Democratic Security
Survey
SURVEY: What Lies Ahead for Ukraine-Hungary Relations?
11 June 2026
16 June 2026
The EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro was probably the most consequential one since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and arguably since the launch of the revised enlargement methodology in 2020. The framing is what mattered the most.
What made the June 5 Summit in Tivat different was not a historic declaration or breakthrough agreement, but a perceptible shift in political mood and policy planning toward the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.
The stage for the summit was set days earlier when France and Germany released a joint non-paper outlining ideas for the future of EU–Western Balkans relations. The three-page document proposed a toolbox for gradual integration, allowing candidate countries to move closer to the EU through structured participation in selected policies and institutions before full membership.