銀行有三分之二的貸款落於該家族及其親信手中。黑山的貪污和集團罪案仍受關注，是她在爭取加入歐盟談判中須解決的一項重點問題，因此政府已宣布擬在明年底前成立該國首個反貪污機關。

　　走過黑山共和國遊人眾多、商業興旺的沿海城市，稍後我們會再看北部山區鄉鎮的發展。

在國會裏的議事廳聆聽職員講解

The Serbian mentality (1): Water and tea

    “Our country's water is good. You can drink it from the tap!”

    Any traveller who has ever lived in or been to a country where tap water is drunk, or at least heard that tap water is drunk in some countries, may take the above as a humorous statement when your host praises her country's water in this way.

    But no, it can be a serious statement.

    “Serbian water is good.” The landlady told me as she kindly offered me a glass of tap water. At this point I was not quite sure what “good water” she was referring to. Was she trying to tell me about some Serbian water from a particular mountain which was rich in a certain kind of mineral good for human health? Or was she going to make a joke?

    The next sentence she went on to say, without a second of pause for me to imagine all the possibilities to answer my own query, was “You can drink it from the tap.” Ah, she was not joking! At least her husband did not laugh, which meant me as a foreign visitor should not laugh either. She was sincerely telling me about something she was proud of about her country!

    Thanks Serbian writer Momo Kapor for his “A guide to the Serbian mentality” and the owner of the bookstore in Montenegro who recommended it to me. Without this “guidebook” as my great travel companion I would certainly feel clueless about how to understand what Serbian people say and do on my trip.

    The landlady told me she liked Kapor's writing, too. As a native she certainly did not have to read the author's work in a translated version like I did. I also believed that she had not read this particular book by Kapor that I was reading, for it was genuinely for foreigners to understand the Serbian mentality. (Having said that, this book can not only be read as anthropological or cultural literature but also a non-traditional travel guidebook of Belgrade.)

    Out of curiosity, I asked her about tea. “Do you drink tea here? Momo wrote that Serbians only drank tea when they were sick.” Of course I did not really believe in this statement by Kapor. But I was just so desperate for a real tea – not the kind of bottled “ice tea” sold at kiosks and supermarkets which did not have the letter d nor ice in it. Now I could have believed it if someone told me tea was banned in this country. My attempt to find tea on failed even at a Chinese noodles shop in the so-called Chinatown in Belgrade!

    “We do drink tea, not when we are sick. He was just joking,” the landlady replied. Giving an explanation on the Serbian concept of tea to me as a foreigner, she elaborated,“But we are not like the English people. We don't drink tea at five.”

    That was exactly the comparison which Kapor made! For sure I did not mistake any Serbian as English. That made me wonder why both he and the landlady coincidentally draw the same comparison to distinguish their national identity.

    To cite a paragraph from Kapor, he wrote:

    “If they perchance happen to be in our city, Anglo-Saxons are most surprised that their invariable ritual – tea at five is not served with milk, as it is elsewhere around the world!”

    Here I should protest, because the Anglo-Saxons are not the only race on this planet who have milk with tea. At least I do it too! Despite failing to find tea in Serbia, I shared the observation that milk was considered a mismatch with tea in the region as I proceeded to Bosnia and Croatia later on my journey. In some touristic areas in these two countries I did manage to order tea with milk, but ALWAYS served also with lemon and honey as if tea with milk were so incompatible with each other that they might need honey and lemon as glue.

    I could not make sense out of it. I understood that different cultures had different ways of having food and drinks and they might find my way a strange foreign habit. But since those cafes offered this tea with milk option, presumably for tourists like me, why would they think I might put lemon and/or honey into my tea given that I had ordered it with milk?

    Yet, this way of serving tea pleased me much more than what I had in London Chinatown a few years ago. I was driven totally mad when served a Chinese tea poured with milk! 

A tea in Zadar, Croatia, very generously served with milk, lemon, sugar and honey.