The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Laien, launches its official tour of the Western Balkans on Monday, in a program of visits aimed at confirming EU support for the European perspective of the countries of the region, along with the promotion of € 60.
On Monday, von der Layen was in Albania, where she met in the morning with President Bayam Begai and Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana. In the afternoon, speaking at the Regional Investment Conference on the Western Balkans, before going to Montenegro.
On Tuesday, the chairman of the committee will initially be in Montenegro, where he will meet with President Yakov Milatovic and Prime Minister Milogio Spagic. He will then go to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he will visit the Srebrenica monument and attend a meeting with members of the three-member presidency in Sarajevo. Later, he will meet with the President of the Ministers Council, Borian Cristo.
In closing the visits program on Wednesday, von der Laien will be in Serbia, where he will have bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Duro Matsut and President Alexandar Vucic. In the afternoon, he will go to Pristina for meetings with Kosovo's president, Viosa Osmani-Sandriou, and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The tour will be completed in Skopje, where it will hold a series of meetings with the leadership of Northern Macedonia.
This visit is not accidental, as it is part of a series of continuous von der Laienne contacts with the Western Balkans, which began in 2021 and continue to this day, as the president is in the area every year with the leaders of the area, along with the periodic meetings taking place in Brussels. With these visits to the Union's executive arm, it seeks to strengthen the links in an area that is considered critical, both for geopolitical and economic reasons.
Regarding the development plan for the Western Balkans, it aims to integrate the countries of the region into the EU single market, to strengthen regional economic cooperation, in the deepening of EU reforms and increasing pre -accession funding, with the aim of accelerating socio -economic western -economic funding. The plan has been structured to provide incentives to the EU to be integrated, providing benefits from the EU before completing their full integration, thus accelerating both the enlargement process and the economic growth of the area.
Economic convergence is a key element for the Western Balkan approach to the EU, as the region is currently only 35% of the European level. In support of this process, a € 6 billion financial tool was adopted in 2023, the reform and development mechanism for the Western Balkans for the period 2024-2027.
