Laza Kekić, an economic analyst at the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, discusses interesting connections between the historical and cultural heritage of the Balkan countries and their economic milestones, giving forecasts for the year we have just entered at The Economist’s conference The World in 2016, which was held in Belgrade in mid-December
It is hardly surprising that the countries of the Balkans have rather poor economic characteristics and are constantly connected to corruption, a poor work ethic and other such things. However, this does not apply only to the countries outside of the European Union: even the three Balkan countries that have gained EU-membership, i.e. Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, do not have excellent economic performances. In contrast, the former socialist countries of Central Europe and the Baltics, with the minor exceptions of Hungary and Slovenia, are more successful.
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