Policy Brief describing the changing nature of relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several countries of the Western Balkans. Starting from 2010, when the UAE’s first embassy in the region opened in Podgorica (Montenegro), good relations have been propelled by a boom of investments and “sweet loans” from the UAE into southeast Europe. Starting with Montenegro and then quickly moving into Serbia and, to a somewhat lesser extent, to Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries of the region, the Emiratis have mainly invested in four strategic sectors in which they claim to have a strategic advantage or a special interest: construction projects (especially in high-end tourism), agriculture (to guarantee food security), airlines (as part of their “super-connector” strategy) and defence (including the purchase of weapons).