Brussels, 9 October 2025 (MIA) - The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is set to visit the Western Balkan countries next week, said Commission Spokesperson Paula Pinho on Thursday.

Pinho stressed more details about von der Leyen’s Western Balkans tour would be announced on Friday.

According to reports, von der Leyen will kick off her trip to the region on Monday and visit Skopje on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen’s tour coincides with the second anniversary of the adoption of the European Commission’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which, as emphasized by the EC’s Spokesperson for Enlargement, International Partnerships and the Mediterranean, Guillaume Mercier, lays the groundwork for preparing the region’s countries for integration into the European single market and brings direct benefits to citizens.

“Since May 2024, our offer to the Western Balkans through the Growth Plan has brought concrete benefits to partners in the region and to citizens, and we are now making progress in the implementation of the reform agenda that we have for the partners in the region,” Mercier said.

He noted that reform agendas have already been approved for five of the region’s countries, while the agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina – submitted to the European Commission last week – is currently being assessed. Mercier added that four partners have already received pre-financing funds.

“We need to see reforms on the ground. This is a performance-based instrument, so we need to see the implementation and this work needs to continue. We will support the partners on the ground to do this work and we will continue on this front,” Mercier added.