See news

Britain's decision to leave the European Union has unleashed volatility on the global markets, and SEE is no exception. The full impacts of the vote are still impossible to predict but for once analysts seem unanimous that the balance would be negative for most of us. However, whereas EU members in the region are mostly concerned about the economic repercussions of a potential Brexit, for candidates to join the bloc the biggest fears are that it may thwart their accession plans.

The EU’s slow and disjointed response to the massive flow of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and North Africa left Southeast Europe in an unprecedented emergency. In March Slovenia sealed its borders to migrants, triggering a domino effect further south along the so called Balkan migrant route with Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia following suit. The move led to tension on the Greek-Macedonian border where thousands remained trapped, and put Bulgaria under increased pressure from illegal migrants.

An emergency government decree that eases penalties for corruption offences has triggered the biggest street protests in Romania since the fall of Communism. Protesters see the decree as an attempt to weaken the fight against corruption and help politicians avoid criminal prosecution on graft charges. The decree prompted harsh reaction on the part of the European Commission, the embassies of Western countries in Bucharest and business organisations, including AmCham in Romania. President Klaus Iohannis has said he will challenge it at the Constitutional Court.

Telekom Slovenie Sale

Rumen Radev, a former Air Force commander backed by the opposition Socialist party, won Bulgaria's presidential elections on November 13, defeating the candidate of the ruling centre-right party GERB, parliament speaker Tsetska Tsacheva. The election outcome prompted prime minister Boyko Borissov to submit the resignation of his minority coalition cabinet.

The banking systems of the countries in Southeast Europe are largely seen as stable and economic recovery is expected to further support lending, in particular in countries which have been lagging behind so far. NPL ratios, which are currently high in some countries, are expected to decline. In Bulgaria, the forthcoming asset quality review of the banking system is likely to lead to the sale of bad loan portfolios and speed up the process of market consolidation.

Serbia's president Tomislav Nikolic dissolved parliament in April and called early elections at the proposal of prime minister Aleksandar Vucic, who was seeking broader public support to push through overdue reforms. Vucic, however, will control 27 seats less in the new parliament, final official results showed. The SNS-led coalition won 48.25% of the votes.

Moldova will hold its first direct presidential elections in 16 years, as in March, its Constitutional Court ruled that the president will be elected by popular vote. So far, Moldova's president was elected for a four-year term by a majority of 60% of the MPs in the 101-seat parliament. The expected fight between socialist leader Igor Dodon and pro-European candidate Maia Sandu in round two of elections once again shows Moldova at its eternal crossroad between Europe integration and the more familiar Russian alternative.

The eletricity market of Southeast Europe is heating up after earlier in 2016 day-ahead power exchanges were launched in Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, opening up new opportunities for energy producers, consumers and traders. As a step towards achieving market coupling, in April the power transmission system operators, regulators and energy ministers of six countries in the Western Balkans signed a memorandum of understanding on the integration of their day-ahead markets.