Brain drain in Western Balkans spikes amid absence of opportunities

Youth brain drain is becoming one of the most worrisome problems for Western Balkan countries. 

All six countries of the region — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia — rank among the top brain drain leaders in the world due to the pace and intensity of the phenomenon within their borders. 

They could lose between an estimated 25%-50% of their skilled and educated workforce in the forthcoming decades, according to the research of the German Marshall Fund. 

Young Macedonians who spoke to Euronews said they were disappointed by the level of corruption in the country as well as the absence of opportunities and perspectives. 

“You still see corrupt institutions, you do not see any rule of law, you do not see any improvement in terms of the economy or education, and that’s the first thing,” Petar Barlakovski, who studied in the UK, said.

“When one cannot see that the European Union is close, that it’s far, it is just as it was 10 years ago, one asks the question, is there a future in this country,” he added.

The Macedonian Ministry of Education spends millions of euros on scholarships for young people but then reportedly shows no interest in them, according to experts.

Risto Saveski, president of the Youth Educational Forum, told Euronews the ministry does not have evidence of how many students finish their studies abroad and whether they have returned to North Macedonia. 

The Western Balkan countries are rapidly losing their population. 

In the last three decades, due to massive emigration, Serbia has lost 9% of its citizens, North Macedonia lost 10%, while 24% left Bosnia and 37% departed from Albania. 

To find out more, watch the Euronews report in the player above.