Business and Finance: In the Western Balkan countries, politicians never get better, citizens never get worse

Contrary to politicians who claim that, since they have been in power, citizens in their country have never lived better, residents of the Western Balkans assess the economic situation as extremely unstable and fear that it will get even worse, writes the monthly magazine Biznis i finansije.

Serbia recorded the highest growth in dissatisfaction in 2025 and the most radical change in mood in just one year compared to all other countries in the region.

Among the population of the Western Balkans, Serbian citizens trust state institutions the least, are the most negative in their assessments that the welfare of society is subordinated to foreign interests, and are the most afraid of civil war, according to the "SecuriMeter 2025" survey by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).

Balkans see the greatest support in family and friends, and the least trust in politicians. While five years ago a third of the population of the Western Balkans considered the situation in their country to be relatively satisfactory, now less than a quarter do so.

Dissatisfaction with the economic and social situation is most pronounced, as the research has shown, in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

RCC conducted research in Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo, with the aim of determining how stable citizens assess their countries based on several key and interrelated factors: whether economic progress is felt, what is the level of trust in institutions, how widespread is corruption, what is personal security, how capable is society of resisting negative external influences and avoiding internal conflicts.

Respondents across the region are most concerned about the huge increase in the cost of living and rising inflation. They are dissatisfied with the level of salaries and pensions, believe that the tax burden in their countries is too high, and increasingly fear losing their jobs due to frequent company closures and reduced chances of finding a new job.

It is noticeable that assessments of the prospects for the domestic economy have deteriorated significantly over the past five years. Currently, over 45 percent of the region's residents believe that "things are going in a bad direction," less than a quarter believe that the domestic economy will grow, while the rest are undecided.

Albania and North Macedonia stand out somewhat from the overall results, where optimism increased slightly in 2025 compared to previous years.

A completely opposite trend is being observed in Montenegro. After the political change in the 2021 parliamentary elections, 62 percent of Montenegrin citizens believed that the domestic economy had good prospects for development, while in 2025 only 27 percent of respondents were fully or partially convinced of this.

Pessimism is most pronounced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where almost 60 percent of residents do not believe in the stabilization of economic conditions, a sentiment that has been present continuously for the past five years. Public perception in Serbia of the state of the domestic economy has been deteriorating significantly since 2023, with more than 52 percent of respondents last year assessing the situation as extremely bad.

In Kosovo, it is indicative that, compared to 2021, economic optimism more than tripled in 2022, when 48 percent of citizens believed in economic improvement, but last year only 29 percent of respondents held such an opinion.

The 2025 results show that the inhabitants of the Western Balkans are not particularly convinced by the claims of their politicians that their country is successfully coping with global shocks. On the contrary, they fear most that the domestic economy will be collateral damage in the current political and economic conflicts in the world.

In second place is the fear that political disagreements in the region itself could escalate into new wars, while fears of terrorist attacks and possible clashes within the country are somewhat less present.

Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are most concerned about new war conflicts in the Balkans, with 55 percent of respondents saying they are very concerned. Respondents in Kosovo (24 percent) and Albania (41 percent) are least concerned about a possible war in the region, while in other countries the percentage of those concerned ranges from 45 to 50 percent.

Despite the great political and economic discontent, the population in most Western Balkan countries does not think it will lead to civil war. The exceptions are Bosnia and Herzegovina, where 57 percent of respondents fear this, and Serbia, where over 60 percent of respondents expressed such fears.

However, there is a significant difference between the two countries. High concerns about the outbreak of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been present continuously for the past five years. On the other hand, Serbia is the only one in the region where this issue has seen a major turnaround in just one year – the fear of civil war has increased enormously during 2025, the authors of the study point out.

Around two-fifths of respondents across the region believe that the quality and performance of public institutions have remained about the same over the past five years, a third believe that they have deteriorated, and one-fifth conclude that their performance has improved. Serbia leads the way with the most negative view of institutional performance, with over 48 percent of respondents believing that the performance of institutions has deteriorated.

When asked whether public institutions treat all people equally, regardless of social status, political views or ethnicity, almost half of respondents in the Western Balkan countries gave a negative answer, while less than a quarter answered positively.

Only in Kosovo do slightly more respondents believe that institutions have improved and treat all citizens equally than those who conclude the opposite. However, researchers note that the positive attitude is predominantly expressed by Albanians, not the Serb population.

In addition, only two percent of respondents "completely agree" with the qualification of equal treatment of all citizens, which signals that even those who generally agree are not sure that this is actually true, the survey states.

Results from 2025 show that 60 percent of the population of the Western Balkans does not trust their governments, only a quarter trusts parliament, a third has confidence in civil services, and political parties rank worst, trusted by only 18 percent of citizens in the entire region.

Distrust in state institutions and political parties is most pronounced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by Serbia, which again recorded the largest decline in trust in the region over the past year.

Corruption remains a “cancer” in the Western Balkans. More than four-fifths of respondents across the region believe that corruption is widespread in their country, and almost half believe that it has increased further in the last three years.

According to the personal experience of the respondents, corruption is most present in healthcare, education, the judiciary, and public administration.

Serbia once again stands out in terms of erosion of social values ​​in the region, where public perception of these problems has deteriorated significantly in the past year. Serbian citizens point to the enormous growth of corruption and the influence of organized crime in society as the greatest threats, along with the decline of democratic and human rights.

Researchers also state that Serbian residents are the most negative in their assessments that the welfare of society is subordinated to foreign interests, writes Biznis i finansije.