The Balkans as a Mirror of the Failure of European Policy

Written by Zeljko Sajn for Kosovo Online

While Moscow, Beijing, and Washington are shaping a new world order, the European Union is struggling to maintain influence in the Balkans. During her visit to Skopje, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen once again demonstrated the continuity of a hypocritical policy of conditionality, while Slovak President Peter Pellegrini called for self-reflection and EU reform.

Von der Leyen’s visit to the Western Balkans, which came immediately after President Pellegrini’s stay in Skopje, revealed the deeper essence of current European policy: a lack of vision, confidence, and genuine willingness to treat the region as a partner rather than a geopolitical buffer zone. While the world divides itself among three major centers of power—Washington, Moscow, and Beijing—the EU is trying to prove it still holds political relevance. Yet, the Balkans increasingly mirror its impotence.

During her visit to Skopje, von der Leyen repeated the familiar mantra of the “European perspective” for the Western Balkans. She spoke about investments, infrastructure, the green transition, and digital transformation. However, behind the official rhetoric lay the same old approach—conditioning accession talks on amending North Macedonia’s Constitution. Brussels, which portrays itself as a promoter of democracy and the rule of law, sent a message that a country’s political will can be altered under pressure and that sovereignty can become a commodity.

The Macedonians already agreed once—in 2018—to change their country’s name and thereby renounce part of their identity. They were promised NATO membership and a fast track toward the EU. While they are now part of the Alliance, they appear to be further from the EU than ever before.

Neither North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova nor Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski received any guarantees that integration would continue even if the Constitution is amended. Von der Leyen’s message on the social network X—“It’s all in your hands”—sounded more like shifting responsibility than genuine support. In that sentence, perhaps unintentionally, lies the whole truth about the EU’s approach to the Balkans: Brussels wants results, but not responsibility; influence, but not obligations; allies, but not equal partners.

A very different tone was set by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, who spoke in Skopje the day before von der Leyen. His message was clear and unusually frank for a European leader: the EU is exhausting the Western Balkans with its policies and risks losing generations that once believed in the European idea.

“The European Union is losing its competitiveness. Our innovation and research potential lags behind Asian countries and the United States. We face high energy costs and the threat of economic warfare through tariffs. The EU must find ways to meet these challenges and show the courage to develop a modern economy, invest in infrastructure, research, and development. I still believe the Union can remain one of the world’s leading blocs, but only if it undertakes serious reform,” said Pellegrini in Skopje.

Pellegrini earned the sympathies of the Macedonian public by openly stating that Europe itself is responsible for the loss of trust in the Balkans. While European institutions drown in their own bureaucratic language and empty promises, the reality shows that Brussels has lost its compass between principles and interests.

The focus of von der Leyen’s visit was also the EU’s Economic Plan for the Western Balkans. She announced investments in energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the green transition. Yet behind the appealing phrases about modernization lies a pragmatic calculation: since the EU can no longer rely on stable energy supplies from Russia, it is trying to turn the region into an energy reserve and transit corridor. This is not a new policy, but it is now clearer than ever that Brussels views the Balkans through a geopolitical lens—as a space meant to absorb the shocks of the global conflict between East and West.

The European Union once symbolized stability, unity, and vision. Today, however, it has become a symbol of double standards. Serbia is urged to impose sanctions on Russia; Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to achieve political cohesion; yet the EU itself is at a record level of internal division. North Macedonia is asked for another constitutional change, but without any guarantee that this will bring real membership.

EU hypocrisy has become evident through its internal contradictions. While Brussels speaks of “European values,” in practice these have turned into calculations of interest. Decisions are no longer made on principles, but out of fear—of migration, of Russian influence, of losing markets.

Looking at the bigger picture, it becomes clear that today’s EU no longer plays an equal role in shaping the global order. While Washington leads global security processes and Moscow and Beijing expand their economic and political influence, Brussels is bogged down in internal compromises. Von der Leyen herself has personally felt this—both during her visit to Beijing, where she stood in President Macron’s shadow, and in talks with the U.S. administration, where her voice carried little weight.

Europe has simply lost the ability to speak with one voice. And now, it is trying to compensate for its lack of global influence by exerting pressure on the Balkans. But the Balkans are no longer the same. The countries of the region still proclaim EU integration as a strategic goal, but are increasingly unwilling to pursue it at any cost, because every new “price” means a loss of identity, autonomy, and economic sovereignty.

Brussels is facing the fact that it can no longer control the region as before. It cannot compete with Chinese investments, replace Russian influence in the energy sector, or offer a clear political vision. Therefore, it resorts to old methods—conditionality, bureaucracy, and symbolic visits—meant to create the illusion that the EU “has not forgotten the Balkans.”

Today, the EU balances between its internal weaknesses and external challenges. Within its borders, populism, extremism, and social divisions are on the rise, while outside, it tries to play the role of a moral power. In such a context, the Western Balkans have become a test of the credibility of the EU’s enlargement policy.

Von der Leyen’s visit was intended to demonstrate European determination but instead turned into proof of European impotence. Her words about the region’s future sounded hollow, while Pellegrini’s statements resonated as a voice of reason within an exhausted Union. Brussels must understand that the Balkans are no longer a space where it can dictate rules without consequences.

In a world where a new global order is being formed, the region matters precisely because it has choices—to look East or West, to choose between traditional partnerships and new alliances.

If the European Union continues its policy of hypocrisy, it will only prolong its own political decline. Sooner or later, the Balkans will turn to those who treat them as equal partners, not as students constantly threatened with losing their “European future.” Europe must understand that by continuing this policy, it risks losing the Balkans—just as it has already lost its place at the table where the new world order is being decided. The sooner it realizes that, the sooner it may find the path to its own recovery.