Brussels – A new step forward, aiming to push the Western Balkans towards the EU’s free roaming area. On 25 February, the European Commission proposed that the Council open negotiations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia to integrate them into the ‘Roam Like at Home’ area.
After Ukraine and Moldova joined on 1 January 2026, the first formal decision has been taken in Brussels to follow up on the declaration signed at the 2022 EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tirana, which committed leaders to the gradual reduction of data roaming charges. It also follows the agreement reached on 1 October 2023 among 38 European and Balkan telecommunications operators. The ultimate goal is to fully eliminate additional roaming fees by 2028.
The ‘Roam Like at Home’ policy is based on the principle that, when you travel to another member of the no-roaming-charge area, your mobile calls, texts and data work just like at home, and you do not have to pay extra fees for roaming.
Once the negotiating mandate is authorised by the Council, the Commission will negotiate bilateral agreements with each partner in the Western Balkans. If concluded successfully, these agreements will allow citizens from these countries to use their mobile phones – including making calls, sending texts, and using data – across the EU and other associated countries without incurring additional charges. The same benefits also apply to EU citizens communicating or travelling in the Western Balkan countries.
According to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the first two countries in the Western Balkans to experience the abolition of all roaming charges could be Montenegro and Albania, already by the end of the year. “This is good for business, this is good for tourism, and it is especially good for bringing our people together,” she said during her latest tour of the Western Balkans in Autumn 2025.
What is the free roaming area
Since 15 June 2017, the ‘Roam like at Home’ rules have enabled EU consumers to use mobile services – calls, texts, and data – across member states at the same cost as in their home country. These rules ensure not only fair pricing, but also consistent quality: users must have access to the same network speed and service standards wherever they are in the EU. Access to emergency services remains free of charge, as is customary throughout the Union.
Beyond the EU’s borders, the same no-roaming-charges regime also applies to the three EEA EFTA members – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – since the Regulation entered into force in 2017.
While waiting for the Council’s decision on the Western Balkans, 2026 marked an important year for the gradual integration of two other candidate countries into the European Union, as Moldova and Ukraine formally joined the EU free roaming area.
Kyiv expressed its interest in 2022, and European and Ukrainian operators agreed on voluntary measures to provide affordable mobile connectivity to over four million refugees who had sought shelter in the EU after fleeing the Russian invasion. Chișinău’s inclusion is part of the gradual economic integration into the EU internal market outlined in the 2016 Association Agreement, with Moldovan citizens and businesses benefiting from lower roaming charges since 2024.
