The European Union is set to advance expansion plans at its annual EU-Western Balkans summit on Friday, with hosts Montenegro leading a list of six candidate countries.
EU expansion is seen by Brussels as a response to new geopolitical challenges including security and economic threats posed by Russia and China and an increasing ambivalence — bordering on hostility — towards the bloc from the United States.
The summit is the first to bring together EU leaders since the electoral defeat of Viktor Orban, Hungary's former Moscow-friendly prime minister who, during his 16-year tenure, flouted the EU's standards on democracy and the rule of law and forged close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other autocrats.
The gathering in the picturesque port of Tivat on Montenegro's Adriatic coast is being attended by European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.European leaders prepare for the summit in TivatImage: Ludovic Marin/AFP
They are joined by the heads of EU candidate countries including, in addition to hosts Montenegro: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.
