What do all the peoples of the Balkans have in common, with a particular focus on Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro?

Is there something that younger people largely agree on?

Some idea or common ground that brings everyone together and connects them?

Over the past months I’ve been working on a small social app focused on people with disabilities across the Balkans.

The idea came from noticing how mainstream social platforms often don’t give much thought to accessibility or to how people with disabilities want to present themselves and connect with others.

I ended up building Lidhje Social, an app focused on relationships, friendship, and community, with accessibility and privacy considered from the beginning rather than added later.

It has been an interesting project to build, especially trying to design something that can work across different Balkan countries, languages, and communities.

I mainly wanted to share the project and the idea behind it here since it was built specifically with the Balkan region in mind.

1. The Origins of Samuel and the Question of Ethnicity
   It is true that Samuel was not an ethnic Bulgarian in any modern sense.
   The Proto-Bulgarians (a Turkic/Asian tribe that arrived in the Balkans in the 7th century under Asparuh) had, over the course of centuries, assimilated into the Slavic population. By the 10th century—the era of Samuel—this original Asian tribe had long since lost its distinct ethnic and linguistic identity.
   Samuel and his family (the Komitopuli—sons of the *komes* Nikola) originated from the local population of the western Macedonian lands. They launched an uprising specifically against the authority from the east and established their own independent state, centered in Prespa and Ohrid.
   
2. Why Does This Name Appear in Certain Sources?
   The reason this name is mentioned in historical texts is not related to Samuel’s ethnic origins, but rather to medieval political diplomacy:
   In the Middle Ages, for a ruler to be recognized as "Tsar" (Emperor) by Rome or Constantinople, he had to adopt an existing title and crown.
   Following the collapse of the eastern empire, Samuel adopted the existing imperial crown to gain international legitimacy; meanwhile, Byzantine chroniclers—out of habit—referred to the entire territory of the state by that administrative name. Just as the Ottoman Empire referred to itself as "Rum" (Rome) because it ruled over former Roman territories—even though the Turks and the Ottomans had no connection whatsoever to the ancient Romans.
   
3. The Essence of Samuil’s Empire
   Samuil’s Empire was an authentic Balkan/Macedonian empire:
   Core territory: Prespa, Ohrid, Bitola, and Prilep.
   Spiritual center: The establishment of the autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid, which served as the foundation for ecclesiastical and cultural life in Macedonia for the centuries that followed.
   Army and people: The army and the people who, under Samuil’s leadership, fought against Byzantium for decades, were the inhabitants of this region.
   The conclusion is that Tsar Samuil was a ruler who emerged from this region, governed from Ohrid and Prespa, and whose historical and spiritual legacy is directly linked to the Macedonian land.