Overview
- Montenegro barred 87 Serbian nationals from entering the country and seized two buses after police said the group carried communications gear, displayed banners reading ‘Serbia wins,’ and included people with criminal records.
- Serbia's Security and Information Agency warned President Aleksandar Vucic that travel to Montenegro posed a high security risk because of alleged hostile foreign activity and criminal groups, though Vucic decided to attend the summit.
- EU leaders in Tivat are discussing ways to accelerate membership for six Western Balkan candidates by offering pre-accession benefits such as privileged market access and observer rights to reward reforms.
- Montenegro is the leading candidate with an EU working group already drafting its accession treaty, but Brussels says the country must still meet key rule-of-law and judiciary benchmarks before final steps can proceed.
- The drive to speed enlargement is framed as a strategic move to limit Russian and Chinese influence in the region and will test new treaty ‘guardrails’ designed to withhold privileges or voting rights if a future member backslides on democratic norms.