News: EU–Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, Serbia notably absent

The EU–Western Balkans Summit took place in Brussels on 17 December 2025. The Declaration adopted jointly at the end of the meeting reaffirmed the European leaders’ “full and unequivocal commitment” to the Western Balkans’ EU accession perspective, stressing that “enlargement is a realistic opportunity that should be seized.” Serbia, however, chose to boycott the summit in protest against the slowdown in enlargement negotiations, which remain stalled at the threshold of Cluster 3 despite the positive opinion issued by the European Commission last November. The deadlock stems from differing positions within the EU: while Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Baltic states and Croatia oppose the opening of new chapters due to Serbia’s failure to align with sanctions against Russia and ongoing concerns over the rule of law and media freedom, Italy, France and Austria remain supportive.

Poto credits: https://pxhere.com/it/photo/493381