In Serbia, the decade of the 1990s is still referenced regularly in the 2020s. Though my main interest and focus here is on memories and memory politics related to the wars waged in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo following the break-up of Yugoslavia, they cannot be discussed in isolation from other memories that have emerged as legacies of that era. These include, but are not limited to, memories of a decade of the destruction of civility, of mass anti-regime demonstrations, of an absence of normalcy, and of ruptures in daily life. Indeed, in the early days of the outbreak and spread of COVID-19, during the lockdown period in the spring of 2020, I heard many people in Belgrade comment about how the experience brought up unpleasant memories of life under sanctions in the 1990s, when mobility was limited, leaving from or arriving in the country on an international flight was impossible, and life's routines were severely interrupted. Often, people in Serbia view the 1990s as a point of reference for how bad things can be, a symbol of unpleasant times people would rather forget and of ‘really ugly memories’ (Obradović-Wochnik 2013, 61).

Thus, this chapter begins by placing this discussion of memories of the wars of the 1990s in the broader context of experiences and memories of everyday life in Serbia at the time; those unwanted memories that people would rather avoid, and yet often reference anyway, almost in passing, especially in the context of unexpected disruptions to their daily routine.