Eternal Flame (Belgrade)

The monument was largely conceived by Mirjana Marković, the leader of the Yugoslav Left and wife of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević. It was originally planned to have a height of 78 meters, to symbolize the 78 days of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[2][3]

It was completed in only 10 days ("overnight") without following any of the legal standards and procedures for such objects, being at odds with the legal procedures stipulated by the city administration. Very arrangement of the precast concrete elements actually lasted only 9 days. Over 500 workers were employed in total to finish it in record time, so as to arrange the surrounding plateau area of 10 ha (25 acres). There were never less than 160 workers at one moment on the construction site, and they worked day and night.[1][2]

The monument was unveiled by Serbian president Milan Milutinović on 12 June 2000. The ceremony was attended by Federal Defence Minister Dragoljub Ojdanić, chairman of the Directorate for the Reconstruction of the Country Milutin Mrkonjić and many other high-ranking Yugoslav officials and members of the cultural and scientific elite. Also, in the transport organized by the state, several thousand people from other parts of Serbia were transported by buses to Belgrade, to attend the unveiling.[1][2]

During the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the monument was vandalized and the gas flow was cut off. Notably, an early intervention was the replacement of the word "vatra" (English: fire) with "vutra" – the word for marijuana in the šatrovački street slang.[4] Younger population referred to the entire monument as the "večna vutra" ("eternal marijuana").[3] In the following years, the obelisk was defaced with graffiti and the letters of the inscription were progressively stolen until only two commas were left in 2006. This has been studied by the Russian-Swedish artist Alexander Vaindorf as an example of the mechanisms of the reconstruction of history.[5] At one point, homeless people dwelled in the base of the monument.[6]

Being built without any necessary permits, the monument was officially considered illegal ("unregulated status"), so it could't be legally renovated by any state or local institution. Despite it was built by the state government at the time, it was constructed illegally and not even government can break laws and procedures. In the 2000s, city officials deliberated on the issue as after the political change in 2000, the monument was treated as the "wild [illegal] construction" without any official memorial meaning. Actually, if city itself acted legally in this matter, the monument had to be demolished. Unlike the monument, the surrounding plateau and the green areas were regularly kept.[1][3]

Still, the city decided not to demolish it "just because it was built by Mira Marković". After consulting with several artists, it was decided to legalize the monument, with certain esthetic corrections on the memorial. Parts of the plans included replacement of the bronze flame sculptured on top of the obelisk, with fire burning inside, which was deemed contradictory. It was also suggested to replace the inscription with the more appropriate one, which would ease the feeling of the monument as the foreign object in given space. Relocation was also mentioned. City administration then abandoned any plans and works on the subject, claiming that the authors of the monument objected the remodeling, though in some cases the consent is not necessary. One of the co-authors, sculptor Svetomir Radović, who also had issues with the monument as it turned out in the end, said that no one contacted him and that he wouldn't mind the remodeling if he finds it appropriate.[1][6]

Thanks to an initiative by the Generals and Admirals Club of Serbia, the monument was cleaned in 2009. The Street and Square Names Commission stated that the monument was never restored because it was erected contrary to usual procedure, and was not protected by the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.[1] The government allocated certain funds to renovate the monument in 2009, but the installations were so damaged that they eventually gave up.[6] The plateau surrounding the monument was fully renovated in 2019.[7]

In March 2019, the Party of Modern Serbia started an initiative to rededicate the monument as a Monument to the Victims of the 1987–2000 Regime.[8]

In March 2020, city administration, which since 2013 has been the same as prior to 2000, announced that the monument will be legalized. Deputy mayor Goran Vesić said that the flame will be lit again on 24 March, on 21st anniversary of the bombing, but also added that gas installations feeding the burner are in extremely bad shape, which may prolong the deadline for a week.[6]

The 5.5-metre-wide (18 ft) eastern wall of the obelisk's base was originally decorated with a short text by Mirjana Marković herself. Her text was named "Eternal Flame". The memorial was also inscribed with the names of its four authors and designers, but also names of the companies which donated money or worked on monument's construction. The letters of the text have all been stolen.[1][9]

For the lateral sides (northern and southern walls), which are decorated with marble blocks, Marković decided to use quotes from the poems Jugoslavija (Yugoslavia) and Domovini (To the Homeland) by the poet Branko Miljković. Miljković's verses survived as, unlike the main inscription, were carved into the marble.[1][6]