TIVAT — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro, on June 5, 2026. The summit took place from June 4-6, 2026, and included dozens of officials from EU member states, Western Balkan countries, and key EU institutions.

Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said: "In the immediate term, foreign actors will not stop trying to interfere in democratic spaces, of this we can be very, very sure."

Montenegro aims to become the twenty-eighth member state of the European Union by 2028. The country has opened all thirty-three negotiating chapters with the European Union and has closed fourteen of these chapters, including chapter thirty-two on financial control.

Montenegro intends to close all thirty-three negotiating chapters by the end of 2026. The nineteen remaining chapters include environmental rules, judicial reform, and economic competitiveness.

Between 2014 and 2020, Montenegro received €279 million in pre-accession funds. Additionally, the country has benefited from €46 million in pre-accession modernization funds through the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, which extends through 2027.

The EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans designates a €383 million package for Montenegro. Of this amount, €89 million has been disbursed following the successful completion of reforms. The European Investment Bank opened a new permanent office in Podgorica and committed €175 million for infrastructure modernization along the Bar-Golubovci railway.

Montenegro's gross domestic product growth was 2.7 percent in the year prior to the summit, with a GDP per capita of €22,580. Croatia, which joined the European Union in 2013, had a GDP growth of 3.4 percent and a GDP per capita of €32,450 in the year prior to the summit.

Montenegro is scheduled to hold its next parliamentary elections on or before June 30, 2027. Later in 2026, Montenegro will chair both the Berlin Process Summit and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.