{"id":536,"date":"2026-06-05T06:08:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=536"},"modified":"2026-06-05T06:08:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T06:08:03","slug":"balkan-leaders-attend-eu-summit-in-montenegro-as-enlargement-gains-urgency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=536","title":{"rendered":"Balkan leaders attend EU summit in Montenegro as enlargement gains urgency"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>TIVAT, Montenegro (AP) \u2014 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. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=534\">Pope Leo\u2019s visiting Europe\u2019s migration hot spots. Catholics hope he\u2019ll ease political tensions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>High on the agenda will be EU accession for Montenegro, a small, mountainous nation that was once a part of Yugoslavia and which <span>marked the 20th anniversary<\/span> last month of its declaration of independence from a union with neighboring Serbia. <\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After joining NATO in 2017, the country of 623,000 people is set on fulfilling an ambitious agenda of becoming the 28th member of the EU in 2028. The motto \u201c28 by 28\u201d has even been inscribed on one of the planes of Montenegro\u2019s national airline.<\/p>\n<p>The EU has already formed a working group to draft an accession treaty for Montenegro \u2014 a signal that membership is <span>within reach<\/span>. It is considered a front-runner ahead of the region\u2019s other candidate countries of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia. <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<!-- AP \"Read More\" embed (place mid-article) --><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>All are at different stages of the accession process, and the EU has recently sought to encourage reform in the candidate nations fearing the growing influence of <span>Russia<\/span> and <span>China<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Candidate countries must bring their laws into line in 35 policy areas or \u201cchapters,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine and Moldova are also among about ten countries aspiring to join the bloc. Iceland will hold <span>a referendum<\/span> in August on whether to apply.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=532\">Sherpa guide missing for a week on Mount Everest rescued while crawling to base camp<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The summit will be chaired by European Council President Antonio Costa, who during a tour of countries in the Western Balkans this week has <span>emphasized<\/span> how serious the bloc is about enlarging.<\/p>\n<p>As wars rage in Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East and Europe\u2019s future security has come under question with the United States viewed as less committed to its NATO allies, EU countries have pushed to boost military capabilities and defend against what is seen as an increasingly aggressive Russia. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking in Serbia on Thursday after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Costa said that in times of \u201cglobal geopolitical uncertainty and economic instability\u201d enlarging the EU is \u201cnot just an opportunity. It is a geostrategic necessity for Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Faruk Ba\u0161i\u0107, 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\u2019t break EU norms. <\/p>\n<p>The summit will be the first to bring together EU leaders since the stunning defeat in April of Viktor Orb\u00e1n, Hungary\u2019s former Russia-friendly prime minister who, during his 16-year rule, flouted the EU\u2019s standards on democracy and the rule of law and forged close ties with other autocrats.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With the painful experience of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s 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\u2019s standards, Ba\u0161i\u0107 said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe EU is trying to find a way how to admit a country that isn\u2019t fully ready to be admitted without losing the ability to hold it accountable after the fact,\u201d he said, pointing to Ukraine\u2019s accession bid as well as nations in the Western Balkans like Serbia and Kosovo. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=530\">Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week in first visit since 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>McNeil reported from Brussels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>European Union and Balkan leaders are meeting in Montenegro for talks on expanding the bloc. This region is seen as crucial for countering security and economic threats from Russia and China. Among those attending EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat on Friday are France&#8217;s Emmanuel Macron and Germany&#8217;s Friedrich Merz. High on the agenda is Montenegro&#8217;s potential EU accession. Montenegro aims to become the EU&#8217;s 28th member by 2028. The EU has formed a working group for Montenegro&#8217;s accession treaty, signaling membership is within reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Balkan leaders attend EU summit in Montenegro as enlargement gains urgency - Top Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Balkan leaders attend EU summit in Montenegro as enlargement gains urgency - Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"European Union and Balkan leaders are meeting in Montenegro for talks on expanding the bloc. This region is seen as crucial for countering security and economic threats from Russia and China. Among those attending EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat on Friday are France&#039;s Emmanuel Macron and Germany&#039;s Friedrich Merz. High on the agenda is Montenegro&#039;s potential EU accession. Montenegro aims to become the EU&#039;s 28th member by 2028. 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