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  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
10,755 Views
12 Pages

16 June 2020

In this article, I discuss the use of the term “Balkan” in the regional popular music. In this context, Balkan popular music is contemporary popular folk music produced in the countries of the Balkans and intended for the Balkan markets (...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
4,331 Views
8 Pages

26 July 2020

In this article, I discuss the persistence of Byzantium as a cultural model in the arts, and in music in particular, in the countries of the Balkans after the fall of Constantinople. By examining ways in which the idea of Byzantium persisted in Balka...

  • Review
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,379 Views
27 Pages

The Orchids of Wetland Vegetation in the Central Balkans

  • Vladan Djordjević,
  • Svetlana Aćić,
  • Eva Kabaš,
  • Predrag Lazarević,
  • Spyros Tsiftsis and
  • Dmitar Lakušić

23 December 2022

Wetland ecosystems are important habitats for the growth and survival of numerous terrestrial orchids in Europe. This study reviews the current knowledge on the orchids of wetland vegetation in the Central Balkans. The orchid flora was analyzed from...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
6,990 Views
14 Pages

30 July 2020

Defining the Balkans as a geographic, cultural and semantic entity triggers an interpretation of them as some idea, concept, oftentimes even a stereotype. The Balkans are usually interpreted as a singular entity, generalized and set in a single frame...

  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
5,065 Views
18 Pages

Is a Food Shortage Coming to the Western Balkans?

  • Tatjana Brankov and
  • Bojan Matkovski

16 November 2022

In the wake of the international food crisis, many countries are paying more attention to food self-sufficiency to protect themselves from instability in the global food markets. Western Balkan region and the rest of the world are facing an array of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
27 Citations
9,530 Views
16 Pages

27 November 2020

The right to food is a fundamental one, and the optimization between human needs and available resources is a challenge in all countries. The main goal of this study is to find the factors that determine food security and to determine the level of fo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,863 Views
15 Pages

25 June 2023

The Crusaders who followed Via militaris or Via Egnatia to the Holy Land traversed the vast and more or less unknown region of the Balkans, where they found themselves in an unfamiliar natural environment. This article explores the physical and psych...

  • Review
  • Open Access
4,547 Views
21 Pages

Psychedelic plants and fungi have been traditionally used in many cultures as part of ritual ceremonies and ancient medicinal treatments. In some regions, these psychoactive plants have already entered mainstream discourse through popular literature...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,789 Views
2 Pages

COVID-19, caused health and economic problems in almost all countries. This crisis has caused unprecedented supply and demand shocks and led to significant changes in people’s behavior and spending. Demand depends on consumer behavior, which ma...

  • Review
  • Open Access
240 Views
30 Pages

Traditional Uses of Thymus Species in the Balkans: Ethnopharmacology, Food, and Cultural Heritage

  • Ina Aneva,
  • Marija Marković,
  • Katarina Husnjak Malovec,
  • Zheko Naychov,
  • Irena Mincheva,
  • Vesna Stankov-Jovanović and
  • Ekaterina Kozuharova

10 March 2026

Thymus species play an important role in traditional medicine, food practices, and cultural heritage across the Balkan Peninsula, a region characterized by high floristic diversity and long-standing ethnobotanical traditions. This review provides a c...

  • Article
  • Open Access
23 Citations
4,740 Views
14 Pages

Spatiotemporal Estimation of the Olive and Vine Cultivations’ Growing Degree Days in the Balkans Region

  • Ioannis Charalampopoulos,
  • Iliana Polychroni,
  • Emmanouil Psomiadis and
  • Panagiotis Nastos

24 January 2021

Olive and vine cultivations are two of the most important crops in Europe, yielding high quality and value food products. The climate change over the Balkans may elevate the agroecological pressure for the established crops and shift their cultivatio...

  • Article
  • Open Access
710 Views
22 Pages

Human Occupation of the Central Balkans During the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence from Serbia

  • Steven Kuhn,
  • Dušan Mihailović,
  • Slobodan Marković,
  • Zoran M. Perić,
  • Sofija Dragosavac,
  • Marija Stojković and
  • Mirjana Roksandic

11 February 2026

This paper presents archeological data and chronometric dates documenting human presence in Serbia, central Balkans, during MIS 2. We describe findings from excavations at three cave sites and dating results from two additional localities. The eviden...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
3,906 Views
15 Pages

Molecular Insights into the Centaurea Calocephala Complex (Compositae) from the Balkans—Does Phylogeny Match Systematics?

  • Jelica Novaković,
  • Pedja Janaćković,
  • Alfonso Susanna,
  • Maja Lazarević,
  • Igor Boršić,
  • Sretco Milanovici,
  • Dmitar Lakušić,
  • Bojan Zlatković,
  • Petar D. Marin and
  • Núria Garcia-Jacas

16 May 2022

Groups of recent speciation are characterized by high levels of introgression and gene flow, which often confounds delimitation of species on a DNA basis. We analyzed nuclear DNA sequences (ETS spacer and the AGT1 gene) obtained from a large sample o...

  • Review
  • Open Access
5 Citations
2,545 Views
13 Pages

Background/Objectives: The rise in urinary tract infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria presents a serious public health challenge across the Balkans, a region already burdened by aging populations, healthcare resource limitations, a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
2,925 Views
11 Pages

Societal Trust Related to COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Western Balkans

  • Smiljana Cvjetkovic,
  • Vida Jeremic Stojkovic,
  • Stefan Mandic-Rajcevic,
  • Sanja Matovic-Miljanovic,
  • Janko Jankovic,
  • Aleksandra Jovic Vranes,
  • Aleksandar Stevanovic and
  • Zeljka Stamenkovic

20 October 2022

The lower rates of COVID-19 vaccination in Western Balkans countries could be partially explained by societal distrust of its citizens, jeopardizing the sustainability of COVID-19 vaccination programs. The aim of the study was to determine the level...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
4,665 Views
14 Pages

30 October 2020

The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it uses the available official Input–Output data for the Western Balkans economies to estimate the output and value added multipliers of the sectors identified as being either current or emergin...

  • Editorial
  • Open Access
3,379 Views
17 Pages

27 December 2024

This article provides a short introduction to Balkan Romance, examining and exemplifying a number of its principal features. In particular, the discussion begins in §2 with a review of the main morphosyntactic features of the four principal sub-...

  • Article
  • Open Access
36 Citations
6,716 Views
16 Pages

Export Competitiveness of Agri-Food Sector during the EU Integration Process: Evidence from the Western Balkans

  • Bojan Matkovski,
  • Stanislav Zekić,
  • Danilo Đokić,
  • Žana Jurjević and
  • Ivan Đurić

21 December 2021

Trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) significantly influenced the liberalisation of agri-food products in Western Balkan (WB) countries. In all Western Balkan countries, there has been an int...

  • Article
  • Open Access
908 Views
21 Pages

Prioritizing Sustainability in Ethno-Tourism: An AHP Assessment of Rural Villages in the Balkans

  • Maja Borlinič Gačnik,
  • Antonio Pelaez-Verdet,
  • Alfonso Cerezo-Medina,
  • Boris Prevolšek,
  • Črtomir Rozman and
  • Andrej Škraba

8 November 2025

Ethno-tourism is increasingly recognized as a driver of rural development and cultural preservation, particularly in the Balkans, where ethno-villages represent important centers of heritage, identity, and community revitalization. Despite its signif...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
3,651 Views
26 Pages

Factors Influencing Orchid Species Richness in the Central Balkans: The Importance of Belowground Organ Types

  • Vladan Djordjević,
  • Dmitar Lakušić,
  • Ivan Novković,
  • Vladimir Stevanović and
  • Spyros Tsiftsis

3 February 2025

The Balkan Peninsula is considered one of the most important centres of orchid diversity in Europe. However, the patterns of orchid species richness in the Central Balkans have not been sufficiently studied so far. The aim of this study was, therefor...

  • Article
  • Open Access
17 Citations
6,156 Views
16 Pages

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Physical Activity among Medical Students from the Western Balkans

  • Maja Grujičić,
  • Miloš Ilić,
  • Budimka Novaković,
  • Aleksandra Vrkatić and
  • Zagorka Lozanov-Crvenković

The student population includes young adults who need nutrition and regular physical activity (PA) for mental, cognitive, and physical development. It is estimated that, globally, only 25–40% of the university student population is involved in...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,296 Views
19 Pages

Antimicrobial Use and Awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Livestock Sector in the Western Balkans

  • Dora Kovacs,
  • Eran Raizman,
  • Anne Deckert,
  • Natalia Ciria Artiga,
  • Marijana Bošković,
  • Ervin Bučan,
  • Jelena Vračar Filipović,
  • Olta Agolli,
  • Dragana Grbić and
  • Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo
  • + 10 authors

Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human, animal, and environmental health. To tackle AMR in the livestock sector, there is a need to understand the antimicrobial use (AMU) practices of different stakeholders i...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,356 Views
17 Pages

Taxonomic Reassessment of Freshwater Mussels from the Western Balkans Reveals an Overlooked but Critical Refugium and Defines Conservation Priorities

  • Artem A. Lyubas,
  • Alexander V. Kondakov,
  • Alena A. Tomilova,
  • Mikhail Yu. Gofarov,
  • Tatyana A. Eliseeva,
  • Ekaterina S. Konopleva,
  • Ilya V. Vikhrev,
  • Olesya A. Yunitsyna,
  • Vladimir Pešić and
  • Ivan N. Bolotov

31 October 2022

Freshwater mussels are an endangered group of animals, especially in the water bodies of Central and Western Europe. Conservation priorities were established for many endangered freshwater mussel species in the last decade. Here, we present new data...

  • Article
  • Open Access
29 Citations
6,652 Views
19 Pages

18 February 2018

The management of natural resources in economic activities has become a fundamental issue when considering the perspective of sustainable development. It is necessary to rethink every process in order to reach efficiency from different points of view...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
810 Views
22 Pages

7 November 2025

Energy efficiency presents significant potential, especially for Western Balkan (WB) countries, if effectively addressed through energy efficiency measures. The building sector, which includes residential, commercial, and public buildings, is the mos...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,464 Views
18 Pages

17 December 2025

This article explains why the European Union has not replicated Central and Eastern Europe’s (CEE) transformation in the Western Balkans (WB6). Drawing on the original External Incentives Model (EIM) conditions, the article argues that a differ...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
4,697 Views
18 Pages

Technical Efficiency of Agriculture in the European Union and Western Balkans: SFA Method

  • Danilo Đokić,
  • Tihomir Novaković,
  • Dragana Tekić,
  • Bojan Matkovski,
  • Stanislav Zekić and
  • Dragan Milić

24 November 2022

Improvements in productivity and efficiency, together with agricultural modernization, are crucial in the process of future sustainable development. As Western Balkan (WB) countries are in the process of integration into the European Union (EU), the...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
6,392 Views
32 Pages

15 January 2022

Agriculture is a complex and dynamic socio-ecological system shaped by environmental, economic, and social factors. The crop resource pool is its key component and one that best reflects environmental limitations and socio-economic concerns of the fa...

  • Review
  • Open Access
10 Citations
5,123 Views
28 Pages

Non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli (NFGNB), such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, are among the major opportunistic pathogens involved in the global antibiotic resistance epidemic. They are designated as urgent/serious threats...

  • Review
  • Open Access
16 Citations
3,148 Views
23 Pages

30 January 2022

Resolving issues posed by our paper describing the late antiquity glass from Jelica (Serbia), we performed a thorough analysis of similar glass, systematically collected from the literature. The analysis showed that Foy 3.2 type evolved gradually fro...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,478 Views
19 Pages

Clinopodium L. Taxa from the Balkans—Are There Unique Leaf Micromorphological and Phytochemical Patterns?

  • Smiljana Janković,
  • Ana Alimpić Aradski,
  • Tanja Dodoš,
  • Jelica Novaković,
  • Stefan Ivanović,
  • Ljubodrag Vujisić,
  • Petar D. Marin and
  • Nemanja Rajčević

16 January 2024

The concept of the genus Clinopodium L. has changed considerably since its first description. Most of the currently accepted species of the genus have traditionally been treated as separate genera in the group Satureja sensu lato: Clinopodium L., Cal...

  • Article
  • Open Access
818 Views
17 Pages

22 September 2025

Clinopodium is a morphologically highly diverse and taxonomically intricate genus. Molecular studies have demonstrated high divergence within the genus, and there is no consensus on the taxonomic treatment of some groups classified as Clinopodium. Th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
9,321 Views
20 Pages

Landmines and explosive remnants of war are still present in the Western Balkans and remain a deadly legacy of the hostilities at the end of the 20th century. Over the years, several incidents have occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Serbia, and i...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
4,971 Views
12 Pages

Long Time No Hear, Magnificent Wohlfahrtia! Morphological and Molecular Evidence of Almost Forgotten Flesh Fly in Serbia and Western Balkans

  • Stanislav Simin,
  • Snežana Tomanović,
  • Ratko Sukara,
  • Marijana Stefanov,
  • Milan Savović,
  • Bojan Gajić and
  • Vesna Lalošević

The “beautiful viviparous fly”, Wohlfahrtia magnifica, may have a magnificent appearance due to its striking morphology; however, it is a potentially deadly agent of obligate traumatic myiasis in humans and animals, with a serious impact...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,369 Views
20 Pages

24 September 2025

Digital transformation (DT) has become one of the most significant trends in higher education institutions (HEIs) in both EU and non-EU countries. Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to reinvent higher education is contingent upon...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
3,924 Views
18 Pages

Genome Size, Cytotype Diversity and Reproductive Mode Variation of Cotoneaster integerrimus (Rosaceae) from the Balkans

  • Faruk Bogunić,
  • Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev,
  • Irma Mahmutović-Dizdarević,
  • Alma Hajrudinović-Bogunić,
  • Mickaël Bourge,
  • Spencer C. Brown and
  • Edina Muratović

17 December 2021

Cotoneaster integerrimus represents a multiploid and facultative apomictic system of widely distributed mountain populations. We used flow cytometry to determine genome size, ploidy level, and reproduction mode variation of the Balkan populations, su...

  • Review
  • Open Access
7 Citations
3,596 Views
15 Pages

19 September 2024

In the context of global efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the importance of comprehensive AMR data is more crucial than ever. AMR surveillance networks, such as the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) an...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
5,863 Views
15 Pages

Phytochemistry, Toxicology and Therapeutic Value of Petasites hybridus Subsp. Ochroleucus (Common Butterbur) from the Balkans

  • Tatjana Mihajilov-Krstev,
  • Boris Jovanović,
  • Bojan Zlatković,
  • Jelena Matejić,
  • Jelena Vitorović,
  • Vladimir Cvetković,
  • Budimir Ilić,
  • Ljubiša Đorđević,
  • Nataša Joković and
  • Nirit Bernstein
  • + 4 authors

31 May 2020

Petasites hybridus (Common butterbur) is extensively used in traditional medicine, and is currently gaining interest and popularity as a food supplement and for its medicinal properties. It contains a large number of active compounds of potential the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
7,137 Views
24 Pages

Evaluation of Rainfall Erosivity in the Western Balkans by Mapping and Clustering ERA5 Reanalysis Data

  • Tanja Micić Ponjiger,
  • Tin Lukić,
  • Robert L. Wilby,
  • Slobodan B. Marković,
  • Aleksandar Valjarević,
  • Slavoljub Dragićević,
  • Milivoj B. Gavrilov,
  • Igor Ponjiger,
  • Uroš Durlević and
  • Cezar Morar
  • + 5 authors

3 January 2023

The Western Balkans (WB) region is highly prone to water erosion processes, and therefore, the estimation of rainfall erosivity (R-factor) is essential for understanding the complex relationships between hydro-meteorological factors and soil erosion...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,009 Views
12 Pages

11 August 2025

This paper examines the influence of institutional quality, stakeholder networks, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and policies on the adoption of circular economy practices by SMEs in twelve Central–Eastern European and Western Balkan countries. Us...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,921 Views
17 Pages

Analysis of Food Supply Chain Digitalization Opportunities in the Function of Sustainability of Food Placement in the Western Balkans Region

  • Dražen Marić,
  • Goran Vukmirović,
  • Radenko Marić,
  • Daniela Nuševa,
  • Ksenija Leković and
  • Sonja Vučenović

19 December 2023

This paper aims to analyze and define incentives for the implementation of modern technology and digitalization of the Food Supply Chain (FSC) in the function of sustainability of the food retail sector of the Western Balkans (WB) region. The survey...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
1,580 Views
7 Pages

Utilizing HSAF SE-E-SEVIRI (H10) Product to Track Seasonal and Monthly Variability in Snow Cover in Part of Southern Balkans

  • Alexandros Paraskevas,
  • Vasileios Skarmintzos,
  • Theodoros Stamatopoulos,
  • Antonios Polyzos,
  • Ioannis Matsangouras,
  • Konstantinos Kasapas and
  • Panagiotis Nastos

Understanding the extent and location of snow cover is crucial for studying climate, hydrology, and ecosystems. Remote sensing, such as EUMETSAT’s H-SAF project, enables snow-cover monitoring using SEVIRI satellite data. This study analyzes the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,940 Views
23 Pages

Competitiveness and Cereal Self-Sufficiency in Western Balkan Countries

  • Mina Kovljenić,
  • Bojan Matkovski and
  • Danilo Đokić

Crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and challenges associated with sustainable development have emphasized the need for local food to increase the food system’s resilience. Therefore, this research analyzes the food se...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,123 Views
23 Pages

Spatial Distribution of Genetic, Ploidy, and Morphological Variation of the Edaphic Steno-Endemic Alyssum moellendorfianum (Brassicaceae) from the Western Balkans

  • Jasna Hanjalić Kurtović,
  • Belma Kalamujić Stroil,
  • Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev,
  • Naris Pojskić,
  • Adaleta Durmić-Pašić,
  • Alma Hajrudinović-Bogunić,
  • Lejla Lasić,
  • Lejla Ušanović and
  • Faruk Bogunić

7 January 2025

Polyploidy is a powerful mechanism driving genetic, physiological, and phenotypic changes among cytotypes of the same species across both large and small geographic scales. These changes can significantly shape population structure and increase the e...

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
6,485 Views
22 Pages

This study introduces a comparative framework to understand patriarchal genealogies and technologies, with reference to an anthropological commentary concerning the broader forms of coloniality of power between dominant male and dominated female bodi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
5,086 Views
13 Pages

The Impact of ESG Risks on the Economic Growth in the Western Balkan Countries

  • Evica Delova-Jolevska,
  • Andrej Ilievski,
  • Ljube Jolevski,
  • Ágnes Csiszárik-Kocsir and
  • János Varga

29 September 2024

The economy is significantly impacted by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. The growth of the economy can be sped up by the effective management of ESG risks through sustainable business practices. To promote sustainable development a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,333 Views
27 Pages

7 July 2024

Data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is frequently used in efficiency analysis, has also been applied to the measurement of entrepreneurial efficiency for the attainment of desired values of macroeconomic indicators (such as the objectives of susta...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,258 Views
16 Pages

Cigarette Smoking among Medical Students from the Western Balkan

  • Miloš Ilić,
  • Maja Grujičić,
  • Budimka Novaković,
  • Aleksandra Vrkatić and
  • Zagorka Lozanov-Crvenković

University student’s smoking is a significant public health problem. It is estimated that, globally, every fifth medical student is a smoker. So far, no research dealing with cigarette smoking among medical students has been conducted in the co...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
3,869 Views
26 Pages

Phytogeographic Characteristics of Montane Coniferous Forests of the Central Balkan Peninsula (SE Europe)

  • Tijana Ilić,
  • Nevena Kuzmanović,
  • Snežana Vukojičić and
  • Dmitar Lakušić

22 November 2022

We investigated taxonomic and endemic richness, patterns of spatial distribution, cenotic and spatial diversification, and chorological and life form spectra of montane coniferous forests in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. We collected info...

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