Prime Minister's Office of Spain

06/05/2026 | Press release | Archived content

Pedro Sánchez in Montenegro: 'There cannot be a complete European Union without the Western Balkans in it'

Pedro Sánchez in Montenegro: "There cannot be a complete European Union without the Western Balkans in it"

President's News - 2026.6.5

The President of the Government of Spain stressed at the EU-Western Balkans Summit that enlargement of the EU is a strategic, not a bureaucratic issue, especially in the face of global challenges.

Tivat (Montenegro)

Pool Moncloa / Fernando Calvo

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The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has taken part in the 8th Summit between the EU and the Western Balkans held in Tivat (Montenegro). During the meeting, he proposed that the EU enlargement process should be speeded up and that the gradual integration of the candidate countries should be strengthened.

President Sánchez said that "there cannot be a complete EU without the Western Balkans within it". Furthermore, in order to strengthen the gradual integration of the candidate countries, Pedro Sánchez has supported their institutional inclusion in some European Council debates.

Thirteen years after the last enlargement of the EU, the President of the Government of Spain has vindicated the unity of Europe in the face of the challenges emanating from an increasingly unstable world. Along these lines, he stressed that enlargement is not a bureaucratic or technical issue but a geopolitical and strategic one that will allow us to face challenges such as attempts at division and weakening by external forces.

In view of this reality, he reiterated Spain's full support for the candidate countries and asserted that the European project is "attractive" for many societies which, like Spain forty years ago, see the EU as an opportunity for prosperity and the consolidation of democracy.

Within the framework of the Summit, Pedro Sánchez also held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić. During the meeting, the two leaders signed two agreements that will favour exports and access for Spanish companies to the country. The prime minister of Montenegro thanked Pedro Sánchez for Spain's support in the membership process, and the president praised the efforts of the Montenegrin government, which today place the country as the most advanced among the candidates to join the EU bloc.

Non official translation

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