August 19, 2019, marked the 30th anniversary of the pan-European picnic, during which thousands of people on the Hungarian-Austrian frontier near the city of Sopron called for an end to the Cold War. On this anniversary, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a strong restatement of Berlin's commitment to EU enlargement. Chancellor Merkel stated that Europe would only be genuinely united when all the countries of the Western Balkans join the European Union.
Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania are official candidate countries for EU membership; Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates. While unpopular with some EU governments and many voters in Western Europe, Chancellor Merkel’s assertion is expected to boost pro-EU sentiment in the region, which has been experiencing an increased political and economic presence from Russia and China.
