The political strength of our continent in the coming decades will also depend on the accession of Western Balkan countries to the European Union. This represents the most important geostrategic investment of our time, because security, competitiveness, and enlargement are now inseparable: without completing its own reunification, the European Union will never achieve the strength needed to remain competitive in today’s world.
The Balkans belong to Europe’s history, geography, and political future. Italy has made this region one of the main pillars of its diplomatic action: as an Adriatic and Mediterranean country, we understand clearly that the security of our seas is closely linked to the stability of the region. For this reason, we strongly support accelerating their path toward European Union membership, in order to reunite the European family and expand the area of peace and opportunity.
Italy’s commitment is reflected in a broad diplomatic presence and continuous political dialogue: since 2022, more than one hundred high-level visits, bilateral meetings, and multilateral initiatives have taken place, supporting the reforms of candidate countries and concretely advancing their rapprochement with the European Union.
In this spirit, Italy promotes the informal “Friends of the Western Balkans” group, bringing together member states most committed to keeping the region at the center of the European Union’s agenda. The meeting we are hosting today in Rome, with the foreign ministers of the countries of the region, demonstrates Italy’s strong political will to give new momentum to the Balkans’ European path.
Membership requires deep reforms: strengthening the rule of law, creating a more efficient public administration, advancing digitalization, and building quality institutions. Italy supports these efforts through concrete implementation tools. We are a leading country in administrative twinning programs and short-term technical assistance initiatives, Twinning and TAIEX, which represent a fundamental pillar of the accession process by enabling the transfer of knowledge, experience, and institutional capacity from EU member states to candidate countries.
In the Balkans, Italy is the EU member state that has deployed the largest number of experts in these programs. We believe that integration must bring tangible and visible benefits to the daily lives of citizens and businesses even before membership, strengthening their confidence in the European project. For this reason, we consider it short-sighted to delay steps in the accession process of countries such as Serbia, which has already made progress in many key areas.
Investing in the development of the Balkans means investing in Europe’s strength. Italy, also through the presence of many of its companies in the region, is already one of the Balkans’ leading economic partners, with more than €10 billion in trade exchanges and around 800 active companies contributing to local economic development, the creation of skilled jobs, the modernization of production, and the green and digital transition.
Through development cooperation, we support key sectors ranging from healthcare to infrastructure, energy, education, and vocational training.
Another equally important chapter is infrastructure connectivity. The Western Balkans represent the bridge linking the Adriatic, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Central Europe. For this reason, we support the development of major infrastructure corridors, starting with Corridor VIII, which will connect the Adriatic Sea with the Black Sea, as well as the strengthening of railway, port, energy, and digital networks.
Within this framework, we also see the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), on which we are working together with partners such as India and the Gulf countries. Thanks to its geographical position, Italy aims to become the European gateway for these new routes, making the Balkans a natural bridge toward Central Europe and Euro-Asian corridors.
Connectivity is closely linked to our continent’s strategic autonomy, supply chain security, and food security. For this reason, we have also invited FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina to today’s meeting.
European integration, economic development, and connectivity also require a stable security environment. Italy has taken on important responsibilities in this area as well: we have led the NATO KFOR mission in Kosovo fourteen times, the EULEX mission in Kosovo twice, and the EUFOR Althea mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina three times, contributing civilian and military resources to regional stability and the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.
The integration of the Balkans is a geopolitical choice for Europe: the full inclusion of the region in the European Union means strengthening the EU’s southeastern flank, increasing its stability, and enhancing its ability to exert influence globally.
Italy will continue working to ensure that the region’s European path remains credible and merit-based, while also becoming faster, more predictable, and closer to citizens and businesses.
For our continent, this is above all a matter of historical coherence, before it becomes a strategic necessity.
