Germany’s Merz says EU to initiate integration of Western Balkans

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says that the European Union plans to initiate a gradual integration process for six Western Balkan countries wishing to join the bloc.

“The clear message of today is, and will remain: We want you. And we want this region, and the states within it, to become members of the European Union soon,” Merz told reporters in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, after a summit between the bloc’s leaders and their Western Balkan counterparts.

Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic welcomed several European leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Merz, on Friday morning. His Balkan nation is among those bidding to become an EU member state.

After decades of back-and-forth over the future membership of the six Western Balkan nations, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 reinvigorated Brussels’s interest in expanding the bloc.

Since the war began, both Ukraine and Moldova have joined the queue of countries seeking accession alongside Balkan hopefuls, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia – all of which are at different stages of the accession process.

However, the process of joining is usually long and complex, involving years of negotiations and legal reforms, with approval of all 27 current EU members required to complete each step.

“We need to make the enlargement process faster and more credible,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she arrived at the summit.

France and Germany used the meeting to push for the idea of “gradual integration” into the bloc.