The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will start a four-day trip to the Western Balkans tomorrow, where she will meet with the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro. This will be the occasion to discuss our Western Balkan partners' progress on the EU path as well the EU's €6 billion Growth Plan.

Von der Layen will first travel to Tirana, where she will meet the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. She will also deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the academic year of the College of Europe campus in Tirana. On Thursday, still in Tirana, the President will meet with Bajram Begaj, President of Albania.

The same morning, she will travel to Skopje, where she will meet with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, and with the President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.

Later in the day, President von der Leyen will travel to Jablanica, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to visit the areas affected by the floods that recently hit the country. On Friday morning, she will be in Sarajevo, where she will meet with the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo.

Later, she will travel to Belgrade. There, she will meet with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister, Milos Vucevic.

On Saturday, President von der Leyen will be in Pristina, where she will meet with the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and the Prime Minister, Albin Kurti.

She will conclude her trip to the region in Podgorica, where she will have meetings with the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, and with the Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic.

Ursula von der leyen will hold press conferences during all her visits, and they will be broadcast on EbS.

This year´s visit follows that of last year, and the several occasions in which Von der Leyen has outlined the importance of the region for the European Union. She did so recently, at the Berlin Process Summit and the Bled Strategic Forum.