EU leaders on Wednesday emphasized that six Western Balkans countries have a future in the EU and offered them new financial assistance to deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the roughly two-hour video-conference, the Europeans focused in on the 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) in emergency coronavirus funding that it recently granted the six as they look to burnish their credentials as far more worthy partners to the region than Russia.
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But the leaders signaled that more is to come. “Once we put behind us this immediate phase of the coronavirus crisis, the European Union will accompany the longer-term recovery with an economic and investment plan,” von der Leyen said.
