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The European Union is one of the biggest financial supporters of the Western Balkans, but data analyzed for the years 2007 and 2020 by the Vienna International Institute for Economic Studies show that Albania had the lowest benefits.
The EU has been active in the region with budget support, which includes direct financial transfers to public bodies and private companies of partner countries, which in return are required to carry out sustainable development reforms.
The total budget support consumed by the Western Balkans and Turkey and Eastern Partnership countries from the EU amounted to 2.4 billion euros in 2020.
The breakdown of commitments by country shows that Turkey remains the largest recipient of EU budget support in terms of volume (42% of total support allocated to the region in 2020), followed by Serbia (16%).
The lowest levels of budget support were allocated to Albania and Kosovo (respectively 2.3% and 2.5%), the study states.
In 2007, Albania received about 6% of the budget support, surpassing Montenegro and North Macedonia.
In both periods considered, Serbia is the country in the region that managed to attract more funds.
Recently, the European Commission confirmed that it has temporarily suspended reimbursements to the Albanian authorities for the expenses incurred within the IPARD II program, a program for agriculture, which was expected to increase aid to the amount of 146 million euros.
Russia's attacks reoriented EU support
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has had a profound effect on the EU's financial relationship with the region, especially with its Eastern neighbours. In addition to granting EU candidate status to Ukraine (and Moldova), the EU has significantly increased its budget support for Ukraine.
As of March 2023, the EU, its member states and European financial institutions have collectively mobilized €35.9 billion in budget aid to Ukraine since the start of the war.
This amount is ten times greater than the total amount of budget support allocated to the country during the previous ten years. By contrast, Belarus has become more isolated from the EU due to economic sanctions imposed on it for its support of Russia's military aggression in Ukraine.
In addition, the war has interrupted the recovery after COVID-19, especially FDI inflows in many countries of the Region. Vienna experts analyze that some countries seem to have been able to benefit from the acceleration of the EU's green transition and the relocation of European companies away from the war zone.
China's ambitions in the region have also strengthened, as evidenced by the high value of its "Greenfield" investment projects.
Russia, on the contrary, has withdrawn its financial presence from the region, as it has to deal with its own economic problems, caused by the unprecedented level of economic sanctions imposed by the West./ Monitor
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