Introduction

The fall of communism and the subsequent developments have put a renewed spotlight on the potential of the Balkan economies. Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are countries that have attracted rather low levels of investment, with poor political leadership in the majority of these countries delaying the much needed and anticipated reforms. However, there are now signs of improvement and this timely book aims to fill a significant gap in the literature. This book demonstrates and supports the idea that these countries must engage as fully as possible with the world economy via EU accession and explores the implications of the specific characteristics of these countries which have made the transition process more difficult.