EditVon der Leyen on annual tour to reassure the six Balkan EU hopefuls
The Commission President starts her visits in Albania on Monday, ending in North Macedonia on Thursday
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is going to the Western Balkans next week to reiterate Brussels’ support for the region’s accession to the EU and their gradual access to the single market.
The European Commission announced that it will be an opportunity for Von der Leyen to discuss with the representatives of the Western Balkans six the Growth Plan for the region of six billion euros for the period 2024-2027.
On Monday, Von der Leyen will speak in Tirana with Albanian President Bajram Begai and Prime Minister Edi Rama, and on the same day in the afternoon she will travel to Montenegro and speak at the Regional Investment Conference for the Western Balkans in Tivat.
The Commission chief will talk to the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić in Tivat. Then on Tuesday, before traveling to Bosnia and Herzegovina, she will open the Investment Conference of Montenegro.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as announced by the Commission, Von der Leyen will visit the Srebrenica Memorial Center and then in Sarajevo talk with the three-member Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Kristo.
Von der Leyen is coming to Serbia on Wednesday, where he will have meetings with Prime Minister Đuro Macuta and President Aleksandar Vučić. In the afternoon of the same day, the President of the Commission leaves for Pristina, where she will meet with the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and the Prime Minister in technical mandate, Albin Kurti. The visit comes days after high-risk local elections this Sunday.
Von der Leyen from Pristina is going to Skopje for bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, the President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, and the Speaker of the parliament, Afrim Gashi, and with these talks, she ends his visit to the region.
In North Macedonia, local elections will be held the next Sunday amid tensions. The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) have increased their pressure on the VMRO-DPMNE-led government to unblock the stalled EU accession process of North Macedonia.
Skopje opposition increases pressure to unblock the stalled EU accession process
The commission reminds that Ursula von der Leyen has visited the Western Balkans every year since 2021. It also states that in the last year, the head of the Commission has repeatedly reiterated the importance of that region for the EU, including this year’s State of the Union speech, at the European Political Community summit in May and at the EU-Western Balkans summit in December 2024.
converge2eu, a collaborative initiative that aims to track and support the Western Balkans’ economic, social and institutional convergence with the EU, has ranked the six EU hopefuls estimating the time each one of them needs to reach EU leaving standards in eight key areas.
As an example, in terms of economy, Albania is estimated at a distance of 53 years from this goal, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are at 100 years. Montenegro is estimated at a distance of 72 years, North Macedonia at 59, while Serbia ranks best, at 32 years.
Caption: Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomes President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the 6th European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Tirana, Albania, 16 May 2025. The meeting brings together leaders from across the continent under the theme ‘New Europe in a new world: unity – cooperation – joint action’. EPA/MALTON DIBRA
Updated: October 11, 2025 - 07:08
