Why do Balkan countries lag behind other Eastern European countries in terms of addressing environmental issues?
1 Answer
In one simple perspective, the environment was always better and more preserved under the Orthodox and Byzantine rule over the lands, as they had little interests, nor means to industrialize. The real lag in the addressing of environmental issues by Balkan nations is the sting of Communism, the same sting that has not allowed Russia to industrialize beyond a second-world nation.
They would produce goods with excessive and harsh means by workers in order to better the industry, but this ultimately came at a cost as this ultimately killed off all skilled workers for the future and all available resources to produce more. Hence, they are no longer self-sufficient and all these resources were used up.
Not
that much time has separated us from Soviet rule to be brutally honest. Greece, however was not environmentally affected as it pushed away Communist rule in the 1964 Civil War, but its current issues were created from the manipulative foreign aid...
The Balkan states lag in addressing these environmental issues as they do not have the ability alone and it is not at the top of their agenda, as the Communists that caused the issue in the first place are no longer a part. For example, the Chernobyl disaster is one example of how the sting of Communism caused the deterioration of nature. But to be honest, there are many more important topics on the agenda of the Balkans over environment.
