The Balkan Peninsula is a destination that I have always wished to visit as the region has historically faced threats from three different major powers: the German or West European Catholic forces from the northwest; Russia from the northeast; and the Islamic Ottoman Empire from the south.
Sadly, it has been a corridor for aggression and carnage for more than two millennia.
At the time of the writing of this commentary, I was visiting Serbia after spending a night in Moldova. Although being a regional power located at the center of the Balkan Peninsula, Serbia’s geopolitical position has been one of tragedy and misfortune. In fact, the former Serbian Orthodox kingdom has been at the crossroads of these east-west and north-south invasion routes since ancient times, when empires and kingdoms passed through as they vied for regional or global hegemony.