Romanians from Serbia in Denmark
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villages. As most visits to <strong>Serbia</strong> have taken place outside the prime holiday<br />
season, <strong>in</strong>terviews with youngerpeople, with a few exceptions, were carried<br />
out <strong>in</strong> <strong>Denmark</strong> as part of Club meet<strong>in</strong>gs. Key persons—such as the<strong>Serbia</strong>n<br />
priest <strong>in</strong> <strong>Denmark</strong>, the head of the local Diaspora Office <strong>in</strong> <strong>Serbia</strong>, etc—<br />
were also <strong>in</strong>terviewed. The <strong>in</strong>terviews focused on personal migration stories<br />
and on how the transnationallives that stretch between <strong>Serbia</strong> and <strong>Denmark</strong><br />
are organised, especially by those first-generation migrants whohave been<br />
brought up with the values and norms of the ‘old’ Yugoslavia and who<br />
participate on a more or less regular basis <strong>in</strong> the activities of the <strong>Serbia</strong>n<br />
clubs; it only <strong>in</strong>cludes the perceptions and practices of the second<br />
generation when they add to the perspective of their parents. Furthermore,<br />
most respondents were found among the great majority who take part <strong>in</strong><br />
most important club activities, such as the celebrations; the studydoes not<br />
<strong>in</strong>clude the perceptions of those who no longer feel a need to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> their<br />
l<strong>in</strong>ks with the Vlachmigrant community <strong>in</strong> <strong>Denmark</strong> <strong>in</strong> this way.<br />
Liv<strong>in</strong>g Dual Lives: Transnational Strategies and Obligations<br />
Until the 1990s—when the break-up of Yugoslavia and the outflows of<br />
refugees changed the ethnic pattern of immigrants <strong>from</strong> the former<br />
Yugoslavia—the Vlachs, a small m<strong>in</strong>ority group <strong>from</strong> eastern <strong>Serbia</strong>, were<br />
among thelargest diaspora communities <strong>in</strong> <strong>Denmark</strong>.<br />
From the diaspora’s start <strong>in</strong> the late 1960s, Vlach migration strategies had<br />
been characterised by cha<strong>in</strong> migration, with the arriv<strong>in</strong>g migrants be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
under strong pressure to facilitate and help the successive migrationof close<br />
family relatives and more-distant k<strong>in</strong>. The close-knit social relations of the<br />
Vlach m<strong>in</strong>ority encouraged a particular pattern <strong>in</strong> which settlement was<br />
concentrated <strong>in</strong> four prov<strong>in</strong>cial towns all located with<strong>in</strong> a radius of 100<br />
kilometres of Copenhagen. After 40 years of settlement, this pattern<br />
rema<strong>in</strong>s more or less the same, as few of the younger generation have<br />
chosen to move far <strong>from</strong> their families.<br />
In contrast to many other groups, the Vlachs mostly migrated as couples.<br />
Once established, these couples wouldoften be jo<strong>in</strong>ed by their parents, with<br />
whom they would share an apartment and liv<strong>in</strong>g expenses, to <strong>in</strong>crease<br />
sav<strong>in</strong>gs as much as possible. This was a reflection of a particular Vlach<br />
family tradition <strong>in</strong> which up to fourgenerations would live under the same