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After many and lengthy discussions with participants, jury members and other interested stakeholders in the BCC, we want to emphasize that we are very well aware of the fact that the notion “Balkan” stands for a geographical area that is not clearly defined. Wikepedia states that the countries of the Balkans combine “different countries whose common denominator is the fact that their territories of today were for centuries in the centre of a conflict within the powers of Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire” and adds further “that a more neutral terminology would be South-Eastern Europe”.
We agree with all our discussion partners, that neither within historical, nor geographical, political or cultural borders an “area” grown and developed as complex as the Balkans can and should be described in simple terms. All of the arguments pro and contra the terminology encompass different visions, political perspectives, emotional connotations and ideas which in itself all have their rightful legitimacy. All of this, of course, given in the context of the historical and political developments in the region in the course of the last years!
However, during the BCC it is our aim to promote for the many positive connotations the terminology encompasses and to search along these lines for the all-inclusive element students from different backgrounds find in the competition. When we started out with the first BCC in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2000, the “B” stood for “Bosnia-Herzegovina”, as it was strictly limited to participants from Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the consecutive years, the terminus technicus “BCC” developed its own brand identity and the BCC itself included participants from more and more countries/regions every year.
When we think about the term “Balkan” in the context of the BCC we want to attribute to it a fresh, progressive and forward looking meaning. We aim to focus on the goals of the BCC, the richness in different cultural backgrounds, the team-oriented cooperation among all different ethnicities and the academic accomplishments that form therein a most important triangle of powers.
As we all know, the borders of the “Balkan” vary heedlessly in all its beginnings and ends. Austrians often like to quote the higher statesman and diplomat of the 19th century, Count Metternich, who defined a specific street in a Viennese district as the starting point of the Balkan. This is a signal according to which also Austria still values common historical roots with the philosophical and cultural richness of the Balkans. We are therefore happy to add to this statement main “ingredients” of the BCC: The future oriented excellence of young minds, the importance of team-work and results orientated outputs of the BCC, all of which are factors which aim towards higher employability and a better future in all participating countries of the BCC.
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