More Than Just Crises: Rethinking the Western Balkans

The Western Balkans are geographically part of Europe, culturally diverse and a constant subject of political debate on the enlargement of the European Union (EU). Nevertheless, the region remains a "blind spot" in large parts of Europe. Knowledge about the region is superficial, fragmented and characterized by stereotypes. This is despite the fact that the Western Balkans are of great importance for the EU’s security, migration and enlargement policies.

The focus here will be on the question of why too little is known about the Western Balkans in Europe, how this can be changed and what role new migration movements, the stalled EU accession process, scientific cooperation and digitalization play in this.

Knowledge about the region is superficial, fragmented and characterized by stereotypes. This is despite the fact that the Western Balkans are of great importance for the EU's security, migration and enlargement policies.

The aim is to explain how sound knowledge of the region can be acquired not as a technocratic instrument, but as a basis for equal relations and new forms of European neighbourhood.

The countries of the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - lie at the heart of Europe. Historically, culturally and economically, there are numerous links with the member states of the EU. Nevertheless, the region is perceived as a peripheral area in the prevailing discourse and is associated with crises, conflicts and corruption.

The political and ethnic fragmentation of the region is also reflected in this "half-knowledge" about the region: nationalist narratives shape the historiography, and the conflicts and wars of the 1990s continue to have an impact. This mixed situation makes it difficult to develop a comprehensive and differentiated European body of knowledge about the region.

Since the fall of communism and especially during and after the wars in the former Yugoslavia, millions of people have left their home countries in the Western Balkans. Many of them now live in Germany and Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia and have taken on the citizenship of their new home countries. The heterogeneous community of people from the Western Balkans has become an integral part of European societies.

The heterogeneous community of people from the Western Balkans has become an integral part of European societies.

Today, this migration history is being reflected back to the old home countries in a new way. The first generation of emigrants, stigmatized as "guest workers" rather than integrated, now travel with their children and grandchildren as tourists to their countries of origin or work there as entrepreneurs. Even more important, however, is the second generation. These are young people with roots in the Balkans who grew up in Western Europe, who did not experience the Iron Curtain or the Yugoslav wars of disintegration, and who are now developing a keen interest in their roots.

Many are consciously traveling to their parents' home countries for the first time, discovering a culture that is foreign and yet familiar to them. These trips are more than just family reunions, they are informal educational trips that gradually change the image of the region in the west of the continent. This is because the "home tourists" travel with partners, friends or colleagues who previously had no connection to the Western Balkans.

This creates new encounters that are not generated through diplomatic or academic channels, but through everyday life. The Western Balkans are thus not experienced as an abstract crisis region, but as a living place with people and landscapes, stories and perspectives.

However, this development also harbours risks. Without imparting in-depth knowledge and without reflecting on recent history, the Western Balkans risk becoming an exotic travel destination in the immediate vicinity: a cheap destination for Western backpackers who fail to take social and political contexts into account. This is why it is so important to use tourism as an opportunity for sustainable exchange: through homestays and cultural programs, encounter projects and local mediation services.

Science is a fundamental instrument for imparting knowledge, including everyday knowledge. However, there are serious weaknesses with regard to the Western Balkans: Joint research projects between EU states and Western Balkan countries are rare, and long-term institutional cooperation is even rarer. 

The main reason for this is the "brain drain". Many well-educated academics are leaving the region. What may lead to an improvement in their individual living conditions results in the impoverishment of local scientific landscapes. Tight research budgets, unstable political conditions and universities dependent on the goodwill of those in power exacerbate the problem.

Joint research projects between EU states and Western Balkan countries are rare, and long-term institutional cooperation is even rarer.

The language barrier also plays a role. Many scientific publications that are produced locally only appear in the languages of the region and are hardly received internationally. On the other hand, international research is characterized by English-language publications, which usually offer an "external perspective" because they do not originate from the region itself. EU funding instruments such as "Horizon Europe" and "Erasmus+" can help, but so far, they have hardly reached local and regional structures. It is not talent that is lacking there, but sustainable structural support. What is needed are equal partnerships and exchange on an equal footing.

The faltering process of EU enlargement is also not helping to increase knowledge about the region. Although the countries of the Western Balkans are formally EU candidates, the accession process has not made any progress for years. 

This delay has consequences. It feeds frustration in the region, strengthens EU-sceptical and authoritarian forces and weakens trust in the European institutions. In addition, initiatives and reform processes are slowed down, as they lose their momentum without any real prospect of accession. The transfer of knowledge about the region also suffers: Why should we take an in-depth look at a region whose European future is uncertain?

Nevertheless, the Western Balkans remain an eminently European region - not only geographically, but also through the work of the diaspora and thanks to its history and cultural density. It is time to draw conclusions from this realization. The accession process must no longer be seen merely as a technical exercise, but as a political opportunity and a cultural obligation. Anyone who wants to integrate the Western Balkans must know them, understand them and take them seriously.

How can this knowledge gap be closed? The first step is recognition: the Western Balkans are not marginal, but an integral part of European reality. This must be reflected in curricula, research agendas and the media. A second step is to make local voices heard. Many young academics, activists and artists in the region are doing outstanding work. They need public platforms and access to European networks. Cultural institutions, NGOs and the media can make a big difference here. Archives, databases and oral history projects can also help to make complex knowledge accessible. It is important not only to collect knowledge about the Western Balkans, but also to take knowledge from the Western Balkans seriously. 

Cooperation between cities and universities, schools and museums could establish a new European neighbourhood in the medium term. After all, knowledge about a region is not created through research alone, but at least to the same extent through encounters, dialog and shared experience.

It is important not only to collect knowledge about the Western Balkans, but also to take knowledge from the Western Balkans seriously.

Digital media have the potential to make knowledge more quickly and widely accessible. There are also opportunities here for the Western Balkans: online conferences, open access publications, social networks and collaborative data platforms lower entry thresholds. At the same time, new inequalities are emerging. Not all universities have an adequate digital infrastructure. Many local initiatives are dependent on international platforms such as Facebook or Google. And: digital visibility does not replace structural exchange but must complement it.

There are some positive examples. Virtual museums, digital archives and podcasts from the region reach an international audience. However, these projects are often underfunded. Targeted funding is needed here, especially in the area of digital cultural work. After all, the Western Balkans are not a distant place, but part of the European present. If you want to understand Europe, you have to know the Western Balkans.

Knowledge about the region is not an end in itself. It creates the basis for trust, cooperation and joint development. The creativity of young Balkan Europeans, the dynamism of tourism and the initiatives of the "digital natives" can provide impetus. However, the decisive factor is whether politicians and society in the EU states are prepared to listen, learn and take partnership seriously. The task is not to manage the Western Balkans better. It is to understand them as neighbours at eye level.