The story of these communities goes back a long way, beginning in ancient Greece, followed by 5 centuries under the Roman Empire, then continuing for 1,000 years during Byzantium. Then came nearly 600 years of Ottoman rule and, more recently, the communist take-over of these countries, which resulted in an expulsion of all non-communist Greeks.
After an interlude of some 50 years, the historic forces are back at work. More than 5,000 Greek companies now operate in the neighbouring Balkan countries and are among the main foreign investors in Bulgaria, Fyrom, Romania, Albania and, more recently, Serbia.