The contemporary history of the Balkan region is the product of conflictual nationalistic rhetorics, especially since the break-up of Yugoslavia. The Balkan region, an ethnically diverse geographical area, rich with cultural and linguistic heritage, could not manage the plethora of ethnic conflicts, social racism and multiple institutional rejections. The question of nationalism is the inevitable point in each Balkan country. Moreover, it is a shocking fact that even though people speak almost the same language, ethnic hatred still exists among the diverse communities of Slavic origin.
Over time, everything in the society started to be politicized. The Balkan school curriculum started to be changed as well. In some countries, such as North Macedonia, the Ministry of Education decided suddenly to remove the course ‘History’ from the school curriculum in middle and high schools.
For instance, North Macedonia and Bulgaria established and signed an agreement on friendship, good neighbourhood and cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria in 2017. Greece and North Macedonia ratified and signed the Prespa Agreement on June 17, 2018. It looks like the frequent political quarrels about identity, the status of the minorities, the implementation of the theoretical aspect of law and the absence of cultural wisdom let the entire state apparatus float on the nationalistic sky.
Some dark chapters of Balkan history are the deportation of the Macedonian Jews in 1943 in the concentration camp of Treblinka and the Genocide of Srebrenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina). These unfortunate events modified completely the international image of the region. The political tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, Greece and Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia definitely obliterated the conceptual aspect of nationhood which in technical terms means unity.
In general, the Balkan countries connect the idea of nationhood based on the concept of ethnicity. For instance, if you belong to a particular ethnicity, that territorial unit belongs to your ethnic nation, which is a very backward ideology of a social, yet doctrinal interpretation. In a single territorial unit can live many people from different ethnical backgrounds and that shouldn’t pose a problem. The presence of various ethnic groups defines the concept of cultural diversity. The uniqueness of an ethnic diversity signifies that many people can live and coexist in a peaceful manner in the same community. From a cultural point of view, an ethnic diversity is a richness, from a nationalistic approach is a weakness and a threat. The nationalistic approach is backward and useless because initiates hatred and racism. Thus, hatred and racism are two nouns that shouldn’t exist or shouldn’t be pronounced anymore.
Only progress and open-mindedness will protect the integrity of the Balkan ethnical groups. The golden rule is to learn to live in harmony with people from other ethnic groups. Ethnic division is a huge and unforgivable mistake that should never be committed again. Social stability can be implemented and completely achieved over time only if each Balkan state promotes the privilege of having an incredible ethnic country.
