Latvian Residents May Soon Be Able to Call and Text for Free in Six Western Balkan Countries

The European Commission has put forward an initiative to significantly expand the regulated roaming zone to include six Western Balkan countries. If approved, Latvian residents would be able to make calls, send text messages, and use mobile internet in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia just like at home, without additional fees.

Currently, this initiative is in its early stages. After approval by the Council of the European Union, the European Commission will need to negotiate bilateral agreements with each of the mentioned countries separately. These agreements are a prerequisite for the Western Balkans to become part of the EU roaming zone with the same tariffs as within the internal market.

Exact timelines for when this possibility could become a reality are not yet known. The process depends on decisions by EU institutions as well as the national authorities of each partner country. At present, regulated roaming mainly operates within European Union member states and other European Economic Area countries.