Von der Leyen in Kosovo next week

2025-10-10 14:50:02, Kosova & Bota CNA

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will stay in Kosovo on October 15, as part of a tour during which she will also visit other countries in the region.

According to the agenda published by the European Commission, in Kosovo she will meet with President Vjosa Osmani and acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

The published agenda does not state what issues the EC chief will discuss with Osmani and Kurti.

The head of the European Union's executive arm will kick off her tour of the Western Balkans on October 13 in Tirana, where she will meet with the President of Albania, Bajram Begaj, Prime Minister Edi Rama, and will participate in the opening ceremony of the EU-Western Balkans Investment Forum.

Also on October 13, Von der Leyen will visit Tivat, Montenegro, where she will meet with President Jakov Milatovi? and Prime Minister Milojko Spaji?.

The following day, she will stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina where she will meet with members of the country's Presidency, the President of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo, and visit the Srebrenica Memorial Center.

Before her stay in Kosovo, on October 15, Von der Leyen will meet in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? and Prime Minister ?uro Macut.

Meanwhile, after her stay in Kosovo, she will conclude her visit to the region in North Macedonia, where she will meet with Macedonian President Gordana Silanovska-Davkova, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, and the Speaker of the Parliament, Afrim Gashi.

Von der Leyen last visited Kosovo in October last year, when she spoke about the bloc's punitive measures against Kosovo. Since then, the bloc has announced that it has begun lifting some of the measures, which were imposed in 2023 due to rising tensions in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.

During that visit, the EC chief praised Kosovo for the work it had done on the reform agenda for the EU Growth Plan.

However, Kosovo has not benefited from this Plan, as due to the lack of institution-building, important international agreements have not been approved so far.

The €6 billion Growth Plan includes investments and reforms for the Western Balkan countries as part of the reform agenda for the period 2024-2027. Of this amount, €2 billion is in the form of a grant, while €4 billion is in the form of a loan with very favorable installments.

The plan aims to accelerate reforms and prepare the Western Balkan countries for membership./REL