Greek Business in Southeast Europe: National, Regional, or European?

Looking at Greek business in south eastern (SE-) Europe — or the Balkans1 — is a challenging task, not least because of the deep historical roots of the phenomenon. What complicates it still further today is the differential status of the countries in the region in relation to the European Union: Some are already full members of EU and EMU; others are members in waiting; others still have not begun negotiations for accession. Most of the countries have a common legacy of institutional and structural elements shaped over long periods of foreign rule or foreign influence. Many of them belonged to different Empires, the Habsburg and the Ottoman. Some gradually acquired autonomy (e.g. Rumanian provinces); others fought early for independence (Greece); others remained under Ottoman rule until the end of the 19th century (Bulgaria, Albania etc.). In Rumania and Greece — both of them non-Slavonic countries — the role of the Fanariots, an elite group of bureaucrats of the Ottoman Empire, was important for forging a European national consciousness and for introducing European institutions. Subsequent political development has not obliterated common traits, aspirations or national ambitions.