The report presents assessment of the science and technology (S&T) status as of December 2004 of five Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia & Montenegro.The author highlights the fact that the objectives posed by EU on its way to the knowledge-based economy are fully relevant to the Western Balkan countries and their aspiration to become EU members in the future implies their adoption of the objectives acknowledged as the priority by the current EU member states.The document throws light on the economic constraints in the science and technology fields of the countries in question offering the overview of the situation in the countries in the 1990s and the analysis of the existing economic conditions. The review of the S&T features in the Western Balkans covers the national policies in the countries, investment in R&D, human resources as well as some of the aspects of the business sector. The S&T performance is considered based on the ICT indicators and technological and scientific output. The report also contains assumptions with regard to potential impact of increased investment in R&D, discusses the issues connected with the international and regional cooperation in the S&T field and gives the main conclusions and policy recommendations.