Europe's economic crisis is weighing on airlines from the Balkans to the Baltic as austerity programs coincide with high fuel prices and a European Union clampdown on government aid. Poland's Polskie Linie Lotnicze Lot is seeking to sell stakes in its domestic airline, as well as its catering, casino, and fuel operations, to bolster its finances after five years of red ink. Latvia's profitless AirBaltic is looking for a partner to buy a 50% stake. Eastern European carriers can't count on stronger Western airlines to bail them out. Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa, and British Airways parent International Airlines Group, the region's three major operators, are shying away from takeovers to focus on stemming losses on short-haul flights in Europe.