Sandžak’s inside and outside borders

After Montenegro''s detachment from the federation with Serbia, the process of political separation of Novi Pazar Sandzak''s territory came to a completion. Its territory includes one of the poorest areas in the Balkans, with the annual income per capita among the lowest of Europe. Despite the fact that the region''s population is mainly made up of South Slavs, it is losing its own identity of a culturally homogenous area. In fact, the Muslims of Montenegrin part preferred to support the project of their Republic''s independence rather than maintain the political unity with Muslims from the Serbian part of Sandzak. As a consequence of such a choice, there appeared the loosening of bonds (even cultural ones) between Muslims divided in two sovereign states. After September 11th, a fear arose in the Western society: the Balkan regions inhabited by Muslims could become a sort of "green corridor" where the Islamic terrorists could easily hide during their war against the European West. Of this "green corridor", historical Sandzak region is the territorial barycentre.