Thewesternbalkans.
On Thursday, February 5, the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center hosted the inaugural Balkans Forward Summit at the Atlantic Council’s global headquarters in Washington, DC.
The event was organized by the Atlantic Council as part of its Balkans Forward Initiative – a platform to strengthen the position of the Western Balkans in US policy and promote the region’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
The event was attended by political leaders, government officials, experts and representatives of civil society from the Western Balkans and the transatlantic political and business world. The event focused on topics such as US policy towards the region, economic integration and Euro-Atlantic priorities.
The most important participants were the President of Montenegro – Jakov Milatović and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania – Elisa Spiropali.
The organizers paid special attention to Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović, who in his speech at the forum urged Washington to stay involved in the Western Balkans. The region is, Milatović said, “a place more complicated than perhaps it was a few years ago, from the political point of view.” He added that “the role of the United States is crucial for the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans and the Balkans in general.”
Comment: The attention to Montenegro from European and American institutions is increasing as the planned date for the Western Balkan country’s accession to the EU – 2028 – approaches, which should demonstrate the correctness and success of the EU’s enlargement policy. This attention is indicated by the planning of the next EU–Western Balkans Summit – the most important annual political meeting between the European Union and the region – in Podgorica on 01.06.2026.
So far, Milatović and the Montenegrin government have accused each other of slowing down the pace of accession. On February 2, the Podgorica parliament adopted without debate a package of 25 laws necessary to meet the criteria for EU membership. The next day, however, the president returned them to the parliament “for reconsideration, so that the MPs would have the opportunity to read and consider them in detail”. Maida Gorčević, Minister of European Affairs, accused Milatović of “open obstruction”. “During the term of the 44th Government it is necessary to close 30 out of a total of 33 negotiating chapters”, she remarked on X.
