Carolyn,

   I thought the same thing when I went there in 2005.

   There are several reasons the former Yugoslavia republics are not in the EU. The first is politics. Serbia, until recently, was involved in a serious international conflict in Kosovo. The EU and UN had to stay and occupy Kosovo because of threats of violence. Second, Serbia still is harboring war criminals wanted by The Hague. The EU will not let Serbia even entertain membership talks until ALL of their war criminals are turned over. As of now, two big ones still remain: Radko Mladic and Goran Hadzic.

   Second, Bosnia i Herzegovina is a non-functioning state. It has no constitution. It is bound together only by an international treaty -- the Dayton Accords. Legally, it is run by the High Representative, which is made up of internationals. It's actually two states within one border. It's very complicated and very divided. The EU is pouring tons of money into reconstruction and development there. BiH is a long ways from entering the EU.

   Third, Croatia is nearly in. They were supposed to enter this coming year, but since the Irish didn't ratify the Lisbon Treaty (kind of like an EU constitution), Croatia can't legally enter now. The only thing holding back Croatia in the past was a bad record of corruption (which still exists today).

   Bulgaria and Romania were lucky to be admitted. Both of them didn't meet all the benchmarks. The Former Yugoslavia was wealthier than Bulgaria during communism. They had the freedom to work abroad and more contact with the West. The wars in the 1990s are what set them back.

   All of these countries need the EU so that they can enter the European markets and so citizens can travel more freely and work abroad. Right now it's very difficult for Serbs and Bosnians to obtain visas in many countries because of their "status".

   Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and especially Croatia, are beautiful places. I want to explore them more. But they have some serious internal problems that must be fixed before they meet the EU's standards.

   Glad you got to see more of the Balkans! It's such an interesting and diverse region!