The economic development of the Western Balkans: The importance of non-EU actors

This chapter seeks to evaluate the role and the relative importance of non-EU countries for the Western Balkan economies and their future economic development,including China, Russia, Turkey and the USA. The role of non-EU countries in the Western Balkan region has been considered in the two most important areas of economic cooperation, namely foreign trade and FDI. Ssome main conclusions are drawn regarding existing economic linkages between the Western Balkans and non-EU actors, in order to assess the extent to which these external actors are likely to influence future developments in the Western Balkan states. The analysis confirms that presently, the European Union remains by far the most important economic partner of all the Western Balkan countries,