EU leaders insist that six countries of the Western Balkans have a future in the bloc's midst and offer them fresh financial aid as they struggle to cope with the impact of Covid-19
European Council President Charles Michel stands on stage, while European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen is seen on screens, during a media conference after an EU-Western Balkans videoconference summit at the EU Council building in Brussels, Belgium May 6, 2020.
Long delays over the start of EU membership talks for Albania and North Macedonia, tensions between Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo, and a perception that the EU was slow to help its Balkan partners cope with the virus have fueled concern that the six might turn toward Russia and China. The money is aimed at supporting overburdened health services, ensuring the delivery of supplies like protective equipment, masks and ventilators, and at bolstering Western Balkan economies and to speed up recovery efforts. Emergency aid is also available for vulnerable refugees and migrants in the region.
In return, the Europeans sought assurances that the six are indeed oriented toward the 27-country bloc and that they stand ready to carry out the political, democratic and economic reforms required to make progress toward membership. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who organized the meeting as his country — itself a Balkan hopeful before it joined the bloc in 2013 — currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said “there is a lot of appreciation in all the capitals of the region for what the European Union is doing.”
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