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The European Commission has entered a new phase in shaping Europe’s artificial intelligence landscape, marked most notably by the publication of the European Strategy for AI in Science and the launch of initiatives such as the AI Factory Network, InvestAI and RAISE. These instruments signal a shift from fragmented national efforts toward a more coordinated European AI ecosystem, combining advanced computer infrastructure, shared research environments, and common standards for responsible and trustworthy AI. The adoption of the EU AI Act further reinforces this shift, providing the first comprehensive legal framework to ensure safe, transparent and trustworthy AI across the Union.
Within this evolving landscape, the Western Balkans are increasingly aligning themselves with these emerging priorities. Despite diverse starting points, the region is investing in digital research capacity, improving access to EuroHPC resources, adopting elements of EU regulatory standards and strengthening its engagement with the Digital Europe Programme.
In October 2025, the European Commission expanded Europe’s AI infrastructure by increasing the number of AI Factories to 19 across 16 Member States, backed by more than €500 million in joint investment. Although the new facilities will be located within the EU, the initiative is expected to generate wider regional benefits for neighbouring countries such as North Macedonia and Serbia. As part of the €2.6 billion AI Factories and Antennas initiative, forthcoming AI Factory Antennas in both economies will provide secure remote access to European AI-optimised supercomputers and technical expertise, enabling researchers, businesses and public institutions to harness cutting-edge capabilities. The expansion supports the EU’s AI Continent Action Plan and complements investments in AI Gigafactories and the Apply AI Strategy, opening new opportunities for innovation and competitiveness across the Western Balkans.
As the EU advances its strategic agenda, the Western Balkans are positioning themselves as constructive partners, seeking deeper integration into Europe’s scientific and technological networks and contributing to a more cohesive and competitive European AI landscape.
European Strategy for AI in Science
The European Strategy for AI in Science, published in October 2025, establishes a coordinated framework to accelerate the use of advanced artificial intelligence across Europe’s scientific ecosystem. Its central instrument is RAISE, the Resource for AI Science in Europe, a virtual institute that consolidates access to cutting-edge compute infrastructure, shared datasets and cross-disciplinary expertise. By linking universities, research institutes and industry partners to high-performance AI resources such as EU-funded gigafactories, the strategy is designed to reduce fragmentation, broaden access to compute, and enable researchers to apply state-of-the-art AI methods to complex scientific problems in fields ranging from climate and health to physics and materials science.
The strategy also focuses on strengthening European talent pipelines, expanding funding for AI-for-science programmes, and embedding responsible and trustworthy AI practices in research. It emphasises the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between AI specialists and domain scientists and it positions the EU to compete more effectively with global leaders in AI-driven scientific discovery. Through coordinated investment, shared infrastructure and common standards, the initiative aims to raise Europe’s overall scientific capacity and accelerate the development of new knowledge and innovation powered by AI.
AI in the Western Balkans
Albania has intensified its digital-transformation agenda and begun experimenting with AI-supported governance, most visibly through the integration of AI-based tools into public-administration processes. The introduction of Diella, an AI-enabled virtual assistant within national e-government services, reflects the broader push to modernise public administration and streamline service delivery. Broader government programmes in digital infrastructure and service modernisation provide a structural foundation for future AI uptake, as highlighted in EU monitoring reports on Albania’s digital-transformation progress.
Albania plans to integrate artificial intelligence into its education system, beginning with personalised learning tools outlined in the Digital Education Action Plan 2025–2030, which include AI-powered platforms that track student progress, tailor exercises, provide instant feedback, and adapt content to individual learning needs. Alongside this, the government aims to develop guidelines for the use of tools such as ChatGPT, expand AI-focused study exchanges and scholarships, host visiting experts, support joint research and degree programmes and introduce AI concepts into the pre-university ICT curriculum from grade four upwards.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is approaching artificial intelligence as both a new opportunity and a governance challenge. UNDP report highlight that institutions are increasingly engaging with international guidance, particularly the EU AI Act and human-rights-based principles promoted by UNDP and regional policy bodies. Capacity building is taking place through national HPC and digital-innovation efforts, for example via the National Competence Centre (NCC) within the EuroCC framework, which provides training workshops and supports research groups and SMEs in applying HPC and AI tools.
Civil-society initiatives have also begun addressing ethical questions around transparency, fairness, and responsible AI adoption. Participation in EU programmes such as Digital Europe has opened access to cross-border projects and training initiatives, which can support long-term skills development. Recent initiatives, such as the joint UNESCO–Verlab scheme providing remote access to a virtual HPC sandbox for young researchers, further demonstrate the commitment to building the skills and infrastructure necessary to support AI-enabled research, innovation and digital transformation.
Montenegro is in a formative phase of its AI and digital transformation agenda. Although Montenegro has not yet adopted a dedicated national AI strategy, the government has taken several foundational steps in recent years and is actively developing one. The National Competence Centre for High-Performance Computing (NCC Montenegro), established under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, provides researchers, SMEs and public institutions with access to European HPC resources and training, enabling the use of advanced computing for scientific and industrial applications. In 2025, Montenegro also launched its first European Digital Innovation Hub, MontEDIH, under the Digital Europe Programme. MontEDIH supports SMEs and public organisations in digital and green transitions, with a strong emphasis on AI, IoT and high-performance computing.
Montenegro is also advancing its AI governance capabilities: in 2025, the government and UNDP published the country’s first AI Readiness Assessment for the public administration, which will feed into the development of Montenegro’s first national AI strategy.
North Macedonia has recently taken an important step in strengthening its national AI and digital capacities through its selection as one of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking’s AI Factory Antennas. The national project Vezilka, hosted at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, has been announced as part of the Europe-wide network of AI Factory Antennas. National authorities describe Vezilka as a new National Centre for Artificial Intelligence intended to link Macedonian researchers and institutions to European high-performance computing and AI infrastructure.
North Macedonia strengthened its digital and AI ecosystem in early 2025 with the launch of INNOFEIT, the European Digital Innovation Hub. INNOFEIT provides SMEs and public institutions with services in testing, prototyping, digital twins, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, supporting “test before invest” approaches and helping organisations raise their digital maturity. The hub was also showcased at the Western Balkans Digital Summit in Skopje, underscoring its role in the national digital-transformation agenda. As part of the AI Factory network, the initiative provides a structured channel for scientific, industrial, and public-sector actors in North Macedonia to collaborate with European AI hubs and gain access to compute resources and expertise.
Kosovo* has made substantial progress in digital governance, anchored by its national e-government platform, eKosova, which has expanded access to public services and strengthened digital-public-service delivery. This progress provides an enabling environment for future AI applications in administration and public services. Yet, other publications confirm that Kosovo does not currently have a national AI strategy or a dedicated regulatory framework for artificial intelligence. Existing digital-transformation and ICT strategies focus primarily on e-government, infrastructure and service modernisation rather than AI-specific development. As digital capacity grows, Kosovo’s next challenge will be to define how AI fits into its public-sector and research priorities, and to develop governance mechanisms that support responsible and secure adoption.
Serbia is one of the earliest adopters of a national strategic approach to artificial intelligence in Southeast Europe. It adopted its first National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2019 for the period 2020–2025 and has since approved a new strategy for 2025–2030. Serbia also established the Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia, which focuses on research, education and innovation support and is formally linked to the national strategic framework.
Serbia’s strategic direction emphasises responsible and ethical AI development, data governance, and strengthening national digital infrastructure. Its participation in international discussions on AI contributes to its regional visibility, and overall, Serbia presents a comparatively advanced and institutionally anchored AI landscape supported by strategy, research institutions and innovation funding mechanisms.
A shared direction is becoming clearer across the Western Balkans. Although each economy starts from a different institutional and technological level, they are increasingly focusing on the same key priorities:
- alignment with EU policies and standards
- expansion of HPC access and digital research infrastructure
- participation in EuroHPC and Digital Europe Programme initiatives
- and a recognition that open science and FAIR data are critical foundations for effective AI
Governments across the region are also emphasising responsible, transparent and ethical AI development, while acknowledging that skills and talent remain the most binding constraint. As the European Commission deploys new instruments under Horizon Europe and the European Research Area, Western Balkans’ partners are positioning themselves as active contributors. Emerging national strategies, expanding compute access, open-science reforms and regional collaboration create the basis for competitiveness and deeper integration.