I know the Balkan states are listed as part of Europe but I'm going to write about the several of them I've visited/lived in which are non-EU, so I thought a thread unto themselves would work better.

Raki is the national drink of every Balkan state. It is a brandy. Each country claims it as being its own. Some are very cheap others pricey depending on which fruit it is made from. None of them are sipable-meaning smooth. In world history, it's only the last couple of hundred years that the majority of humans stopped living in tribes. Many countries have been formed when a top dog united the tribes to become a nation. The first russian Tsar, Genghis Kahn, the first English king, etc.. 

The history of the Balkans is a very complicated history of tribes going back to and including ancient Greece and Rome. Today in the Balkans, old animosities are still spoken about, influence politics, continue prejudices and negatively influence and complicate the futures of the people who live here. And when I say old-people have told me about events they can't forgive that I had to look up in history books being hundreds of years old. The single individual, yet universal feeling in the Balkans is: Each country's people hates/distrusts their government. 

The non EU Balkans are mountainous and full of natural beauty. There are parts between Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia that are considered the "Alps of the Balkans". The reals Alps are much more breath taking but if you like nature the Balkans has a lot to offer.

Once you cross out of the EU into the Balkans the price of almost everything drops drastically. That is a great reason to travel here and to advise travel clients to look into the Balkans for vacation travel.