The dogs in Romania are a little aggressive too. But mostly the ones you see in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia are total lazy asses and they just bark a lot. I'm glad to read warnings like this of things to be aware of.

I'm pretty sure the reason the dogs are aggro is they are more hungry. I would guess that a little food would probably go a long way to pacify them if you had to deal with them regularly, and make friends etc... just whatever it takes to make them back off if you can't walk around outside of their range.

The roaming dogs provide a little security in poor communities, since whenever there is something exciting going on, the dogs tend to want to be there.