Montenegro is ‘within reach’ of joining the EU by 2028, von der Leyen says after Balkans summit

TIVAT, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro is on track to become a member of the European Union by 2028, the bloc's leaders and the Balkan country's president said on Friday following a summit focused on expanding the EU to include other countries in the region.

Leaders from across the EU were joined by their Western Balkan counterparts in Montenegro's Adriatic Sea coastal town of Tivat, where they discussed the bloc's enlargement into a region seen as a key area in countering security and economic threats posed by Russia and China.

The summit brought together leaders including President Emmanuel Macron of France and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as well as the heads of Balkan candidate countries.

High on the agenda was Montenegro's EU accession, a process that is approaching its final stages and which von der Leyen said Friday was “within reach."

“If I had to sum up this summit in two words, they would be determination and confidence,” von der Leyen told a news conference. “Confidence that our union will grow in the years ahead.”

The EU has already formed a working group to draft an accession treaty for Montenegro, whose president, Jakov Milatovic, said the summit had given him “even greater confidence” that his country will fulfill its aim of joining the EU by 2028.

"This goal is realistic and achievable. It is strongly supported by all our European partners,” Milatovic said.

Adding members to the EU — which can bring the bloc more single market economic benefits and stronger security capabilities — has gained urgency in recent years as the continent faces a series of challenges, such as lopsided trade with China, migration pressures, the war in Ukraine and increasing hybrid threats from Russia.

With the Trump administration viewed as less committed to its NATO allies, EU countries have also pushed to boost their military capabilities to ward off future threats without the potential backing of the U.S..

Against that backdrop, von der Leyen on Friday described EU expansion into the Western Balkans as “a geostrategic imperative,” but that candidate nations are still expected to carry out reforms such as tackling corruption and shoring up democratic institutions — steps viewed as benefiting both the candidate nations and the EU as a whole.

Yet the lengthy process of carrying out such reforms and advancing the process of membership has frustrated some candidate countries, leading to some calls to find ways to accelerate the procedure.

Von der Leyen also emphasized that EU membership would be “merits-based, but merits-based does not mean slow, it means fair and predictable.” She added that the bloc seeks to "reward reforms with real integration.”

European Council President Antonio Costa, who hosted the Tivat summit, said the EU was “considering new ideas to streamline and accelerate the process” to increase trust in the EU and "increase the motivation of the Western Balkan partners.”

Montenegro, a small, mountainous country that was once a part of Yugoslavia and which this week marked the 20th anniversary of its independence from a union with neighboring Serbia, is considered the front-runner among the region’s other candidate countries of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

After joining NATO in 2017, the country of 623,000 people is now set on fulfilling its ambitious agenda of becoming the the EU's 28th member. The motto “28 by 28” has even been inscribed on one of the planes of Montenegro’s national airline.

EU candidate countries must bring their laws into line in 35 policy areas or “chapters,” ranging from justice standards to farm and fishing rules. All 27 EU members must agree before each chapter can be opened, and then again for it to be closed.

Ukraine and Moldova are also among about 10 countries aspiring to join the bloc, while Iceland will hold a referendum in August on whether to apply.

Serbia's populist leader, Aleksandar Vucic, said Friday that he had high hopes for the summit and accession paths for Balkan countries after recently meeting with EU leaders like Merz and Macron.

“We will see a lot of progress of Western Balkan countries in the future. Of course, we need to do a lot of reforms," he said. "We are on our EU path.”

The gathering in Tivat was the first to bring together EU leaders since the stunning defeat in April of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s former Russia-friendly prime minister who, during his 16-year rule, flouted the EU’s standards on democracy and the rule of law and forged close ties with other autocrats.

Orbán's successor, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, did not attend the summit, which would have been his first since winning the election. The press department for his center-right Tisza party did not respond to a request for comment.

With the painful experience of Orbán’s democratic backsliding and historic use of the veto in the European Council, the EU is devising new ways to use financial penalties or restricted access to the single market to pressure incoming nations to carry out reforms and adapt to the bloc's standards, said Faruk Bašić, a researcher at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics.

“The EU is trying to find a way how to admit a country that isn’t fully ready to be admitted without losing the ability to hold it accountable after the fact,” he said, pointing to Ukraine’s accession bid as well as nations in the Western Balkans like Serbia and Kosovo.

McNeil reported from Brussels.

EU leaders and officials from the candidate countries pose for the family photo of the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic talks to the media after the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico attends the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

European Council President Antonio Costa arrives to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic, left, and European Council President Antonio Costa, right, attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, speaks during a press conference after talks with Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic, right, in Cetinje, Montenegro, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, reviews the honor guard with Montenegro's President Jakov Milatovic during a welcome ceremony in Cetinje, Montenegro, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as “the Indio” who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, one of the country's most popular and influential rock groups, died Friday. He was 77.

Solari, who had struggled with Parkinson’s disease for at least a decade, was found dead near an indoor pool at his house in the provincial town of Ituzaingó, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, authorities said, without identifying a cause of death.

His family confirmed his death on social media, saying they would hold a public funeral to allow people to bid farewell to the rock legend. Fans began gathering at his home, with some bearing flowers and wearing T-shirts printed with his nickname. Crowds filled a large plaza in downtown Buenos Aires to mourn, commune and sing Solari's hit songs. People wept. Strangers hugged.

Eros Ruarte, 19, said he woke up Friday to his mother breaking the bad news.

“'I said, no, mom, you can't say that.' I couldn't believe it, that the Indio had died. ... He is the biggest idol in the world. I grew up listening to him," he said from the impromptu wake. “I heard his songs from my mom, my uncle.”

As the lead singer of Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota — known more simply as “Los Redondos” — Solari became a countercultural icon for disaffected Argentines coming of age as their country transitioned from a bloody military dictatorship to a democracy characterized by newfound freedoms but also instability and hyperinflation in the 1980s.

During the consumerist frenzy that gripped Argentina the 1990s, under the free-market policies of then-President Carlos Saul Menem, Solari's classic rock anthems, punchy dance tunes and cryptic lyrics gave voice to a spirit of rebellion against the excesses of capitalism and influences of foreign powers. Los Redondos released 10 studio albums, eschewing major record labels to maintain artistic independence.

The band broke up in 2001, but Solari found continued success as a solo artist, releasing five more albums under his own name that mixed mainstream rock and electronic influences and drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to parks and stadiums across Argentina.

At a massive concert in 2016, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “Mr. Parkinson is nipping at my heels. But here I am,” he said. The crowd went wild. He later retired from touring, speaking candidly in interviews about the debilitating effects of the disease.

Tributes poured in from politicians, artists and soccer stars across the country.

The Argentine Soccer Association said Solari's voice “became a popular rallying cry” and “echoed in the stands” of the soccer-crazed country.

The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, a prominent activist group which sought to find relatives who had been killed or “disappeared” by the 1976-83 dictatorship, said the singer “inspired society as a whole to doubt, to question and to think critically.”

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina's former president who is serving a corruption sentence under house arrest, posted one of his famous lyrics on social media, popularized as a call to live courageously: “Just living costs you your life.”

Solari is survived by his wife, Virginia Mones Ruiz, and 25-year-old son Bruno.

People gather to remember Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

People gather near a drawing depicting Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

People gather to remember Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A person lights a candle near a picture of Carlos Alberto Solari, the Argentine singer-songwriter known as "the Indio" who led Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, on the day of his death, at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

FILE - Argentine singer Indio Solari performs in Olavarria, Argentina, March 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hernan Leonardi, File)