Montenegro on track to join EU by 2028, leaders say at Balkan summit
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Leaders from across the EU were joined by their Western Balkan counterparts in Montenegro’s Adriatic Sea coastal town of Tivat, where they discussed the bloc’s enlargement into a region seen as a key area in countering security and economic threats posed by Russia and China. Enlargement has a long history of generating political momentum that dissolves in Council negotiations. Russia's presence in the region — through energy ties, political networks in Belgrade, and disinformation operations — gives Brussels a stronger incentive to anchor these countries firmly within the EU orbit. Albania opened negotiations in 2020 and has since made faster progress than many in Brussels anticipated. Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are all in Tivat — a level of political engagement that signals enlargement has moved from an aspirational project to a live priority.
They discussed opportunities and challenges related to enlargement, gradual integration, regional cooperation, security and stability. This would enable their citizens to make calls, send text messages and use mobile data while travelling abroad without paying additional roaming charges, under the same conditions as at home. On 4 June, the EU took the decision to start negotiations with the Western Balkans partners to integrate them into the ‘Roam Like at Home‘ area. This is a proof that reforms and engagement with all actors of society pay off. That’s why we are considering new ideas to streamline and accelerate the process. The EU is committed to bringing the Western Balkans partners closer to the EU during the enlargement process. During the summit, leaders assessed the progress made in the gradual integration of the Western Balkans with the EU, and discussed how to advance it further, notably through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
This is a political moment in which the directions of European politics and relations between the European Union and the Western Balkans are defined. The Podgorica summit will adopt a final declaration covering enlargement methodology, rule-of-law conditionality, regional cooperation and economic convergence. It is the only candidate to have reached the most advanced negotiating stage, having met the interim benchmarks for chapters 23 and 24 (rule of law and fundamental rights) that unlock the closing process for all chapters. The abolition of the charges, often presented as an EU success story, would be extended to western Balkan states pending their take-up of relevant EU law and further negotiations. Sources also cautioned against expecting further big announcements on membership talks on Friday, suggesting the focus would be on how the EU could make a tangible difference to people’s lives in the region.
He also encouraged all partners to use the current momentum to take all the necessary steps to accelerate their progress on the European Union path. The summit in Tivat represents an important turning point in that process, with the clear goal of Montenegro becoming the 28th member of the European Union by 2028, based on results, reforms and a credible partnership. It is a message of recognition of the achieved results on the European road and an incentive in the final phase of the accession negotiations. The summit in Tivat represents the first event of this level in the history of our country and the moment when the political attention of Europe is directed towards Montenegro. Kosovo, recognised by 22 of 27 member states, remains formally on the path but blocked by EU divisions. EU leaders will signal whether the accelerated pace of Montenegro’s accession can be matched by Albania — which began negotiations only in 2020 but has progressed faster than long-running candidates. While Ukraine’s path to EU membership is seen as unique because of its status as a country at war and colossal needs for postwar recovery finance, its treatment is likely to affect the western Balkans. Faruk Bašić, a researcher at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, said the region was no longer peripheral for the EU but a strategic priority.
Accelerated integration
Serbia’s populist leader, Aleksandar Vucic, said Friday that he had high hopes for the summit and accession paths for Balkan countries after recently meeting with EU leaders like Merz and Macron. Ukraine and Moldova are also among about 10 countries aspiring to join the bloc, while Iceland will hold a referendum in August on whether to apply. After joining NATO in 2017, the country of 623,000 people is now set on fulfilling its ambitious agenda of becoming the the EU’s 28th member. European Council President Antonio Costa, who hosted the Tivat summit, said the EU was “considering new ideas to streamline and accelerate the process” to increase trust in the EU and “increase the motivation of the Western Balkan partners.” Adding members to the EU — which can bring the bloc more single market economic benefits and stronger security capabilities — has gained urgency in recent years as the continent faces a series of challenges, such as lopsided trade with China, migration pressures, the war in Ukraine and increasing hybrid threats from Russia.
As real as the opportunity for enlargement,” said the European Council president, António Costa, earlier this week in Sarajevo. The focus will be on integrating the six Balkan countries – among them Montenegro and Albania – more deeply into the EU single market, paving the way for them to join the bloc.
Montenegro opened accession negotiations in 2012 and has provisionally closed more chapters than any other candidate country, though rule-of-law reforms — particularly on judicial independence and organised crime — remain incomplete. Leaders also examined how to address common challenges and strengthen security and resilience, against the backdrop of an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. Their accession remains Union’s priority and a crucial geopolitical investment“. The geopolitical pressure of Russian influence in the region, combined with growing Chinese investment, has reframed Western Balkans accession as a security imperative. While the EU’s traditional enlargement logic was that “you align with EU values and principles and you eventually join”, Bašić said, Ukraine’s candidacy – granted within four months in 2022 – showed “real geopolitical urgency that we haven’t seen before”. Montenegro, a small, mountainous country that was once a part of Yugoslavia and which this week marked the 20th anniversary of its independence from a union PC Optimum Online Slots with neighboring Serbia, is considered the front-runner among the region’s other candidate countries of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Yet the lengthy process of carrying out such reforms and advancing the process of membership has frustrated some candidate countries, leading to some calls to find ways to accelerate the procedure.
Montenegro blocks entry to 87 Serbs over security concerns ahead of EU summit The EU will look for ways to make it quicker for the Western Balkan countries to join the bloc The EU has already formed a working group to draft an accession treaty for Montenegro, whose president, Jakov Milatovic, said the summit had given him “even greater confidence” that his country will fulfill its aim of joining the EU by 2028. High on the agenda was Montenegro’s EU accession, a process that is approaching its final stages and which von der Leyen said Friday was “within reach.” The question is whether political will translates into a concrete timetable that candidate countries can hold Brussels to. Chinese infrastructure investment via Belt and Road adds another layer of competition for regional alignment. Thursday's edition in Tivat, Montenegro feels different — not because the structural obstacles to enlargement have disappeared, but because the political weight attending the meeting has visibly changed.