Von der Leyen to visit Western Balkans next week

On Tuesday, she will first visit Albania and then North Macedonia, while on Wednesday she will visit Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

Last week, von der Leyen said she would visit the Western Balkan countries to affirm the Commission's commitment to the accession process.

We owe it to all the young people who believe in Europe's future, she said in her address on the state of the EU in the European Parliament.

Von der Leyen said the EU was strengthening the support to the Western Balkans with a new economic and investment plan worth one-third of the region's GDP.