Spurned by EU investors, Balkans looks to eager Turkey

KRUPANJ, Serbia: Ivan Isailovic, mayor of the small Serbian town of Krupanj, is off next week to seek investors not in Munich or Paris, but in Istanbul - a sign of Turkey´s growing influence across the western Balkans that worries some EU states.

With European Union enlargement sidelined by Brexit plus the consequences of the debt and migration crises, the region is becoming a playing field of power between the EU and Turkey, with Russia and China also vying for influence.

Isailovic wants jobs for his poor, isolated community that nestles in wooded hills near Serbia´s western border with Bosnia.

And his choice of where to court companies reflects Turkey´s willingness to invest money and project "soft" power in Balkan countries which were once ruled by the Ottoman empire.

A Turkish company has already created 300 jobs at a textile plant in Krupanj, with political ties between Belgrade and Ankara helping to secure the biggest investment in 30 years for a town that was badly hit by floods in 2014.

"They are good investors and they have not asked for subsidies," Isailovic told Reuters, saying this was why he was going to Turkey in the hope of attracting more money, this time into the local wood industry.

A perception is growing that western European governments and investors alike are neglecting the small and divided markets of a region in their own backyard.

"Turkish investors go to underdeveloped areas unlike investors from Western countries," Marko Cadez, head of Serbia´s Chamber of Commerce said.

EU leaders met their counterparts from Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo on Thursday, agreeing to build more energy links and work more closely on issues from countering radicalism to controlling migration.

But this was the first such meeting for 15 years and the EU made clear they could not expect a fast-track to membership of the bloc.

"We didn´t pretend today that everything is clear and simple," EU chairman Donald Tusk said at the Sofia summit.