About: Montenegro Archives

Though the EU has lately been busy dealing with issues such as Brexit and the migration crisis, it has found time to talk of the integration of the Western Balkans. A steady integration of the region is good news indeed as this could lead to a federalised Europe and a complete Union, writes Bernard Kouchner.

The attitude that the EU owes something to the candidate countries in the Western Balkans is wrong, as well as the belief that concerns over the growing Russian influence in the region will be enough to bring someone "closer to the EU”, according to the EU Ambassador to Montenegro, Aivo Orav.

Almost two decades after the NATO bombing of Serbia, local authorities there have launched an investigation to determine whether depleted uranium bombs were used, which could explain in surge in autoimmune diseases. EURACTIV.rs reports.

EU members want to take their time with a new round of enlargement - something that the Western Balkans summit this Thursday (17 May) in Sofia is unlikely to change. EURACTIV Germany’s partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.

What is 9 May? For most in the EU, it’s Europe Day, in commemoration of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, the cornerstone of what is today the European Union. But in Eastern Europe, Russia has in recent years promoted a different kind of celebration, more in the vein of Cold War era parades.

An attacker shot an investigative reporter in Montenegro Tuesday (8 May), police said, prompting calls from the European Union and the United States to protect journalists in the Balkan country.

Political heavyweight Milo Djukanović, bidding to take Montenegro into the European Union, swept back into power in Sunday's (15 April) presidential election after a two-year absence.

The frontrunner in Sunday's presidential election in Montenegro said he wants closer ties to the West and would also welcome improved relations with Russia that soured when the country became NATO's newest member.

Serbia's president called on western Balkan countries to settle their differences and create a common market to attract badly needed foreign investment.

The Bulgarian EU Presidency sees a possible risk of Western Balkan hopefuls “looking elsewhere” while the bloc hesitates to move forward with their accession, the Bulgarian Ambassador to the EU told Brussels journalists on Monday (8 January).

The EU on Monday (11 December) opened new chapters in its membership talks with Montenegro and Serbia, countries which European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker says he expects to join the bloc by 2025.

Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner in charge of digital policies, will announce a plan to get rid of mobile fees between the EU and Western Balkan countries at a May 2018 summit in Bulgaria.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has a strong motivation for giving a boost to the largely stalled EU enlargement process, writes Sir Michael Leigh.

With the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit this Friday (24 November) and the Bulgarian Presidency in January 2018, the EU is at a juncture where it can reverse a very negative trend and breathe new life in its neighbourhood policy, Harry Nedelcu writes.

A new study looking into the practical, legal and technical aspects of further EU expansion has concluded that only one country, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, could meet the criteria for joining the bloc before 2023.

The President of Kosovo is defying the EU by hinting Kosovars will get Albanian passports to be able to travel visa-free to the EU.

Citizens of the Balkan region are highly sceptical that their countries will be joining the EU anytime soon, despite shows of support for European integration, while a quarter do not believe their country will ever join the EU, the Balkan Barometer 2017 survey has shown.

Last week the European Commission dealt another blow to the Western Balkans by promising an accession strategy for Montenegro and Serbia while neglecting the other four Balkan countries, Hashim Thaçi, the president of Kosovo, writes in an exclusive op-ed for EURACTIV.

The EU's fast-and-loose approach to the Western Balkans has never been more evident than in the last few years.

Dented by Brexit, the European Union should seize on the hunger of Balkan nations for membership as an opportunity to "feel attractive", Macedonia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday (12 July).

If the Western Balkans are to overcome almost three decades of economic stagnation and crisis, they will need to double their annual growth rates. This will need a fundamental rethink of the EU’s enlargement policy, argue Tobias Flessenkemper and Dušan Reljić.

A coalition led by the ruling centre-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) came first in Kosovo's snap parliamentary election yesterday (11 June), but it will have to find a coalition partner to form a stable government, results based on a partial vote count showed.

The European Union hopes six Balkan countries will agree at a summit on July 12 in Italy to create a regional common market that could be working within a year, a top EU official said on Tuesday (6 June), in the bloc's latest step to re-engage the region.

Montenegro became the 29th member of NATO on Monday (6 June) and was praised by the United States for sticking to its path of joining the Western military alliance in spite of Russian pressure.