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The number of infections is skyrocketing in Europe. Many national economies are already suffering greatly from the consequences of the corona pandemic. The same is true in southeastern Europe.
By Andrea Beer, ARD Studio Vienna
Jovance enters the price of a few drinks at the checkout of his small shop in Zilce, a town in North Macedonia about 20 kilometers west of Skopje.
“I have between 20 and 30 percent less turnover. People do not have more money. Many sew or tailor here in the area. They depend on the textile factories here, which barely have orders due to the closure of borders,” he said. the employer complains.
The economic lag as an advantage in a crisis
The crown crisis is creating immense problems in all Southeastern European countries, says Mario Holzner, managing director of the Institute for International Economic Studies in Vienna. He explains that for some countries in this part of the continent, it could even be an advantage that they are economically lagging to some extent.
Because these states have a pronounced agricultural sector and are not so dependent on tourism and international trade. They would have “a certain advantage in this pandemic that there can’t be that much decline from a low level,” Holzner explains.
This applies, for example, to Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and, in part, also to Albania, but it also lives off tourism. And there are great difficulties in this sector, as in Montenegro and Croatia. Because before the pandemic, a quarter of the economic production there was directly or indirectly supported by tourism.
Another important factor is trade, explains Holzner: “Albania is much less dependent than Montenegro and Montenegro, in turn, much less than Croatia / 2022 will lead.”
Fear of the collapse of the health system
Furthermore, the crisis has once again shown many the lack of development in their countries, for example in sick and often corrupt healthcare. Holzner attributes the most recent anti-government protests in Serbia and Bulgaria, among other things: “The countries of Southeastern Europe were the ones that initiated the most massive and energetic measures at the beginning of the pandemic, at least in Europe”, for fear of the system of extremely weak health. have no other choice.
Exit restrictions and other measures were quickly relaxed, for example for elections, as in Serbia: a country that, like the six Western Balkan countries that want the EU, has to cope with the emigration of many of its residents. This is a process that the crisis in the crown is accelerating.
Many also want to leave North Macedonia. “Who doesn’t want that when wages are good and the country’s system is good?” Reports a police officer from Radusa. He has three children and earns the equivalent of 400 euros a month.
Emigration also weakens societies
In the medium and long term, the emigration of the majority of young people from the Balkan countries is the biggest problem; This is how economic expert Holzner assesses the situation. Because without them, societies age faster, which makes catching up even more difficult.
Yet the millions of children remained enormously important as pillars of society, even as migrants: they transfer billions of euros and dollars to their former homeland and thus replace missing or too low unemployment or welfare. .
The Skopje government has decided on a crown aid for the economy, but the merchant Jovance is still not satisfied: “There is poverty. Many businesses have been closed because of Corona, many have stayed at home without receiving a salary,” he He says.
The crisis of the Crown has also made the weakness of the systems in the countries of Southeast Europe more visible. Therefore, Mario Holzner does not consider new protests out of the question and predicts: “This is likely to become more and more a problem for political elites.”
