Vienna Institute

The population of Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Ukraine is declining. In some of these countries - at a drastic pace. And alongside this, the problem of labor shortages is also becoming more and more dramatic.

This is according to a report by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw).

According to the report, the reasons for this are the underutilized labor force and improved infrastructure, the Bosnia-Herzegovina based website Indikator is reporting.

BELGRADE - Better regional economic ties and accelerated progress would boost the Western Balkans' prospects of joining the EU, in particular if this would imply resolution of frozen conflicts, says Vladimir Gligorov of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.

Germany on Wednesday lifted the last remaining working restrictions on Croatian nationals, thereby enabling them to work without hindrance in the country.

The opening of Serbia's membership negotiations with the EU, the importance of regional cooperation and the need to make economic adjustments on the path to the EU dominated discussion at the 15th Economic Summit in Belgrade on June 8.

Fiscal adjustment in Serbia and the Balkan countries will take between five and 10 years to complete, says economist Vladimir Gligorov.

This professor at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies added this was the reason these countries cannot expect high rates of economic growth, which will move in the range between two and 2.5 percent over the next ten years.

"China interested in region as transit toward EU"

BELGRADE -- Former Yugoslav countries can expect significant Chinese investments in infrastructure, as the path leading China to the EU market, says Vladimir Gligorov.

KOPAONIK - Scientific Director of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies Michael Landesmann noted on Tuesday that the issue Serbia should focus on in the coming period is its vast foreign debt.