The politics of self-identity in the Balkans. The role of church-state relations in forming a new com-union

This paper aims at identifying the main talking points of the Balkans collective identity assuming the hypothesis that recognizes its character of a unique phenomenon. The orientation of the paper towards a broader context of scientific analysis allows the possibility of the avoidance of a political, historical, legal, and not least, religious determinism focused on the year 1989: the moment of the collapse of the “communist bloc”. The working hypothesis starts from the observation attributing to the changes of the social practices. In this situation, the paper allows a detailed exposition of the theoretical and practical elements of the evolution and role of Church-State relations in forming a collective identity in the Balkans. As to the structural dimension of the political myth-making the analysis converges towards the acceptance of the following components: social practices and relations, national self-conscience and minority condition, religious freedom and migration experience.