TIVAT – Leaders from across the European Union and the Balkans are gathering in Montenegro on Friday to discuss expanding the bloc to include countries in the region, seen as a key area in countering security and economic threats posed by Russia and China.
The EU-Western Balkans summit, being held in the Adriatic Sea coastal town of Tivat, brings together European leaders including President Emmanuel Macron of France, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, as well as the heads of other EU candidate countries in the Balkans and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
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High on the agenda will be Montenegro's EU accession: The bloc has already formed a working group to draft an accession treaty for the country, a signal that membership is within reach.
Enlargement to boost economy and defense
Adding members to the bloc to expand for more single market economic benefits and stronger security capabilities has gained increased urgency in recent years as the continent has faced a series of challenges, such as lopsided trade with China, migration pressures, the war in Ukraine and increasing hybrid threats from Russia.
The EU has signaled its commitment to expanding into the Western Balkans, where it has urged candidate countries such as Montenegro to carry out reforms like cutting corruption and shoring up democratic institutions — steps viewed as benefiting both the candidate nations and the EU as a whole.
Further, as wars rage in Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East, and Europe’s security has come under question with the United States viewed as less committed to its NATO allies, EU countries have pushed to boost their military capabilities to ward off future threats.
During a tour of countries in the Western Balkans this week, European Council President Antonio Costa, who is hosting the summit, has emphasized how serious the bloc is about enlarging.
Speaking in Serbia on Thursday after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Costa said the EU would look for new ways to speed up the membership process for the Western Balkan candidate countries.
In times of “global geopolitical uncertainty and economic instability,” Costa said, enlarging the EU is “not just an opportunity. It is a geostrategic necessity for Europe.”
Many now aspire to join the bloc
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 with neighboring Serbia, is considered a front-runner ahead of the region’s other candidate countries of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.
After joining NATO in 2017, the country of 623,000 people is now set on fulfilling an ambitious agenda of becoming the 28th member of the EU in 2028. The motto “28 by 28” has even been inscribed on one of the planes of Montenegro’s national airline.
Candidate countries must bring their laws into line in 35 policy areas or “chapters,” ranging from justice standards to farm and fishing rules. All 27 EU members must agree before each chapter can be opened, and then again for it to be closed.
Ukraine and Moldova are also among about 10 countries aspiring to join the bloc. Iceland will hold a referendum in August on whether to apply.
New rules to avoid growing pains
Faruk Bašić, a researcher at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, said the summit will likely result in a rapid movement for Montenegro to join the bloc in 2028. It will also likely see new safeguards to ensure member nations don’t break EU norms.
The summit will be the first to bring together EU leaders since the stunning defeat in April of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s former Russia-friendly prime minister who, during his 16-year rule, flouted the EU’s standards on democracy and the rule of law and forged close ties with other autocrats.
With the painful experience of Orbán’s democratic backsliding and historic use of the veto in the European Council, the EU is devising new ways to use financial penalties or restricted access to the single market to pressure incoming nations to carry out reforms and adapt to the bloc's standards, Bašić said.
“The EU is trying to find a way how to admit a country that isn’t fully ready to be admitted without losing the ability to hold it accountable after the fact,” he said, pointing to Ukraine’s accession bid as well as nations in the Western Balkans like Serbia and Kosovo.
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McNeil reported from Brussels.