Policy recommendations → Institutional integration: Create formal pathways for Western Balkan participation in the EU’s existing and emerging defence initiatives, including the European Defence Industry Programme, European Defence Agency, and European Defence Fund. → Policy exchange: Include the Western Balkan countries in CFSP, CSDP and other defence-related policy discussions whenever possible(even as observers) to ensure continuous alignment, explore further integration avenues and help them prepare for membership. → Joint training: Encourage joint military training between national armies of EU member states and the Western Balkan countries to foster trust, build bonds and ensure interoperability. → Infrastructure funding: Prioritize funding of dual-use infrastructure in the region to support military mobility and logistical resilience. → Transparency and governance: Strengthen rule-of-law and anti-corruption mechanisms in defence procurement to ensure responsible use of increasing defence budgets and EU instruments. → Industrial investment: Provide targeted EU investment to the region’s defence and dual-use industries to enhance production capacity, supply chain resilience, and boost the smaller markets in the region through EU­wide economies of scale. → Private sector partnerships: Foster long-term partnerships between Western Balkan defence companies and EU firms to integrate regional producers into European supply chains and innovation ecosystems. → Common defence and security market: As the Western Balkans gradually join the EU Single Market, involve them in the building of the common security and defence market by further dismantling trade and investment barriers, promoting joint ventures and procurement, and harmonizing standards in dual-use and defence technologies. → Link to enlargement: Integrate participation in defence­related policy forums and instruments, as well as the necessary reforms for that to happen, into the gradual accession framework to ensure that some benefits of the defence integration are felt early on and incentivize enlargement. → Path to overcome enlargement fatigue: Amidst geopolitical uncertainty and heightened security tensions, communicate the Western Balkan’s contribution to European defence readiness towards and within EU member states to push enlargement forward and overcome reluctance. Imprint Publisher Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Godesberger Allee 149 53175 Bonn info@fes.de Publishing department Dialogue Southeast Europe Contact Sarah Hees-Kalyani Regional Coordinator Harun Cero Program Manager Disclaimer: The report “Europe’s Overlooked Allies: Why the Western Balkans Matter for EU Defence Readiness” was prepared in the framework of the initiative think nea – New Narratives of EU Integration by the Hellenic Foundation for European& Foreign Policy(ELIAMEP), supported by the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans. It explores the strategic importance of the Western Balkans in the context of the European Union’s pursuit of strategic autonomy and enhanced defence readiness. The report argues that, despite not yet being EU member states, Western Balkan countries have increasingly demonstrated their value as security contributors and partners. This role is both timely and essential as the EU faces the consequences of the war in Ukraine and potential shifts in the transatlantic security relationship. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.(FES). Commercial use of the media published by the FES is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. FES publications may not be used for elec‑ tion campaign purposes. September, 2025 © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e. V. Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: ↗ www.fes.de/publikationen Dialogue Southeast Europe 7