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Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s tour of the Balkans this week comes at a delicate time on several fronts. His visit, which includes stops in Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, comes a week before the commission publishes its report on relations between Ukraine and Moldova. applications for EU membership. A number of countries in the region have been in the waiting room for years already. Serbia, a candidate country for more than a decade, faces criticism from several sides. The country was asked last week to recall growing tensions with Kosovo by France and Germany, while Bulgaria accused him and Hungary of fueling the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “war machine” by not seeking alternative gas supplies. For his part, von der Leyen will try to calm, or at least not stir up, as many problems as possible.