The Autumn Balkan Tour: Von der Leyen Reminds Candidates Accession Is a Two-Way Street

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen completed her sixth consecutive annual tour of the Western Balkans, delivering a firm reminder that bringing the region into the European Union requires work on both ends. Speaking during her travel across the region, von der Leyen reiterated the EU's commitment to expanding its borders while stressing that enlargement is a "two-way process." Her message underlined that while Brussels is keen to deepen ties, applicant countries must match the bloc's geopolitical ambition with hard domestic reforms.

For candidate countries across the Western Balkans, joining the EU offers direct access to the world's largest single market, billions of euros in integration funding, and the free movement of goods and people. For existing EU citizens, expanding the union is framed as a strategic necessity to secure stability along Europe's southern and eastern borders. However, enlargement also matters to voters inside the current bloc because every new member state eventually reshapes how EU funding is distributed and how decisions are made in Brussels.

The annual presidential sweep through the Western Balkans has become one of the Brussels calendar's classic political rituals—an exercise where high-level diplomacy meets bureaucratic reality. In bubble terminology, accession is strictly "merit-based," plain English for a grueling, multi-year checklist covering everything from anti-corruption laws to state subsidy regulations. By describing the relationship as a "two-way process," the executive chief captured the institutional tightrope Brussels walks: keeping prospective members engaged without promising procedural shortcuts that existing member states would promptly veto.

The Commission will continue to monitor each nation's domestic reform trajectory as part of its regular enlargement assessments. Progress on key judicial, economic, and institutional benchmarks will dictate how fast technical negotiations advance. Even if candidate states meet every target, final accession still requires unanimous agreement from all current member states, keeping the timeline firmly grounded in diplomatic consensus.