“Populism is on the rise across the Balkans,” you conclude your article about angry demonstrations in Croatia and Serbia (“Protest Days,” April 23, 2011). And so is the decline of governments involved. Although there are important differences between the countries in the region, the underlying cause is the same: the incompetence of the European Union. Incompetent and corrupt, all the Balkan governments can offer to their bewildered citizens is the accession to the Union, but the Union seems to be ever farther from their reach. Embroiled in bureaucratic technicalities that boggle everyone’s mind, the citizens of Balkan countries cannot see the light at the end of the accession tunnel. It is easy to blame them for so many things that have happened since the breakdown of Yugoslavia, but it is silly to expect them to solve sundry regional problems all by themselves. After all, many of them are not of their own making. Before the Union steps in with the old carrot and stick, populism will remain on the rise across the Balkans. And it may easily turn into something much less pleasing to the eye.