After the meeting with the leaders of the Western Balkans, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, shared the family photo.
The photo shows the leaders of the countries that aspire to become part of the EU, while it can be seen that the Prime Minister of our country, Edi Rama, is next to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
Meanwhile, next to Kurti is the Macedonian Prime Minister, Hristjan Mickoski, while Aleksandër Vucic is seen on the other side, next to the President of the EC.
In a post on X after the meeting, Von der Leyen said that the six countries of the Western Balkans have a place in the European Union.
"Today I received the leaders of six partners from the Western Balkans. All six countries are located in Europe. This is exactly what we are working on. At the same time, we are bringing their economies and markets closer to ours with our €6 billion Growth Plan for the region ," she wrote.
Von der Leyen's meeting with the leaders of the Balkans was informative regarding the goals and mission that the EC will have in the next five years, how long will her second mandate at the head of this institution last.
Von der Leyen has appointed the candidate from Slovenia, Marta Kos, as Commissioner for Enlargement, which means that she will also deal with relations with the Western Balkans region.
With this meeting, Von der Leyen also proved that even in the new mandate, he will pay special attention to this region and the EU enlargement process in general.
The meeting also discussed the "agenda of reforms and growth", which have already been submitted to the European Commission by all the countries of the Balkan region, as a prerequisite to receive the first payments from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina was the last to submit such a document.