i would say it is similar, people that don't speak one or another would look blank at me :D

Father speaks Serbian, Mam Slovak all the time. I often mix them in a sentence more or less consciously. Also often don't notice if i am reading Latin alphabet or Cyrillic if fonts are not weird.
But i did learn both from birth.

To be honest it is kinda located in the wrong place and what ever big empire wanted to go somewhere it was on it's path.
And people are stupid and manipulated the same as everywhere else.