ABSTRACT
Before World War I the Osman Empire had been called the 'sick man at the Bosporus'. Fortunately enough, and perhaps surprising for some less-informed commentators, the current state of affairs in Europe's south-east is not at all comparable to the situation before World War I. Instead of two self-assured but outdated feudal political regimes there now exists a variety of forms of political governance, partly overlapping and overlapped by European and international institutions. In other words, the problems to be solved in Europe's south-east are a test for the viability and further progressive evolution of the European Union (EU). Some guidelines for the tracks to follow have nevertheless already emerged, mostly as a kind of panic reaction of the European Central Bank (ECB) and some other central institutions and committees. A European learning process has started, and to some extent it will be learning the hard way, in particular at its center: Europe's south-east.
