The leaders of the six countries of the Western Balkans – Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania – met for a working dinner on Thursday 19 September, accompanied by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
At this multilateral meeting, the leaders and heads of government focused on the Growth Plan for the Balkans and discussed the various reform agendas presented by the six countries.
“The meeting did not allow us to raise the most sensitive issues, but we had a good general discussion, particularly on funding”, Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo, told Agence Europe.
The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, posted a series of messages on X, in which he welcomed the discussions with the leaders and stressed that Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania could join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) within a year, a further step on the road to integration.
For her part, Mrs von der Leyen declared on X that “all six countries [of the Western Balkans] belong in Europe” and that the Growth Plan was the main tool for bringing the economies of all the parties closer together.
However, many tensions remain in the region, particularly between Serbia and Kosovo (see EUROPE 13473/10). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)