Hot take: is Balkan “unity” something people actually want, or just something we like to talk about in theory?

Posted by elixxirumoflife@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 54 comments

Not trying to start anything, I’m genuinely wondering.

You hear a lot about shared culture, similarities, even jokes about “we’re all the same anyway.” But when it comes to real cooperation or unity, people seem way more hesitant.

So where do you stand?

-Do people actually want closer ties, or just like the idea of it?

-Is “unity” realistic, or just a nice concept that falls apart in practice?

-And what would have to change for it to feel genuine instead of forced?

Curious to hear honest opinions from different perspectives:)

[-]

Stverghame@reddit

No one in real life (with an actual job and life) talks about or wants Balkan unity.

[-]

vaniot2@reddit

Same. Not that we have something against Serbs or Bulgarians or anything like that. It just doesn't happen.

[-]

The only time I’ve seen people seriously discussing it was when I was studying in Athens. Two of my good friends there were native born Greeks and they both were proponents. One conservative new democracy type and the other somewhere between syriza and kke. They mostly advocated for shared cultural and research institutions. I think there was also talk of joint economic ventures, but not full confederation in the foreseeable future.

[-]

Melodic_Interview210@reddit

I only ever saw out of touch intellectual types seriously speaking about it. Stereotypically it overlaps with communists, but not always

[-]

toffi_99@reddit

Isn't it what Tito achieved with Yugoslavia to a large extent? (Not Balkan so feel free to explain if I'm mistaken btw)

[-]

Esdoorn-Acer@reddit

Yugoslavia was a country in Central Europe and Balkan, not just Balkan. He united countries which had different cultures, histories, religions and languages. So not that good idea.

[-]

Taliskerhu@reddit

The EU is the only game in town and very rightfully so. It's a great project that has already profoundly transformed countries. Uninterested in anything else and that's the only thing that makes any sense.

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

Why do you think the EU can unite the balkans?saw few answers saying just the same, but I lowkey need an explanation.

[-]

Taliskerhu@reddit

You must be young. The purpose of the EU is not to "unite the Balkans", that's not why countries joining.

I know Greeks and I'm sure others don't spend any time thinking about "uniting more with Balkans". It's not a thing. But coming under EU umbrella some aspect of "uniting" effect takes place over time. You feel on common ground and start seeing benefits (Schengen, common currency). When these days I go to Bulgaria I don't feel "one" obviously but I also, for the first time in history probably, don't feel completely "stranger".

The EU is a huge, difficult, amazing, project. There's no other game. The Balkans by themselves are just a provincial corner, united or not

[-]

toffi_99@reddit

I don't see the EU letting countries with muslim majorities enter tbh

[-]

Capital-Driver7843@reddit

Albania in few year will be the first and likely the only one for the observable future.

[-]

toffi_99@reddit

Why do you think so?

[-]

Capital-Driver7843@reddit

Only two other Muslim majority countries have any chance to be accepted anyway - Turkey and Bosnia. Both countries unfortunately have significant internal challenges to solve before being close to full EU membership. On top Turkey has generally different geopolitical strategy, not necessarily aligned with the EU priorities and that makes it even more difficult. Basically Erdogan wants to have the cake and to eat it, similar to the Brits. Any country, government, system willing to join EU have one big challenge, EU cannot tolerate a stronger local government than the central EU authority (for good and bad).

[-]

toffi_99@reddit

The east of Turkey is very conservative. Several EU countries have prohibited the use of burkas and I doubt either Bosnia or Turkey would be ready to ban it. Hijab is not very well seen either. And traditional muslim burials are directly outlawed in the EU. I think there were also some concerns about halal meat. So all in all, these countries would really need to force secularisation or adapt their practices. On the EU side, the catholic far right is clearly on the rise and it's hostile toward Muslims.

[-]

cofi04@reddit

As everything in life, in theory it sounds great and it is, in reality... ... well, not so great...

[-]

Svez1@reddit

Balkan unity is a concept that only worked in hard times so the small countries could preserve their long term national interest, examples are balkan wars, world wars etc.

As a standalone countries we are all insignificant factor on any stage and thanks to our own hands we became a joke to world aswell.

[-]

Stverghame@reddit

world wars

What "unity" did you see there? 💀

[-]

c0sf-fkr@reddit

Depends what you mean by unity...Balkan people had to learn pretty early on that life is nuanced, there's very little back or white. Unless you are very specific what you mean by "unity" (since it's a BS term that means nothing and everything) then each commenter will associate it with either something positive or negative on the spot...and where you didn't explain what you mean by unity they will make up whatever scenario they want to either agree or argue with you...so, be specific, or you will get BS answers

[-]

Janosh_Poha@reddit

All the people commenting "The EU." 🤣🤣🤣

[-]

faffy16@reddit

Yes, the EU is a good umbrella under which Balkan counties willing to let go of the past (looking at Macedonia and Serbia) can unite and work together.

It's not without its faults but the EU is the best thing that has happened to Bulgaria in modern history, I'm sure the majority of the Romanians, Croatians and Slovenians feel the same.

Looking forward to Cherna Gora and Albania joining and hopefully Kosovo and BiH will follow them soon enough.

[-]

Janosh_Poha@reddit

I like how you left out Macedonia joining. And that is exactly why the EU has failed certain states. Bulgaria will veto and block any attempt for Macedonia joining, and the rest of the EU can't prevent that from happening. Also, if you think the real powers in the EU give a flying ass about the Balkans or eastern European states you are fooling yourself.

[-]

faffy16@reddit

Macedonia not joining is entirely of their making. There is always someone working against them, isn't it? First it was Greece for not recognising their name, now Bulgaria is their biggest enemy, nevermind we were the first to recognise them as an independent country. If it wasn't Bulgaria, they will find something else to whine about. Should EU make them a banitsa and put on the red carpet for them cause they are so special while everyone else is actually making an effort? I am sorry you are bitter about the EU. The fact is the situation in Bulgaria is vastly different and for the better since we joined, even if we only look at being able to travel, study and work freely. Only a person who doesn't remember what any of those entailed before we joined will claim the opposite. Eastern Europe is doing decently in the EU whether they care about us or not, far better then it would have been on its own.

[-]

Vitanist112@reddit

No. The balkans are a region, but considered a culture, which is technically true, but also... not true. There are a lot of similarities yes, but the countries and their cultures are still vastly different. There are countries like the slavic countries which are more united than for example bulgarians and greeks. But you also can't say that we're russians. But also we've mostly been hating each other in history. All of the tries to unite ourselves either failed and led to a war, or we were forcefully united which isn't gonna work no matter what... shi that was long... Long story short, we won't and even if we try, history is just going to repeat itself (for yet another time)

[-]

MartinBP@reddit

Idk if you've read much about the history of the region over the past 40-odd years but we and the Greeks are much more united than the Slavic countries.

[-]

prezzpac@reddit

What about unity just for the slavic countries? And you’re right, they’re very different from Russia, so maybe specify that the new country is just for southern slavs? “SouthernSlavLandia”?

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

History repeating itself is definitely a risk, but it also depends on what exactly is being repeated. Trying to recreate some kind of unified state? Yeah, that’s probably doomed. But looser cooperation without forcing identity is a completely different scenario.So maybe the issue isn’t that unity is impossible,it’s that the version of “unity” people imagine here has historically been the worst possible one idkk

[-]

Vitanist112@reddit

If we create our own alliance we're still going to fight over something. But mostly the reason we don't make it is because then we need to leave NATO and probably the EU (not that likely though) and it's just not worth it

[-]

Early-Show2886@reddit

How is that supposed to work? With all the different ethnicities, languages, and religions?

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

Unity doesn’t have to mean everyone speaking the same language or sharing the same religion. It can just mean cooperation where it makes sense:economically, politically, culturally:)

[-]

pppktolki@reddit

We can't even get that within the borders, let alone internationally..

[-]

Early-Show2886@reddit

and there we go...culture...in the balkans differs from country to country.

[-]

GokTengr-i@reddit

Its just slavs, 90%~, albainans and helens ethnically and linguistically. And its just christhians ,80%~, and muslims. Most balkan nations are fake created for political reasons

[-]

MartinBP@reddit

We already have unity through the EU. Bulgaria's closest allies in the region, Romania and Greece, are already inside, so we're very united. We have a single market with open borders, common regulations and with Greece we even share a currency.

Other friendly countries are also closely aligned. Croatia is a member, Albania is progressing towards membership. So I'd say we're already very united with those we get along with.

[-]

No-Championship-4632@reddit

The closest to that is EU - same regulatory framework, common market and no borders.

[-]

svarga108@reddit

Dont worry, we are divided and ruled.

[-]

AyseKurtbas@reddit

For Turks, we have nothing to do with Balkans and we are from Middle East.

[-]

toffi_99@reddit

I don't think anyone considers Turkey to be part of the Balkans in the first place

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

I like this perspective right here!

[-]

AyseKurtbas@reddit

You are even more middle east and have nothing to do with Caucasus or Balkans too. Assyrian related ethnicity.

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

Homegirl armenians are not “Assyrian-related” the way you’re trying to spin it, you’re literally just mixing up completely different peoples 😭I’m Armenian-Romanian, born and raised in Romania, so I don’t know why you’re acting like you can just erase half of that and assign me something random instead. Armenians are their own ethnic group with their own language and history,being from a nearby region doesn’t suddenly make us “basically Assyrian” or “Even more middle eastern”,cause matter of fact,we were never ever middle eastern to begin with😭😭And like… if someone is actually mixed, then sure, that’s their personal background. But you can’t just project that onto Armenians as a whole because it fits what you’re trying to say.

[-]

AyseKurtbas@reddit

There is nothing that says you are Romanian i wouldn't know. You put Armenia there.

Armenians are middle easterners just like Azeris and Turks. Not Caucasus or Balkan. I'd argue even Romania is not balkan like Turkey. Balkans are yugoslavia Albania. Even Greece is not balkan.

[-]

elixxirumoflife@reddit (OP)

I wanted to put 2 flairs, but it only let me put one so I picked Armenia.Also, your geography is kinda all over the place. Armenians aren’t “middle easterners” like that,Armenia is generally classified in the Caucasus, both geographically and culturally. Being near the Middle East ≠ being the same thing.

And saying Romania isn’t Balkan while also saying Greece isn’t Balkan is… a take 💀 The Balkans isn’t just “ex-Yugoslavia + Albania,” that’s way too narrow. Depending on the definition, Romania and Greece are very much part of the broader Balkan region.You’re basically drawing super strict lines where even geographers don’t fully agree, then acting like it’s objective fact. It’s not that simple,these regions overlap, and identities aren’t as black-and-white as you’re making them.

[-]

PreWiBa@reddit

Nobody talks about it or even really considers it

Its only an online thing

Sure, people will say sth. that we are close, but even then, its mostly only among some Ex Yu countries. No Bosnian considers Romania really close.

EU exists, thats enough

[-]

Downtown-Figure6434@reddit

There was unity with Ottoman Empire. We all know how that turned out

[-]

Right_Ad_3782@reddit

*Forced unity

[-]

Downtown-Figure6434@reddit

A strictly balkan federation of sorts wont happen cuz it will be a question of under who, and anything else even the eu will be “external” and “forced”. Same end

[-]

RevolutionaryFeed259@reddit

- Closer ties? Through EU and regional cooperation initiatives

- What's unity here? An unified nation? No thanks. Being friendly and neighbourly to each other? Sure

[-]