By Martin Vasev, Yale-NUS
As part of an article exchange between Accent and Affairs, a Yale-NUS publication, Martin Vasev examines the role of violence in the history of an embroiled region.
[ORIGINAL]
Nobody talks about the Balkans. Is it even necessary? We know everything about it — corruption, high crime rate, unemployment and illegal immigration. Europe often seems to forget about its very own powder keg. But when the Balkans decide to remind the world about their existence, the explosion usually is devastating. The West also seems to forget that it shares the blame for the instability in the region.
If we trace the problems back to the past, we will eventually reach the times of the Ottoman Empire. One of the last absolute empires in Europe, it was impotent before the wave of nationalism and nation-building, which took the continent by storm in the nineteenth century. The “Sick Man of Europe”, rigid and often fanatic in its beliefs, could not counteract the awakening of the new nations within its rule. Successively, Serbia (1817), Greece (1832) and Bulgaria (1878) managed to attain independence after years of organized rebellion. The decisions about the future of the newly-formed countries were made exclusively by the Great Powers in Europe — the voice of the ordinary people was not heard. Territories were taken and given to countries without considering the ethnic composition of the populations. The lack of foresight and pragmatism of the Great Powers left numerous dangerous mines, which very soon were about to explode.
The subsequent “peace” lasted only for a couple of decades. The dissatisfaction at the decisions made by the Great Powers exploded with the blast of the Balkan wars in 1912 and 1913. The fierce and bloody war not only failed to resolve the problems, but also left behind hundreds of thousands of casualties and prolonged economic instability. The Balkan wars were just a prelude to the WWI, as if to prove the statement that when they explode, the whole Europe goes up in flames. What formally started as a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia ended up devouring millions of lives, hopes and dreams.
Unfortunately, a series of bad diplomatic decisions by the Great Power continued. At the Conference in Yalta (1945), Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin agreed to split Europe into spheres of influence, leaving a huge part of the Balkans under the control of the Soviet Union. This controversial decision contributed to the distancing of the Balkan countries from Western values, and to the deepening connections between them and the Soviet Union.
The smoldering racial and religious conflicts catalyzed a new war — the War in Yugoslavia. The continuous tension between Albanians and Serbs, between Muslims and Christians, combined with the bad political management, escalated into one of the most devastating wars in the region. For the numerous victims, their families and beloved ones, the debate over who should shoulder the blame for the war does not matter.
What about now? A drone with the flag “Greater Albania” suspends a football match and a historical meeting between the presidents of Albania and Serbia. Kosovo remains a semi-recognized country with an unclear future. Every time the name “Macedonia” is pronounced, huge political quarrels between Greece and the country standing behind the abbreviation FYROM are created. Romania seems to be stuck in political controversies and corruption. Western fears that Russian interests control the Bulgarian political and economic life are not far from the truth. Bosnia struggles with ethnic and religious disagreements, which undermine the last grain of stability in the country. The Turkish government proudly presents their plans for a resurrection of the Ottoman Empire, turning back on all democratic and secular values. Meanwhile, the region remains the poorest, the most corrupted and the most violent in Europe. As of now, an EU integration seems like an illusion.
The powder keg is slowly smoldering again. The hope is that the West has learnt its lessons and brought with it a stronger fire-extinguisher. It is high time that the general amnesia of the international community, one that conveniently ignores the problems of the Balkans, is cured.
