Published on
04/06/2026 - 9:00 GMT+2
Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovia, North Macedonia Kosovo are at various stages of trying to join the bloc. Geographically, the region is completely surrounded by the EU. For nearly two decades, a period of relative calm kept enlargement on the backburner, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine shattered that peace, turning expansion into a critical security priority.
However, it is also about money. The EU is already the region's primary trading partner and investor and only last year, the total trade reached over €87 billion. It is a massive, two-way exchange of heavy machinery, chemicals, and metals flowing back and forth across the border. What's crucial, the EU exported far more than it imported, running a handsome profit.
Yet, the EU is not the only power eyeing the region. Brussels faces immense outside pressure because Moscow, Beijing, and Washington are all actively competing for strategic influence there. If Europe leaves a power vacuum on its own doorstep, others will gladly fill it.
