[Note: Romania is spelled as Roumania in his article] In recent times the characterization of a Balkan country has too often been applied to Roumania. Italy shares a small border with Slovenia, a Balkan country, on the region's western edge. This government is a parliamentary representative democracy. The Balkan Crisis Group link includes the following countries into its sphere of activity: "Crisis Group's work in the Balkans presently spans projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia, with watching briefs kept on Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, and Montenegro, where the risk of conflict has decreased but not disappeared." There is not universal agreement on the region’s components. …winter fun. In the south and along coastlines, the climate is more Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and rainy winters. The Rhodope Mountain is the only sierra continuing the Balkans to the south, while the Pindus may be considered the Apennines of the peninsula. Zo kan het verwijzen naar het Balkangebergte, het Balkanschiereiland, een politiek bepaald gebied of een Zuidoost-Europees cultureel begrip. The name "Western Balkans" describes the countries on the western edge of the region, along the Adriatic coast. A project of the German Marshall Fund in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the BTD was established in 2003 and structured to allow European partners to join the effort to strengthen transatlantic cooperation in the Balkans. Independent report for EBRD analyses impact of “Balkan Silk Road”. “Europe: Physical Geography.” National Geographic, 9 Oct. 2012. (2020, August 28). Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania: Ormsby MR, Mike: Amazon.nl Selecteer uw cookievoorkeuren We gebruiken cookies en vergelijkbare tools om uw winkelervaring te verbeteren, onze services aan te bieden, te begrijpen hoe klanten onze services gebruiken zodat we verbeteringen kunnen aanbrengen, en om advertenties weer te geven. The capital city is Zagreb. The Kremlin has accused Bucharest of subservience, plagiarism and betraying its own interests, after a Romanian defence strategy described Russia as a threat to regional stability. The 11 countries lying on the Balkan Peninsula are called the Balkan states or just the Balkans. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/where-are-the-balkan-states-4070249. “The World Factbook: Moldova.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. While on the right bank of the Danube the cities continued to flourish as trading and religious centers, in the Roumanian lands across the river rural life came to be the sole remaining reality. [191] [192] Southern Slavic loanwords also abound in Romanian. His most recent publications include a book, Imaginaire culturel et realite politique dans la Roumanie moderne. He points out the use (and abuse) of the term Balkans and its mercurial meanings in justifying both intervention and its absence." Geographers and politicians divide the Balkan peninsula in a variety of ways due to a complicated history. China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a Eurasian grand strategy that seeks to expand and secure maritime routes and land infrastructure networks from China connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. Romania is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, and its capital city is Bucharest. Mr. Maurice Pernot, and able French journalist, in a book just published on Southeastern Europe, groups Roumania with Greece, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, as do the Italians, who have coined a new name, Balcania, and applied to all the old provinces of the Byzantine Empire on both the right and left banks of the Danube. By this logic, if Romania is included in the Balkans then so should Italy. Sinds 1808 zijn geografische criteria om de Balkan te begrenzen toegevoegd, op grond waarvan bijvoorbeeld landen als Slovenië en Roemeniëtot de Balkan worden gerekend. Maps of the Balkans often define the countries listed above as Balkan using a combination of geographic, political, social, and cultural factors. It’s kind of a well-kept secret abroad, but the Balkans are an awesome place to be in winter! The two major rivers in the Balkans are the Danube and Sava. Its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Center for SouthEast European Studies link, based in Sofia, Bulgaria, is focused on security issues. “The World Factbook: Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. The Balkan Peninsula has a combined area of about 470,000 km (181,000 sq mi) (slightly smaller than Spain). Slovenia's capital city is Ljubljana. SOURCE: Roumania - A Quarterly Review, Vol. Some Balkan countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Macedonia were once part of Yugoslavia. It’s a country with a long and turbulent history of political corruption, but today it has mellowed into a clean and respectable democratic nation filled with approachable and gentle locals. Romania is huge, with a varying landscape of mountains and valleys that divide and separate its towns and cities, which means that you can see as much or as little of the country as you have time to. Miscellaneous. Romanian Girls Vs Balkan Girls. Obviously that doesn’t have any logical sense. These blue rivers are commonly noted for their beauty but they are also full of life and home to an impressive variety of freshwater animals. Within the many mountain ranges of the Balkans are rivers large and small. Moldova, located in the eastern region of the Balkans, has a population of about 3.4 million people, 75% of whom are ethnic Moldovans. Moldova is a parliamentary representative democratic republic and its official language is Moldovan, a variety of Romanian. “The World Factbook: Kosovo.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. The project covers seven countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FR Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Romania. A map in his opening pages stretches northward into Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia and includes all of Romania. Croatia has a population of 4.2 million people, about 90% of whom are ethnically Croats. The official language is Standard Croatian. Romania is not Balkan. "The Balkans." Defining Balkan states is difficult for various geopolitical reasons, and Balkan boundaries have been the topic of much debate between scholars. Rosenberg, Matt. The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Kosovo , Montenegro , North Macedonia , Romania , Serbia , and Slovenia —with all or part of each of those countries located within the peninsula. Notwithstanding the belated character of the Roman colonization in Dacia, at first through husbandmen and artisans and later through Trajan's colonists, this new nation was not long exposed to the domination of the barbarians, who went farther in search of richer treasures and better abodes, leaving but few words to be added to the old stock of clear Latinty. His point of reference is summarized by him in a quotation of The New York Times' journalist, C. L. Sulzberger, writing in his diaries of 1934-1954 entitled "A Long Row of Candles." Like most other Balkan states, Macedonia is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. * Sorin Antohi (b. At the height of Roman power, the Balkan peoples were the most united of any time in their history, with a … The capital city is Skopje. The Balkan Peninsula is rich in both water and mountains, making it a biodiverse and vibrant European destination. The Republic of Kosovo has a population of approximately 1.9 million people and the official languages are Albanian and Serbian. “The World Factbook: North Macedonia.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. “The World Factbook: Slovenia.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. In the third peninsula, the role of the Pyrenees and the Alps does not belong to the Carpathians - Central European mountains connected with Poland and Czechoslovakia and stretching with their prolongations toward the West - but to the particular peninsular mountains called the Balkans [the Turkish word for mountains]. But perhaps even more so than water and location, mountains define the Balkans and make this land unique. It is more or less identical to the region known as Southeast Europe. Still, what you might classify as “typical Balkan” applies most to Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, and maybe Slovenia (though Slovenia is smaller and more advanced than other countries). If you were to travel north of the Balkans, you would pass through Austria, Hungary, and Ukraine. Today, Romania is a member of European Union. It arose from a long-standing misconception that the Balkan mountain range, the backbone of present-day Bulgaria, did not taper out in eastern Serbia (as is the case) but stretched unbroken from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. Later attacks were launched from the southeast as well, so that by the 1st century ce the entire peninsula was under Roman control. Balkans, also called Balkan Peninsula, easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas. https://www.thoughtco.com/where-are-the-balkan-states-4070249 (accessed April 11, 2021). "The Balkans, which in Turkish means 'mountains,' run roughly from the Danube to the Dardanelles, from Istria to Istanbul, and is a term for the little lands of Hungary, Romania, Jugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and part of Turkey, although neither Hungarian nor Greek welcomes inclusion in the label." About 2.1 million people live in Slovenia under a parliamentary representative democratic republic government. About 83% of inhabitants are Slovenian. The official language is Slovene, known as Slovenian in English. So, in short, yes, Romania is very safe to visit. Albania's capital city is Tirana and its official language is Albanian. About 93% of Kosovo's population is ethnically Albanian.. 32 comments. These princes continued as the natural protectors of the Oriental Church, with the patriarchs of Antiochia, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople ranging themsleves under their guidance. These maps add the mainland of Greece as well as a small portion of Turkey that lies northwest of the Sea of Marmara as Balkan states. The most powerful of their dukes, at first mere leaders under whom the villagers organized themselves in time of war, became in due course a Domn, with authority over his subjects akin to that of the Byzantine rulers; but his domain was the Roumanian country in the strict national sense, and not the ambitious copy of the Eastern Roman Empire which the Balkan States had become. This region is surrounded by the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Black Sea. In the north, the weather is similar to that of central Europe, with warm summers and cold winters. ThoughtCo. This nation has a total population of about 3.8 million people, most of whom speak either Bosnian, Croatian, or Serbian, many speaking all three. “The World Factbook: Serbia.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. Rosenberg, Matt. Balkan Romani. The country known as Bosnia and Herzegovina is located east of Albania and its capital city is Sarajevo. The rise and fall of ‘Manele’, the Balkan beat genre that took Romania by storm From its Roma roots to hipster DJs, this is the story of how a music genre divided Romania 8 April 2020 VI, Number 1, 1930, p. 14. Peter Siani-Davies, editor of International Interventions in the Balkans since 1995 (2002), a result of a conference at the Center for South-East European Studies at University College London in 2000, writes: "While the book deals with interventions in the Balkans, the focus is mainly, and naturally,on Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/where-are-the-balkan-states-4070249. It is a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic and the country's capital city is Prishtina. Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically diverse and comprised of three major ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. The European section of Turkey also lies within the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia's population is about 83% Serbs, and there are approximately 7 million people living there today. Serbia is a parliamentary democracy and its capital city is Belgrade. 15 days ago. NOTE: A thorough and compelling contemporary analysis of this question was developed by Professor Sorin Antohi. Romania is one of my favourite countries in the world. The word Balkan is Turkish for "mountains", so it's probably not surprising that the aptly-named peninsula is covered in mountain ranges. But, to the North of the great river, other influences left their mark: that of the Scythians upon the Thracian Getae, especially in Moldavia, and that of the Germans upon Western Transylvania, the mountainous domain of the Dacians. Etnographically, the differences are not so easily discernible, obscured as they are by some strong common elements. The Balkan countries are Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece. Misha Glenny in his book "The Balkans" published in 1999, writes: "The difficulty in defining the Balkans arises from the conflation of political and geographic descriptions that are themselves problematic. * in a book-length work entitled Romanian and the Balkans: from cultural bovarism to ethnic ontology (link). The southern coast of Europe is comprised of three peninsulas and the easternmost of these is known as the Balkan Peninsula. Romanian has common features with idioms spoken in the Balkans (especially with Albanian and Bulgarian), suggesting that these languages developed side by side for centuries. Rosenberg, Matt. “The World Factbook: Bulgaria.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. The root cause of this is that a number of Balkan countries were once part of the former country of Yugoslavia, which formed at the end of World War II and separated into distinct countries in 1992. The official language is Serbian, a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian. 13 votes, 67 comments. Italy begins at the Alps, with the Apennines forming the backbone of her body. Test and grow your knowledge of the Balkans here. As the crowned heads of all Orthodoxy, they ruled unhampered by any immixture of Turkish authority, then limited to the fortresses of the Danube which were considered the possessions of the Sultans. Balkan Romani (also known as Balkan Gypsy) is a specific dialect, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Romania etc. This country makes up the largest piece of the Balkan peninsula and boasts a population of about 21 million people.   Eighty-three percent of people living in Romania … It includes the following countries under the SEE grouping: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia. Het is daarom niet exact aan te geven waar de Balkan begint of eindigt. But in Roumania the recognition of Turkish suzerainty by the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia did not connote a curtailment of their authority. With its beautiful architecture, colourful buildings, heart-warming food and old traditions there is a lot to take in when visiting. In Romania, you have to check out the painted monasteries in Bucovina and Horezu monastery in the southern Carpathian mountains. NOTE: Excellent series of maps showing the evolution of 'Balkan' boundaries in 12 maps from 1804 to present Robert D. Kaplan in "Balkan Ghosts" published in 1993 takes a wide view of what falls under the Balkan peninsula frame of reference. Each country on the Balkans has its’ unique features. The Balkan Romani language is typically an oral language. Some Balkan states are also considered "Slavic states" as they are typically defined as Slavic-speaking communities. The Balkan Trust for Democracy link is a 10-year, $27 million grantmaking initiative that supports good governance in Southeastern Europe. So what is it now exactly. There are approximately 2 million people living in the Republic of North Macedonia. About 64% is Macedonian and 25% is Albanian. The official language is Macedonian, a south Slavic language closely related to Bulgarian. ), OTHER VIEWS ON WHAT IS MEANT BY 'BALKAN' ? “The World Factbook: Romania.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. Is Romania … Historically, the Balkans were in possession of the Byzantine emperors. Romania is one of the countries that will benefit from the "Belt and Road Initiative". Where does the Balkan Peninsula begin? Er zijn verschillende definities van het begrip Balkan te geven. “The World Factbook: Albania.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. This system of mountains - the Balkans, the Rhodope, the Pindus - makes all of the Pindo-Balkan provinces a separate unit quite distinct from Roumania, whose Moldavian plains extend toward the Russian steppes, and whose level Wallachian cornfields belong to the Danube Valley. The Balkan Peninsula is bounded by the Adriatic Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea (including the Ionian and Aegean seas) and the Marmara Sea to the south and the Black Sea to the east. Thus, in contrast with the Balkans - where the Roman language did not survive except on the shores of the Adriatic, in the fastness of the Pindus, and in the wider spaces of classic Thessaly - Roumania, from the Danube to the Beskids, from the Tisa to the Dniester, remains to this day a Latin-speaking land. These include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Elena represented Romania at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow with the song The Balkan Girls Balkans - Balkans - In the Roman Empire: The Romans were different from other major conquerors of the Balkans in that they first arrived in the west. I ve heard some Romanians say that they are Not Balkan and others who claimed they are Balkan. A power struggle in Bucharest has reignited debate about EU expansion and shone a light on the continuing grip of the former communist elite. Balkan culture. This part of Romania was influenced by the Byzantine, Ottoman, and even Greek culture for most of its history until the 19th century when younger boyards began studying in Western Europe. Thus is explained why Turkish pashas commanded at Buda, but never in the Roumanian capitals, where the cross remained at the pinnacle of the political organization. De Romania is het Romaanse taal- en cultuurgebied in Europa. Based in Belgrade, the Trust includes the following countries into the 'Balkan' context: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro, including Kosovo. The sole exception is Romania, who is already bordering Russia, but assurances from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece about the rights of their Vlach minorities keep it aboard and its efforts focused on Transylvania instead of Moldova. Romania is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, and its capital city is Bucharest. The government of this country is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Dit zijn criteria als religie, taal of cultuur en geschi… Le stigmate et l'utopie (Paris- Montreal: L'Harmattan, 1999), a collective volume he co-edited with Vladimir Tismaneanu, Between Past and Future: The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2000), and an edited book, Religion, Fiction, and History: Essays in Memory of Ioan Petru Culianu (Bucharest: Nemira, 2001, 2 vols. The later, Slavonic rulers - Bulgarian and Serbian - merely imitated the Byzantine system of government, not so highly centralized but nevertheless unified by the continuous influence of a central authority approximating the old imperial power. George A. Kourvetaris, Victor Roudometof, Kleomenis Koutsoukis, and Andrew G. Kourvetaris, editors of The New Balkans: Disintegration and Reconstruction (monograph 2003), include the following countries within the book's 'Balkan' umbrella while also referring to them as South East Europe: "Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia." This country makes up the largest piece of the Balkan peninsula and boasts a population of about 21 million people. Eighty-three percent of people living in Romania are ethnic Romanians. There are several spoken languages in Romania but the official language is Romanian. With Yugoslavia a neighbor of Italy, Greece a Mediterranean country, and continental Turkey but the small prolongation in Europe of an Asiatic Empire, the Bulgarians remain today the only Balkan people, and Bulgaria the only Balkan state. "in Romanian") is a Balkan Romance language spoken by approximately 24–26 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language. However, following the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, Romanian interest waned, and when it revived in the 1920s it was designed more towards encouraging the Romanians' "Macedonian brothers" to emigrate to Southern Dobruja, where there were strong non-Romanian minorities. There are amazing Balkan ski resorts in almost every country, but Bulgaria and Romania are both truly blessed. Peter Siani-Davis provides a historical overview of international intervention and non-intervention in the Balkans. Romania. It took a century for this inaccurate description to eclipse other classical or geo-political names, like Turkey-in-Europe or the Near East. Upon arriving in Romania, I was so excited to learn more about the countries culture as Romania is still a lesser-known destination when it comes to travel. And yet, historians continue to group the Romanians with the "Balkan Christians" who broke their fetters and became free at about the same time, as though Romanian freedom had ever been interrupted during the nearly five hundred years of vassalage under the Sultans. Bulgaria's capital city is Sofia. The 610,000 people living in tiny Montenegro speak the official language Montenegrin. Ethnicity is varied here, with 45% Montenegrin and 29% Serbian. The capital city is Podgorica and the political structure is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Balkans are sometimes defined as the area within Europe held by the Ottoman Empire into the 19th century. A comparison with the two other peninsulas of Southern Europe may help to answer the question. ", Cultura RM Exclusive/Quim Roser/Getty Images. Romania: A Balkan imbroglio. However long you have, here is how to spend 7 days in Romania, 10 days in Romania, and 14 days in Romania. 7 Days in Romania Itinerary There is a regional term often used when talking about the Balkan Peninsula and this is the Western Balkans. Between the Balkans and Roumania there could not have been a more strongly marked political contrast. As for the Carpathians, they did not come under the pale of the Empire; nor was there any substitute to exercise a like influence. Albania, or the Republic of Albania, has a total population of approximately 3 million people. It is located in the western part of the Balkan peninsula and features a long coastline facing the Adriatic Sea. The 1991 Constitution established Romania as a republic with a multiparty system, market economy and individual rights of free speech, religion and private ownership. Cuisine: Like most of the cuisines on Balkan Based in Belgrade, the Trust includes the following countries into the 'Balkan' context: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro, including Kosovo. The Roumanians peasants lived patriarchically in their scattered villages, each of which was autonomous. 1957 in Romania) is Professor of History at Central European University, Budapest. Croatia, located on the western edge of the Balkan peninsula along the Adriatic Sea, is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Matt Rosenberg is an award-winning geographer and the author of "The Handy Geography Answer Book" and "The Geography Bee Complete Preparation Handbook. Romania Upholds Jail Terms for Serbian Black Sea Drug Traffickers Two Balkan Films, One Actress, Join Running for Oscars Bulgaria, Romania Order Halt to AstraZeneca Vaccines The border of the Balkans is not clearly defined. Romanian (dated spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: limba română [ˈlimba roˈmɨnə] , "the Romanian language", or românește, lit. There are approximately 7 million people living in the Republic of Bulgaria today and they speak the official language of Bulgarian, a Slavic language related to Macedonian. The Balkan Crisis Group link includes the following countries into its sphere of activity: The book moves from the general to the specific. These include: These mountains play a big role in the region's climate. Safety in Romania is of top priority and all but guaranteed. The extent of participation in the Sprachbund for some of these Romanian varieties 7 is discussed below in section 3. [191] Though there is some disagreement as to exactly how many countries are encompassed in the Balkan region, these 11 nations are generally accepted as Balkan. Most Important Things to Know About the Country of Georgia, Yugoslavia Officially Becomes Serbia and Montenegro, Important Things to Know About South Korea, were once part of the former country of Yugoslavia, The World Factbook: Bosnia and Herzegovina, M.A., Geography, California State University - Northridge, B.A., Geography, University of California - Davis. A diverse nation, Bulgaria's largest ethnic group is Bulgarians, a South Slavic group. [When it comes to defining what is meant by the name 'Balkan', he observes,] a consensus has never been found." share. COMMENTARY: IS ROMANIA A BALKAN STATE ? The connection of the Balkans to the South with the Carpathians is interrupted at the Iron Gates by the Danube. I think it is a gray area. In the Balkans, upon the passing of the Christian régime to the Turks, the old system was preserved under the new masters without any essential change. Spain begins at the Pyrennees; their continuation, the sierras, are merely the frontiers of her provinces. 95% of the country is located entirely outside of the Balkan peninsula including its Capital. It is Eastern European. Moldova meets this definition. The capital city is Chisinau. The Western Balkans include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Do you guys think Romania should be part of the Balkans? Hieronder vallen landen in Zuid-Europa zoals Spanje, Portugal, Frankrijk, Italië, Roemenië en Moldavië.Maar ook andere landen worden ertoe gerekend zoals België, Luxemburg, Monaco, Zwitserland, Andorra, Vaticaanstad San Marino, Kroatië, Servië, Macedonië, Griekenland en Oekraïne, waar ook Romaanse talen worden gesproken. Both shores of the Danube shared the Thracian ancestry, the Greek influence in the vicinity of the Pontus, the Romanization of the people, the occupation of the Roman Empire, and the flood of the Slavonic invaders. The Balkans. The Balkan states, for their part, resolve to push back and are open to suggestions from the Entente. “The World Factbook: Montenegro.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. “The World Factbook: Croatia.” Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018. Its government is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. Southeast Europe On Line link, a project funded by US AID to promote interaction between NGOs, defines its geographic scope as follows: Southeast Europe Online is designed as a Balkan portal site focusing on creating a virtual network of NGOs in Southeast Europe. This region lies on the southeastern edge of the European continent. In 1930, the noted intellectual, prime minister, and statesman, Prof. Nicholas Iorga, tackled the subject in a short article by the title: Is Romania Balkan State? Other maps that use a strictly geographical approach include the entire Balkan Peninsula as Balkan. The term Balkan peninsula is modern, coined by the German geographer, Johann August Zeune, in 1808. "The Balkans." If so why and why not.l? She will represent Romania. Romanian women differ in a couple of key characteristics. by N. Iorga The question is often asked about Romania whether it is Central European, East European, South East European, or Balkan. Romanian is a Balkan language to some extent, but not fully so, and Istro-Romanian is largely irrelevant as far as the Balkan Sprachbund is concerned. Powered by http://www.eurovision.tvElena will sing "The Balkan Girls" at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.