TIVAT, Montenegro (AP) — 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. High on the agenda will be EU accession for Montenegro, a small, mountainous nation that was once a part of Yugoslavia and which marked the 20th anniversary last month of its declaration of independence from a union with neighboring Serbia.
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 “28 by 28” has even been inscribed on one of the planes of Montenegro’s national airline.
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