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Balkan states’ EU membership hopes remain distant

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Significance

Last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen undertook a four-day visit to the WB, reiterating Brussels’s commitment to enlargement and touting the benefits of the EU Growth Plan, a financial aid package for the region worth EUR6bn (USD6.5bn). This followed the tenth annual Berlin Process EU-WB summit.

Impacts

  • The Growth Plan, while ambitious, may not be enough to incentivise fundamental political reforms.
  • Several WB states could join the Single Euro Payments Area next year.
  • Von der Leyen likely aims to have at least one WB state join the EU by the end of her second term.

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