EU-Western Balkans summit underway in Brussels

EU leaders and their counterparts from the Western Balkans are meeting in Brussels Wednesday evening for the EU–Western Balkans summit.

As the European Union signals a renewed commitment to enlargement, Montenegro and Albania are seen as the frontrunners among the group, which also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Serbia, which has made limited progress toward EU membership, announced it will not attend the meeting.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said EU enlargement is now viewed through a geopolitical lens, following the strategic decision to include Ukraine and Moldova in the process. This shift could accelerate the accession of other candidate countries.

“This has a completely different goal compared to before and means that some processes could go a little faster,” Plenković said upon arriving at the summit.

Plenković emphasized Croatia’s interest in seeing countries in its southeastern neighborhood continue reforms and meet EU membership criteria. He highlighted Bosnia and Herzegovina as a priority, saying he is actively advocating for the country within EU institutions.

When asked about Montenegro’s progress, Plenković said Croatia supports all Southeast European countries, but noted that specific criteria must still be met, as Croatia had to do during its own accession process.

“Montenegro needs to fulfill them too, and I believe there is the intention and goodwill to do so. Realistically, we have open issues stemming from Serbia’s Milošević-era aggression against Croatia, and Montenegro was unfortunately part of that state, so some of the issues are related to that time,” he said.

Plenković declined to comment on the absence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who confirmed he would not participate in the summit.