Brussels – For the fifth consecutive year, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has embarked on a tour of the Western Balkans, travelling from north to south and from east to west. But why?
“This will be the occasion to reiterate the EU’s support for the region’s EU accession path and its gradual access to the Single Market, and to discuss the EU’s €6 billion Growth Plan for the Western Balkans for 2024–2027,” explains the Commission’s spokesperson service.
Yet her consistency in visiting the region every autumn for a few days—even during challenging periods when major decisions are being made in Brussels, such as the 2030 defence strategy—suggests there may be more at play.
It is worth recalling the words of former North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski during the Commission president’s visit two years ago. “Every time von der Leyen visits the country, she comes with concrete proposals to bring it closer to the Union.” Over the years, the Commission president has succeeded in establishing herself as a trusted interlocutor for the leaders of the six Western Balkan countries, even as confidence in the promises of the EU’s institutions—all around her in Brussels—remains on a perpetual rollercoaster.
But there is still something missing, year after year, in this effort to turn proposals into reality. “The tour von der Leyen might need to make to truly advance EU enlargement is a tour of the EU capitals,” says Berta López Domènech, Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC), speaking to The New Union Post. At present, what is holding back enlargement is “the lack of genuine political will” among the 27 capitals to agree on “a concrete roadmap to open the EU’s doors to new members and turn rhetorical commitments into practice.”
How to build trust
No one in Brussels can claim greater trust in the eyes of the leaders of the Balkan countries than von der Leyen—though the same cannot be said of public opinion, which is quite another matter. This effort began several years ago, even before the renewed push for EU enlargement set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Back in 2021, during her first tour of the region, the Commission president sought to coordinate with the heads of state and government of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia ahead of the EU–Western Balkans summit in Slovenia. It was a first step at a time when accession prospects were languishing—if not entirely stalled—as a result of the lack of political commitment from the vast majority of member states.
In 2022, von der Leyen’s return to the Balkans coincided with the need to strengthen ties with regional partners in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the growing risk of destabilisation. The visit served to unveil a €1 billion energy support package for the six countries, designed also to prevent long-term strains in their relationship with Brussels. It also featured a pledge in Sarajevo to back Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership bid—a commitment that was fulfilled just two months later, when the European Council granted the country candidate status.
A year later came the launch of a Growth Plan with far-reaching implications for the debates still shaping the region today. During her 2023 tour, against the backdrop of a tense situation—particularly between Serbia and Kosovo—the Commission president outlined to regional leaders a strategy for integration into the EU Single Market and the completion of the Common Regional Market. The plan is backed by a total allocation of €6 billion, conditional on the implementation of key reforms.
Finally, in 2024, von der Leyen used her annual autumn visit to the region to announce the official launch of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, following the approval of reform agendas by Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia—with Bosnia and Herzegovina left out due to institutional deadlock. This marked the start of the process, enabling the Commission president to present it as a new step forward in the region’s path towards EU integration.
And in 2025? Von der Leyen’s visit comes at a “busy period” for the Western Balkans, López Domènech notes. Bosnia and Herzegovina finally submitted its Reform Agenda on the last possible day; Republika Srpska is heading to early elections amid Milorad Dodik‘s separatist agenda; Kosovo held local elections on 12 October in the midst of a national political crisis; North Macedonia will do the same, while its EU accession path remains stalled; and in Serbia, ongoing anti-government protests are being met with violent response from the authorities.
“The trip is an opportunity to address these issues and send clear messages,” the EPC policy analyst stresses, emphasising the need to respect and uphold court rulings and noting that continued backsliding on the rule of law “will have negative consequences” for the EU accession process. The hope is also that the Commission president will avoid invoking, in front of the candidate countries’ leaders, at least questionable concepts such as the “reunification of Europe,” as she did just two months ago in the 2025 State of the Union address.
Von der Leyen’s 2025 tour
Von der Leyen’s tour begins on the morning of 13 October, when she will meet both the president and the prime minister of Albania, Bajram Begaj and Edi Rama, in Tirana. In the afternoon, she will deliver a speech at the Regional Investment Conference for the Western Balkans before travelling to Tivat, where she will hold meetings with the president and the prime minister of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović and Milojko Spajić.
On 14 October, the Commission president will deliver the opening speech at the Montenegro Investment Conference and then continuing on to Bosnia and Herzegovina later the same day. There, she will visit the Srebrenica memorial—in the year marking the 30th anniversary of the genocide—and take part in a meeting in Sarajevo with the members of the Tripartite Presidency. She will then meet the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto.
On the morning of 15 October, von der Leyen will hold a bilateral meeting in Belgrade with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Đuro Macut, followed by talks with President Aleksandar Vučić. In the afternoon, she will travel to Pristina, where she will meet the president and the caretaker prime minister of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani and Albin Kurti. Her tour will conclude in Skopje, where she will hold a series of bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, and the speaker of Parliament, Afrim Gashi.
