THE BALKANS

This troubled area includes the former Yugoslavia (today's Serbia/Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia), Romania, Bulgaria, Albania. Greece, European Turkey and the former Soviet Moldova.

For many years the area has been torn apart by numerous territorial disputes and ethnic/religious conflicts some of which are still unresolved. Major information on their background can be found in "Brief History" section

The majority of Croats and Slovenes, do not agree that their countries belong to the Balkan region – rather, insisting on being a part of Central Europe.

We do not claim to judge whether they are right or wrong. However, it looks like their historical and cultural backgrounds are definitely closer to countries like Hungary, Austria, Germany and Italy than to Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania or Albania. However, we still decided to keep them in this section due to the fact that it is hart to separate their history from the history of the whole area.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that history is still alive for many people in the area and so are some of the old grievances and prejudices. Overcoming the burden of history may be a long and complicated process requiring the combination of both national and international efforts.