“With its reputation inside the eurozone in shreds,” you write, “one might expect Greece to seek some friends closer to home” (”Georgios No-Mates,” October 8, 2011). As you argue, Bulgaria qualifies as a friend of sorts. Albania is no friend at all, and Macedonia and Turkey are outright enemies. In defense of Greece, though, this is so across the Balkans. And this is hardly surprising given the many wars of the Twentieth Century, including several recent ones following the breakup of Yugoslavia, which used to tie together a good part of the peninsula. Which is why the European Union remains the greatest hope of the region. Although it cannot boast of much in terms of European integration, for many of its programs initiated to this end are also in shreds, at least it makes war an increasingly unlikely method of conflict resolution within the sub-continent. The only worry in the case of the Balkans is that the Union will not reach it in time to prevent yet another war or maybe two. Alas, it is abysmally slow in everything it does!