In 2006, the Stara Planina Euroregion was established to foster trans-boundary cooperation between border municipalities in Serbia and Bulgaria, and assist governments with planning, and implementing cooperation and regional development policies.

Fighting may have ended but migration continues. Despite increasingly strict EU policies on immigration, the “western dream” still exerts a powerful force of attraction on the people of the Balkans. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of migrants being forcibly repatriated, under readmission agreements signed by all the west Balkan countries with the EU.

Shelves in western Europe are increasingly laden with 'organic' products and growing numbers of consumers are giving preference to quality food rather than standardized imported tomatoes and frozen chicken.

Between 1944 and 1991, the mining, processing, and downstream exploitation of base metals established the Balkans as a major European source of copper, lead, zinc and a global producer of chromite. Mining was one of the flagship industrial sectors, influencing the area more largely than in simply economic terms.

Southeast Europe boasts a wide variety of landscapes, ecosystems and endemic species. What is unusual is that such valuable areas, which fully deserve protection, should often be located in two or more jurisdictions, as is the case here.

The wars in former Yugoslavia sped up the process of ethnic homogenization in the west Balkans since modern states started to take form in the 19th century. In Croatia, for instance, the proportion of Serbs in the overall population has dropped from 12 per cent to just 4 per cent in 10 years.

Further development of hydroelectric power will depend on several factors, perhaps the most important being market deregulation. Specific measures are needed to encourage hydroelectric power. One specific measure would be to support new investment in production facilities, this being the best way of meeting environmental challenges and improving the stability of supply.

Southeast Europe boasts a wide variety of landscapes, ecosystems and endemic species. What is unusual is that such valuable areas, which fully deserve protection, should often be located in two or more jurisdictions, as is the case here.

A number of oil pipelines are currently under study or construction in the Balkans: the US registered Albanian-Macedonian-Bulgarian Oil Corporation (AMBO) project will carry oil from the Caspian to the Mediterranean, via Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania; the Adria Group project will channel Russian oil to the Omisalj terminal on the Croatian coast.

All the states that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia are still fragile, except Slovenia, which joined the EU in 2004, and Croatia, which is well on the way towards European integration. Since the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995), Bosnia and Herzegovina has constituted a state, but split into two entities: the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, itself divided into 10 cantons.

Hydroelectric power covers a significant share of electricity consumption in the region (43 percent in 2004). Hydroelectric power dropped noticeably due to lower rainfall in 2002 and 2003, but the increase in overall electricity consumption nevertheless seems likely to continue driving demand upwards.