Von der Leyen: EU Must Integrate Western Balkans to Be Truly Strong

Ursula von der Leyen, Bled, September 2 2024 (BETAPHOTO/STA/Daniel Novakovic)

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on the first day of the Bled Strategic Forum that the integration of Western Balkan states was crucial to achieving 
the priority of having a European Union that was economically strong, independent and ready to defend itself.

Speaking at the Forum in Slovenia, she said that the new generations of the Western Balkan region had "chosen to be part of a common, European family" and that it was up to the EU to make this possible.

"Throughout history this region has often been a frontier between worlds. Between East and West, between North and South. But its new generations have chosen a different path. They have chosen to be part of a common European family. They have chosen to travel, to trade together, to thrive together with their European neighbors," Von der Leyen said.

The EC president added that the current Russian leadership, which she said lived in the past, refused to acknowledge the new reality and that, whenever progress was made in the process of Western Balkan integration, Kremlin attempted to stir up old conflicts again.

Russia is always working to "sow division" in the Western Balkans and between the region and Europe, Von der Leyen added, but most residents of Western Balkan states do not want fragmentation or division, but integration.

During the next EC term, enlargement must be a priority afforded the utmost attention and the process of EU integration must accelerate, the EC president said, adding that this did not mean that criteria regarding the state of democracy in candidate states would be lowered.