Montenegro and Albania First to Get Roam-Free With the EU — Macedonia Still Without a Set Date
The same month, the two countries plus Moldova joined SEPA. Different speeds toward the same EU benefits.
Montenegro and Albania are soon set to implement free roaming with EU member states — mobile phone users from both countries will be able to make calls, send messages and use mobile data at the same prices as at home while in the EU. Macedonia, for now, is not among the first regional countries with a set implementation date.
The same month, Montenegro and Albania, along with North Macedonia and Moldova, joined the European SEPA payment system, a step enabling faster and cheaper money transfers within member states — a signal that digital and financial integration with the EU continues, even if at different speeds on different fronts.
The regional model for reducing roaming costs between the EU and the Western Balkans began on 1 October 2023, with a plan for the price of one gigabyte of data to gradually fall — under €18 from 2023, under €14 from 2026, and under €9 from 2028. Full elimination of additional charges depends on each country's regulatory readiness and the agreement it reaches individually with the EU.
For Macedonia, the question isn't whether it's part of the process — it already is — but how quickly it completes the remaining alignment steps. The fact that Montenegro and Albania are the first to reach a concrete date for full elimination offers a measurable, everyday example of how different countries in the region are advancing toward the same EU benefits at different speeds.
MKNews Hub · World · September 25, 2026
