Nowotny: Do not renounce preparations for EU membership

VIENNA - It is almost certain that the EU will not admit any new member in the next five years, but this does not mean that Western Balkan countries should renounce their EU perspectives and reforms, officials stated at the conference in the Oesterreichische Nationalbank organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Do not give up on preparations, Oesterreichische Nationalbank Governor Ewald Nowotny said during a conference entitled 'Western Balkans - 15 years of economic transition: challenges and solutions' on Tuesday, which was attended by Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic and Governor of the National Bank of Serbia Jorgovanka Tabakovic. Nowotny said that the candidate countries did not launch structural reforms because of the EU but because of themselves.

It is more difficult for small countries to attract investments because their markets are smaller, which is why they need to strengthen their regional ties, Nowotny said and underscored that Western Balkan countries have to work on changing the brain drain trend.

Austria is deriving benefits from brain drain from the region, but this is not good for the Western Balkans, he said.

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