Five countries, including Czechia, propose staged EU integration model for Western Balkans

Five EU member states, including Czechia, have called on the European Commission to reconsider its current approach to integrating the Western Balkans into the EU and to offer these countries membership prospects and related benefits in “stages”.

The proposal suggests so-called sectoral integration as a way to keep candidate countries outside the Russian sphere of influence. Under the plan, Western Balkan states could gain access to selected EU programmes even before full membership.

The document mentions areas such as transport, energy and the electricity market, the digital single market, competitiveness policy, critical raw materials policy, and student mobility.

The Western Balkans region includes Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.