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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Serbia: Long way to EU membership
Political issuesUnlike most East European countries that went relatively easy from communism to EU membership Serbia has to solve first one additional fundamental question about its territorial borders. The question is whether it will continue its path together with Montenegro or they will represent as early as 2006 two different political entities. Practically the answer should be given by the next year when each of these two republics can hold a referendum on their state independence. To increase the Montenegro's incentives to stay within the federation, the European Union has recently decided to open talks with them as a federation for signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement.There are still many concerns in Brussels about the strength of the nationalist forces in the Serbian political life. The local nationalistic Radical Party continues to enjoy the highest degree of approval among the Serbian citizens according to the polls. Actually it has the single largest group in the parliament where the pro-western forces together are still managing to keep their fragile majority. The coalition government seems so far good enough in preventing the radicals from gaining the power, but not good enough at managing the problems of the country. Although the internal political situation in Serbia seems calm right now, any sudden development inside or immediately outside the country may trigger shifts with unpredictable and bloody consequences.
Ethnic issuesIntegral part of the political development in Serbia and Montenegro is the issue of the final status of the Serbian province of Kosovo. The situation hasn't changed significantly since the NATO troops entered the province some 6 years ago. Kosovo is still legally a part of Serbia but in fact it's governed as a separate political unity by the local Albanian majority and the international community that has some 17,000 foreign troops under its command. Neither Belgrade nor the Albanians seem ready to make a compromise over the final status of the area. The European Union has now less leverage over the both parties than it had some months ago. The failure of the European constitution and putting unofficially in the fridge the plans of more EU enlargements after 2007-2008* will make Serbs and Albanians even less cooperative with Brussels.By not solving the Kosovo problem some 225,000 internally displaced persons from ethnic Serb and Roma origin that fled the province in 1999 will continue their involuntary stay in Serbia proper. They are part of a larger group of some half a million persons, predominantly ethnic Serbs that fled other former Yugoslav republics after the break of the old federation. Not solving their problems will keep inflamed the Serbian nationalism and won't be helpful for the peace and stability on the Balkans.
Economic issuesSerbia is still struggling to revive its economy that was badly hurt by both the Milosevic mismanagement of 1990s and by the economic embargo imposed in the past by the western richest countries. Once among the best performing economies in Eastern Europe, Serbia is now still dependant on the IMF financial help. Recently the International Commission on the Balkans, led by the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato concluded that not only Serbia but also the whole Western Balkan region is as close to failure as it is to success. It stated that the economic growth in these territories was low or non-existent, and that the unemployment was above any level of tolerance. The economic assets were still a matter of "first come first grabbed" principle. In Serbia itself it's almost an official position that unfortunately the good first steps taken after the demise of Milosevic in 2000 have later been abandoned without gathering good momentum. The consumers in the country are too poor to generate alone strong and sustainable economic growth and the major European markets are now experiencing stagnation that affects the poorer suppliers like Serbia.There is no viable statistics about the Serbian real estate market, although some unofficial information suggests that the properties especially in Belgrade are far too expensive given the low living standard in the country, meaning too much money are circulating outside the official economic circles. Prices of several hundreds of thousands of US dollars for an average new apartment and rents of more than thousand US dollars per month are more a rule than exception**. On the other hand, the problem with the internally displaced persons and with some former owners from different ethnic groups that have fled the country may still create some problems in the future for those who may wish to buy old houses and apartments in Serbia.
* - The approximate date for Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU.
Country profile of Serbia and Montenegro: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Serbia.
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