Economic and financial links between the euro area and the Western Balkans, including Montenegro, are very close. For example, banks with headquarters in the euro area account for around half of the assets of the Montenegrin banking sector, while around one third of Montenegro’s total trade is with the euro area. We therefore have a mutual interest in each other’s well-being.
Capital inflows from the EU together with this region’s growing integration into pan-European production chains will help the economies here to catch up and will gradually contribute to higher living standards – provided, of course, that sound domestic policies are in place to make this happen.