Brussels – It will be a two-thirds tour for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the Western Balkans this year. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been dropped from her traditional autumn visit to the partner region “in light of the upcoming parliamentary and general elections” in the two countries, a Commission spokesperson explained.
Scheduled for 30 September to 2 October, the sixth consecutive annual tour of the Western Balkans will focus “on the steps ahead on our partners’ EU paths and the ongoing progress of gradual integration, assisted by our Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.”
However, the stops will be limited to “Tirana, Pristina, Podgorica and Skopje,” where she will meet the heads of state and government of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia respectively, “and will visit EU-funded projects.”
The decision to skip the stops in Belgrade and Sarajevo is to “respect the election processes in the other countries,” the spokesperson specified. Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold general elections on 4 October – determining the composition of the tripartite Presidency as well as the national, entity and cantonal assemblies and governments – while Serbia will hold early parliamentary elections on 25 October. “It is a practice not to want to have a role in these elections in either one country or the other.”
Von der Leyen in the Western Balkans
No one in Brussels can claim greater trust in the eyes of Western Balkan leaders than the European Commission President. This effort began as early as autumn 2021 – at a time when accession prospects were languishing, if not entirely stalled – even before the renewed push for EU enlargement set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Five tours later, the decision to delay her visit to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina comes at a particular political juncture, especially for Belgrade. “In Serbia’s highly polarised political and media environment, there is a real risk that an official visit by the President of the European Commission could be instrumentalised as a message of European support for the incumbent authorities,” reads a letter sent directly to von der Leyen by the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) on the same day that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced early elections for 25 October.
In a country that has been in the midst of a societal crisis for almost two years – after the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy on 1 November 2024 claimed the lives of 16 people and sparked relentless protests led by the student movement – “the political significance of a visit at this level cannot be assessed separately from the circumstances in which it takes place,” as it would coincide with the final and “most sensitive phase” of the electoral campaign.
The same cannot be said for Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the institutional and societal situation in the country remains delicate. Yet the postponement of the visit follows the same logic of non-interference in the country’s internal political dynamics.
For the other candidate countries, the most significant expected announcement concerns the Commission’s decision on the redistribution of around €330 million in EU funds under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia are likely to see their allocations increase, while Serbia and Kosovo are expected to lose part of their funding for failing to implement the agreed reforms during the first payment period. Bosnia and Herzegovina will have until the end of December before its first grace period expires.
Finally, it should be noted that von der Leyen’s tour will start on the exact same day as the long-awaited pre-enlargement policy reviews, which will set out the first proposals on the future of an enlarged Union. After almost a year of delay, the communication will be presented on 30 September, with growing emphasis on a new generation of Accession Treaties and on the mechanisms needed to prevent backsliding on the EU’s core principles. The European Commission President is likely to use her annual tour to present the content of the proposal to the candidate countries – in particular Montenegro and Albania – which will be affected by any EU internal decision linked to the accession of new members.
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