A new European state one can visit

"Iceman" wrote in message
...
On Feb 17, 1:50 pm, Dusty Furtile Morrocan
wrote:
On the particular moment of Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:00:42 -0000 in
relation to Mary's disappointingly immaculate rumpy pumpy, "William
Black" put forth:

They're Muslim, banks are against their religion...

Muslim?

They are Albanians, which for some reason aren't part of Albania.


A lot of the borders in Eastern Europe don't make sense from an ethnic
perspective. They are the result of the back and forth feuding of
Austria and Turkey over hundreds of years.

True, but you can't blame all of it on Austria and Turkey. They were
latecomers. Each of those countries had their own empires at some point or
another (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece) and they still believe all those
former territories are part of their nation's birthright, no matter how much
they overlap. For example, three cultures claim the land now called
Macedonia (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia). When Tito was alive, he encouraged
that population to develop a Macedonian identity, but ask a Greek,
Bulgarian, or Serbian, and they'll tell you there are no "Macedonians."

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:47:37 -0500, "Sarah Banick"
wrote:


"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:20:33 -0000, "William Black"
wrote:


"Joseph Coulter" wrote in message
96.97.136...

People in this thread are getting all worked up over a really
interesting
historical phenomenon, The Balkanization of the Balkans!

That's because the consequences of Balkanisation in that area can lead to
a
major European war.

Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.


Not necessarily. The Serbs are historically backed by the Russians, and
Putin isn't too happy about this right now. The West, on the other hand, is
supporting independence. History has shown that you only need to light one
fuse in the Balkans to blow up a number of ethnic hatreds.

But the EU has taken care of that, right? We're all mature countries now who
must work together. ;-)

They should all read Dervla Murphy's "Through the Embers of Chaos", I
reckon.

The Balkans are not black, nor white, but numerous shades of grey.



Keith (formerly of Bristol UK)
now moved to Berlin/nach Berlin umgezogen

On the particular moment of Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:01:13 -0500 in
relation to Mary's disappointingly immaculate rumpy pumpy, "Sarah
Banick" put forth:

True, but you can't blame all of it on Austria and Turkey. They were
latecomers. Each of those countries had their own empires at some point or
another (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece) and they still believe all those
former territories are part of their nation's birthright, no matter how much
they overlap. For example, three cultures claim the land now called
Macedonia (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia). When Tito was alive, he encouraged
that population to develop a Macedonian identity, but ask a Greek,
Bulgarian, or Serbian, and they'll tell you there are no "Macedonians."

Basically, there's no hope for them in the immediate future (read: 100
years).

Lovely piece of land they inhabit though.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On the particular moment of Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:47:37 -0500 in
relation to Mary's disappointingly immaculate rumpy pumpy, "Sarah
Banick" put forth:


"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .

Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.


Not necessarily. The Serbs are historically backed by the Russians, and
Putin isn't too happy about this right now. The West, on the other hand, is
supporting independence. History has shown that you only need to light one
fuse in the Balkans to blow up a number of ethnic hatreds.

But the EU has taken care of that, right? We're all mature countries now who
must work together. ;-)

The Balkans will be just fine, as long as no one interferes in the
next month or two.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

"Dusty Furtile Morrocan" wrote in
message ...
On the particular moment of Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:01:13 -0500 in
relation to Mary's disappointingly immaculate rumpy pumpy, "Sarah
Banick" put forth:

True, but you can't blame all of it on Austria and Turkey. They were
latecomers. Each of those countries had their own empires at some point or
another (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece) and they still believe all
those
former territories are part of their nation's birthright, no matter how
much
they overlap. For example, three cultures claim the land now called
Macedonia (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia). When Tito was alive, he encouraged
that population to develop a Macedonian identity, but ask a Greek,
Bulgarian, or Serbian, and they'll tell you there are no "Macedonians."

Basically, there's no hope for them in the immediate future (read: 100
years).

Lovely piece of land they inhabit though.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

Lovely, yes, and the cultural clashes have only made it more intriguing :-)

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:47:37 -0500, "Sarah Banick"
wrote:


"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:20:33 -0000, "William Black"
wrote:


"Joseph Coulter" wrote in message
96.97.136...

People in this thread are getting all worked up over a really
interesting
historical phenomenon, The Balkanization of the Balkans!

That's because the consequences of Balkanisation in that area can lead to
a
major European war.

Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.


Not necessarily. The Serbs are historically backed by the Russians, and
Putin isn't too happy about this right now. The West, on the other hand, is
supporting independence. History has shown that you only need to light one
fuse in the Balkans to blow up a number of ethnic hatreds.

But the EU has taken care of that, right? We're all mature countries now who
must work together. ;-)


The real next question is when will Kosovo decide they want to unite
with Albania and will they expect a connecting corridor.

G

grant kinsley writes:

The real next question is when will Kosovo decide they want to unite
with Albania and will they expect a connecting corridor.

They don't need one; they share a border.

--
http://lastcarriage.com/ - Independent Travel

"grant kinsley" wrote in message
...
Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.


Not necessarily. The Serbs are historically backed by the Russians, and
Putin isn't too happy about this right now. The West, on the other hand,
is
supporting independence. History has shown that you only need to light one
fuse in the Balkans to blow up a number of ethnic hatreds.

But the EU has taken care of that, right? We're all mature countries now
who
must work together. ;-)


The real next question is when will Kosovo decide they want to unite
with Albania and will they expect a connecting corridor.

G


Hmmmm....anybody want to place bets? :-)

Hatunen wrote:
That's because the consequences of Balkanisation in that area can lead to a
major European war.

Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.

Well, Austria and Hungary just removed their land border controls two
months ago.

--
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

On Feb 19, 1:52*am, Keith Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:47:37 -0500, "Sarah Banick"





wrote:

"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:20:33 -0000, "William Black"
wrote:

"Joseph Coulter" wrote in message
96.97.136...

People in this thread are getting all worked up over a really
interesting
historical phenomenon, The Balkanization of the Balkans!

That's because the consequences of Balkanisation in that area can lead to
a
major European war.

Probably only if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is brought back.

Not necessarily. The Serbs are historically backed by the Russians, and
Putin isn't too happy about this right now. The West, on the other hand, is
supporting independence. History has shown that you only need to light one
fuse in the Balkans to blow up a number of ethnic hatreds.

But the EU has taken care of that, right? We're all mature countries now who
must work together. ;-)

They should all read Dervla Murphy's "Through the Embers of Chaos", I
reckon.

The Balkans are not black, nor white, but numerous shades of grey.

Keith (formerly of Bristol UK)
now moved to Berlin/nach Berlin umgezogen- Hide quoted text -


I used to like Dervla Murphy but then I got suspicious .... no matter
what country, however remote, or the time, she always gets a room for
the night. If there's no hotels, a friendly local puts her up. I just
don't believe it.

At least with Bryson, you know he's making stuff up for dramatic/
comedic effect. But I sometimes wonder if she's from the Chatwin
school of dissembling.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore