Brussels is financing infrastructure in the Western Balkans. EU membership is another matter.
On the outskirts of Tirana, diggers are preparing the ground for what will become an electrified railway line linking Albania’s capital to its main port. In North Macedonia, classrooms are being renovated to be more energy-efficient. Montenegro is getting help with its education facilities. The European Union announced on January 27 that it would provide 171 million euros for infrastructure and business support across the Western Balkans—part of its Growth Plan to bring the region closer to the bloc.
“Investing in our Western Balkan partners is key to bringing them closer to the EU,” declared Marta Kos, the European commissioner for enlargement. Fair enough. The money will mobilise 263 million euros in total investments across transport, energy, digital connectivity and human capital. Small and medium-sized companies will get support going green. Bosnia and Herzegovina is being handed drinking-water improvements. All very worthy.
But here is the rub: some of these countries have been waiting decades for EU membership. North Macedonia applied to join in 2004. Albania’s candidacy dates to 2009. Montenegro has been negotiating since 2012. Two decades on, they are still stuck in Brussels’ waiting room whilst the EU cheerfully writes cheques for broadband and wastewater treatment.
The bloc’s latest package divides neatly. Infrastructure projects get 91.8 million euros, with another 2.9 million euros for technical assistance—helping prepare future investments in energy and water. The remaining 76.3 million euros supports private enterprise: export programmes for regional firms, green-economy initiatives, and a pilot scheme called Western Balkans Opportunities by Non-traditional Debt, which sounds rather less exciting than it is (it helps small firms access finance beyond traditional bank loans).
Ms Kos insists the investments are “creating real opportunities for citizens and making the EU a lived reality across the region”. That is one way of looking at it. Another is that Brussels has discovered a convenient halfway house: economic integration without the political commitments. Why wrestle with the thorny questions of rule of law, judicial reform and anti-corruption measures when you can simply build things instead?
The Reform and Growth Facility, launched in May 2024 with a six billion euros budget through 2027, is the plan’s financial engine. It works through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, a 15-year-old platform that brings together the European Commission, international financial institutions, EU member states and Norway. Since its launch, 13 investment projects worth 156 million euros have been approved. The facility channels three billion euros in grants and loans toward priority sectors.
On paper, the Growth Plan aims to integrate Western Balkan partners into the EU single market whilst advancing reforms. In practice, it looks rather like a consolation prize. The EU gets to claim it is supporting the region’s development—true enough. The Western Balkans get roads and railways—also true. What they don’t get is membership. That remains maddeningly out of reach, blocked by a rotating cast of member-state objections and Brussels’ own cold feet about expansion.
Some countries have fared better than others in this limbo. Serbia, despite its cosy relationship with Russia, has attracted substantial Chinese investment in infrastructure. Albania’s tourism sector has boomed without EU help. North Macedonia changed its name to satisfy Greek objections, only to find Bulgaria blocking its progress over linguistic disputes. The whole process has become a masterclass in frustration.
The current package includes some genuinely useful projects. Broadband rollout in Albania will connect remote areas. North Macedonia’s electricity transmission improvements address real infrastructure gaps. Montenegro’s school renovations tackle both education quality and energy efficiency. These are sensible investments that will improve lives.
But they also serve a useful political function for Brussels. Each announcement of funding allows EU officials to demonstrate commitment to enlargement without actually enlarging. The 171 million sounds substantial (it is). The projects photograph well. Everyone can point to tangible progress. Kos can say—quite truthfully—that the EU is working to make enlargement “a lived reality”.
What gets lost is the original promise: membership itself. The Western Balkans Investment Framework has been around for 15 years. North Macedonia has been a candidate for two decades. At some point, infrastructure investment starts to look less like preparation for membership and more like a substitute for it.
The EU has its reasons, of course. Bringing in new members is complicated. France worries about institutional paralysis. The Netherlands frets about migration. Germany wants reforms completed first. Everyone has a veto, and someone always wants to use it. Easier by far to write cheques and build railways.
The Western Balkans are stuck in a peculiar position: too European to ignore, too problematic to embrace. So Brussels has settled on an intermediate solution. Roads and schools today; membership sometime never. The infrastructure will be useful. The patience of the waiting countries may not last quite as long.
Photo: Dreamstime.
