Balkans scorecard: Assessing the region's key pointers

"If we compare the current state of affairs in the Western Balkans with the conflicted reality of twenty years past, the region's progress has been frankly miraculous," stated Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, at Friends of Europe's annual Balkans European Policy Summit.

However, the region is not without its problems. Judiciary reform processes and political institutions remain to be strengthened, while organised crime and corruption need to be further combated. Freedom of expression and freedom of the media are still lacking and, though the regions’ economies are weathering the crisis quite well, much remains to be done to foster long-term economic growth.

“The most positive sign coming out of the Western Balkans is that the countries wish to become members of the EU,” co-moderator Tim Judah, Western Balkans Correspondent for The Economist, added. Through the stabilisation and association process, the region has reached the point where membership in the EU is a realistic objective.

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