Балканите днес - възприятия, стереотипи и тенденции
Balkans Today - Perceptions, Stereotypes and Trends. The Results of a Sociological Survey, Conversations and Observations

Summary/Abstract: A questionnaire was developed to obtain information of the respondents (most of them are students from the American University in Blagoevgrad) how they see the Balkans today. It combines easy questions concerning geographical and political dimensions of the Balkans with more provocative and controversial ones that are figuring eventual changes of the Balkans states. The respondents do not consider Balkans as a danger, or powder keg of Europe. The biggest challenges facing Balkans are the EU membership, the demographic crisis and the changes concerning the independence of Kosovo and the question of Macedonia and the recognition of its name. Some more conclusions came out: - Balkans are vital and in a permanent change; - Balkans’ centers and peripheries are political terms rather than geographical; - Macedonia could be constructed as a multicultural state based on the political and modern Macedonist ideology as developed since the WWII; - Albanians and Bulgarians could be figured as Balkan center and eventually as a main factor in the region; - EU could help the region but it is not a solution itself; - Kosovo should be mutually accepted by all sides; - Romania and Turkey are politically and economically in the Balkans.

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