First, lets have a look at the Balkans on a map:
From http://www.europe-map.org/images/balkans.gif
Serbia: The House in the Road
Out of the Balkan countries, Serbia is the most resistant country to EU expansion. This country has been in many empires and the EU is the most recent. These include:
Medevil Serbian Empires
Serbian Empire
Moravian Serbia
Ottoman and Austrian rule
Serbian Revolution and Independence
The Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (after WWI)
Invasion of Yugoslavia
Genocide of Serbs by UstaĊĦe regime in WWII Croatia
Serbia within Socialist Yugoslavia
Republic of Serbia
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia
With this much change in its politics, it is no surprise that Serbia is resistant to EU expansion. However, Serbia cannot always be apart from the EU. Now, for many Serbians, "European pragmatism is replacing masochistic nationalism". Serbia needs to join the EU for its own good. It is begining to copy Slovenia and Slovakia (EU countries) and by doing this, its people are getting Pensions, there is less corruption, and more students are getting university educations.
I can understand how difficult it would be for the Serbians to be part of the EU because of their history, but it is a step that must be taken. At the rate it is going, I estimate that Serbia will be part of the EU soon.
An interesting thought: To lure men back into Serbia, Serbian entrepreneur says that Serbia is a country that has many beautiful and available women: "Since we lost so many borhters in the war, the odds are great!" (p. 31)
Bosnia: Homo Balcanicus and Bruce Lee
Bosnia was in really bad shape in the 1990s and now Europe wants it in the EU. Europe spent copius amounts of money to get Bosnia to see itself belonging with the West, not with America. Bosnia is crucial to the European Union's planto impliment a stability pact on the entire southern Balkans so that another European sub peer group can be formed. Without Bosnia, this plan cannot work. The EU's Copenhagen Criteria (rules that define whether a country is eligible t o join the EU ->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_criteria) promoted political, economic and infrastructural reform within Bosnia.
Interesting Fact: This statue of Bruce Lee in Bosnia is a "symbol of fighting against ethnic divisions" (p.33). The people are accepting each other's religion which opens the country up to Serbians and Croats, crucial to the EU's plan. How different that a statue of Bruce Lee can have such significance to Bosnia!
From http://conorsg.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/bruce-lee1.jpg
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