Von der Leyen starts her Western Balkans tour in Tirana, visits Kosovo on Thursday – why Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were left off the agenda?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen starts today in Tirana her sixth annual tour of the Western Balkans, during which she will visit Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, as Telegrafi writes.

According to the official agenda, the visit will focus on the steps that partner countries need to take to advance toward membership in the European Union, as well as on the process of gradual integration. This process is also supported by the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth six billion euros.

Von der Leyen will start the tour in Tirana, where she will hold meetings with the President of Albania, Bajram Begaj, and Prime Minister Edi Rama, Telegrafi reports.

According to the agenda, on Thursday, October 1, she will travel to Pristina, where she will meet the acting President, Albulena Haxhiu, and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

On the same day, the European Commission president will continue the visit in Podgorica, where she will be received by the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

The tour will end on Friday, October 2, in Skopje. There, Von der Leyen will meet the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.

During her stay in the region, Von der Leyen will also visit several projects financed by the European Union. Among them are the “Emin Duraku” school in Tirana, rebuilt after the damage caused by the 2019 earthquake, the new building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Pristina, as well as the Corridor VIII railway in North Macedonia.

In Podgorica, she will take part in the inauguration of the National Coordination Center. The new operational center aims to strengthen Montenegro’s border management and enable better exchange of information with EU member states and Frontex.

During the tour, media conferences are also planned, which will be broadcast on the European Commission’s audiovisual platform.

Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina off the itinerary

Unlike the other Balkan countries, Von der Leyen will not visit Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The European Commission has stated that the visits have been postponed because of the upcoming elections in both countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold general elections on October 4, while in Serbia snap parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 25.

European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta explained some time ago that the EU avoids such visits during campaigns, so as not to be perceived as part of, or as influencing, the electoral processes. According to her, Von der Leyen intends to visit Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina after the elections are over. This is also stated in the official agenda.

On the other hand, according to media in the region, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has nevertheless described Brussels’ explanation as an “elegant justification” for not including Belgrade in the tour.

The decision comes at a time of heightened tensions between the European Union and Serbia, after the ceremonies organized in Belgrade for Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Mladić’s body had been returned to Serbia by government plane, while state officials took part in the funeral ceremony and military honors were held.

After these developments, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos canceled her planned visit to Serbia, assessing that the glorification of persons convicted of war crimes runs counter to European values and efforts for reconciliation in the region.

Von der Leyen also reacted to the ceremony, saying she was shocked by the images of the funeral. She stressed that the glorification of war criminals has no place in the European Union.

The European Commission insists that the elections are the official reason for postponing the visits. However, Serbia’s exclusion from the itinerary has also been interpreted in the context of the deterioration of relations between Brussels and Belgrade after the honors organized for Mladić.

Von der Leyen has repeated during this year that the future of the Western Balkans is in the European Union and that the Union will not be complete without the countries of the region. However, she has stressed that the enlargement process will continue to be based on meeting the set criteria. /Telegrafi/