"Montenegro the smallest of the five candidate countries in the region is widely seen as the frontrunner in the Western Balkans accession process, with Albania following close behind. According to EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, Montenegro could technically complete accession negotiations by the end of 2026 and Albania a year later. "Then we need one to one-and-a-half years to go through the ratification process. So, I am realistically optimistic that even during my mandate, which ends at the end of 2029, the European Union could have at least two new members," Kos told DW."
"After the wars that ripped the Balkans apart in the 1990s, the European Union pledged in 2003 to integrate into the bloc the seven countries of the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Croatia joined the EU ten years later."
The European Union pledged in 2003 to integrate seven Western Balkan countries—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia—into the bloc; Croatia joined in 2013. Enlargement momentum has revived, shifting the question from if to which Western Balkan countries will progress. Montenegro is widely seen as the frontrunner, with Albania close behind; Montenegro could complete accession negotiations by end-2026 and Albania by 2027, followed by a 12–18 month ratification phase. Serbia, the largest and economically strongest candidate, shows waning reform momentum. Kosovo applied for membership in 2022; five non-Kosovo states are official EU candidates.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]