BY BLERIM ABEDINI- We are currently experiencing political and economic crises that are impacting daily life. Price increases have led to a rise in personal income. In developed economies, this inflation is more easily absorbed, while in developing countries—a characteristic of capitalist economic systems—a gap between rich and poor is widening. Although prices in the Balkans are lower than in Europe, consumers are still spending more on food. This illustrates that families in the Balkans lack the purchasing power to buy other goods, such as cars, household appliances, and everyday items. The import of used cars is a widespread problem. Cars with a lifespan of 20 years are still a common sight on the roads, some of which pollute the environment. This pollution is not on the government’s or the Ministry of the Environment’s agenda. The heavy traffic in Skopje, dominated by polluting vehicles, continues to be tolerated by the government in North Macedonia’s city centers. The Western Balkans suffered a fiasco following the destruction of the tightly integrated business chains that were once based there. The growth of private companies is sluggish due to the fragile security situation in the Western Balkans. Consequently, commodity trading at the Balkan level remains difficult, reflecting the strained relations between Balkan states such as Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Croatia. Entry for members of the North Macedonian diaspora continues to be hampered by customs controls, for example, in Serbia. Although Macedonia and Kosovo have established a joint border crossing, this is not the case for other Balkan states due to frozen bilateral relations. The debt borrowed from Hungary and the United Kingdom is intended to cover the needs of local self-governing bodies, rehabilitate public infrastructure, and strengthen the state administration against negative social developments such as corruption in the judiciary, corruption in the electric supply, unemployment, tax evasion, and the dismissal of corrupt officials. The Macedonian government’s borrowing of US$7 billion, therefore, requires administrative discipline to put the country back on a progress path. This includes the construction and renovation of schools, railway and road bridges, the reconstruction of hospitals from the time of the former Yugoslavia, a sewage system for rural communities, and other investments that integrate public services with those of developed Western countries. (@ISSDMacedonia)
2026-01-29