News: Western Balkans in the new European strategic thinking

On the occasion of the Strategic Forum in Bled on 29 and 30 August, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the new European strategic thinking, which is based on three key points.

The first point concerns the objective of the European Union to neutralize Russia’s "blackmail capacity" by putting an end to Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The second point concerns European support for the democracies most exposed - such as Ukraine and the Western Balkans - to foreign threats. The President focused her attention on the Western Balkans and she reiterated the role of the six countries in the "European family", calling for greater integration of their respective economies. The third point concerns the need to implement a sustainable growth model capable of addressing the next global challenges of climate change and the digitalisation of economic sectors.