The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier (Review)

In this two-part BBC series (first shown in February 2025), reporter Katya Adler, who covered the conflicts of the 1990s, returns to the Balkans to see how the region has changed, nearly thirty years on from the end of the Bosnian War.  It’s a whistlestop two-hour tour - part travelogue, part social commentary - with archive footage dotted here and there, and a brief history of the region’s 20^th century.  Adler takes us on a fascinating, insightful journey through the former Yugoslav states of Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo, as well as neighbouring Romania and Albania.

The main message that the series brings home is the way outside powers are currently competing for interest in the Balkans, from Chinese investment in infrastructure, to Islamic countries funding the building of new mosques, to Russian political and religious ties (in one disturbing segment, a Bosnian Serb motorcycle group fly Russian flags with Putin’s face on it). It appears that the rest of Europe is losing the battle for influence in the Balkans, hence the tagline of the ‘forgotten frontier’.

 

The theme of wounds not healed is also prominent throughout the two episodes.  Shots of pockmarked buildings, a visit to the Srebrenica memorial and interviews with Kosovar police about the Serb incursion into Kosovo in September 2023 all serve to show how raw the region still is.  There has been no real closure for many of the victims of the wars, which is undoubtedly linked to the fact that many Serbs still see themselves as the victims.  Interviews with Kosovar Serbs were eye-opening - especially the vitriol directed towards the British for their role in the Kosovo War - but most surprising was the implication that it remains a mainstream view amongst Serbs that Kosovo belongs to Serbia.

 

The thread running through all the segments on the former Yugoslav countries is the unspoken question: how many generations removed must we get before people can move on?  Adler interviews some 14-year-olds Bosnians (speaking excellent English, of course) who argue passionately against the segregated Muslim/Croat school they attend.  Does this signify hope for the future?  This documentary would seem to suggest not.  There is now whole generation of adults who were born after the wars ended and yet underlying concerns about tension in both Bosnia and Kosovo pervade.

 

Adler also visits Romania, where the appeal of the super-rich is drawing many of its people back again, despite corruption and criminality in some areas, and Albania, with its newly flourishing tourist industry, but large numbers of migrants leaving.  Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro don’t get a visit.  Slovenia, perhaps, is understandable, since with its virtually ethnically homogenous population and close ties to western Europe, it avoided the conflicts of its Yugoslav neighbours, seceding in 1991 with relatively little bloodshed.  However, I would certainly be interested in a further series, possibly examining the issues between North Macedonia and Greece, as well as Montenegro’s nationalist ties to Serbia.

 

This was a varied and comprehensive watch, as much as it is possible to truly examine such a complex region in just two hours. Like many documentaries of its type, it seeks to present a certain point of view, and interviews the right people to accomplish this.  Personally, I’ve not met that many vehement nationalists in any Balkan country, so it’s hard to know whether the voices heard here are those of the majority or the minority.  However, if you’re interested in the Balkans, this is a must-watch addition to the discourse on the region.  If you know nothing about these countries, it’s a great introduction to their history, culture and politics.  As Adler entreats us – let’s not forget about the Balkans.

 

The Balkan: Europe’s Forgotten Frontier is available on BBC iPlayer.