The Budapest Balkans Forum (BBF), the flagship conference of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA), began with a warm-up conversation with János Bóka, Minister for European Union Affairs of Hungary, Daniel Mitov, Minister of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria, Megi Fino, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania, and Filip Ivanović, Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Montenegro. The panel was moderated by HIIA Research Fellow Julianna Ármás.
At the beginning of the discussion, Julianna Ármás highlighted the proactive role of the Hungarian EU presidency during the second half of 2024 in keeping enlargement on the EU agenda. Minister for European Union Affairs János Bóka summarized it like this: The presidency “took the Western Balkans out of the deep freezer, put it in the microwave oven, and pressed defrost.” Before the presidency, two and a half years had passed with no accession chapters opened or closed. Minister Bóka also underlined that no intergovernmental conferences had been held since 2017. During the presidency, there were three—two for Albania and one for Montenegro.
Megi Fino, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania, explained the importance of the Hungarian presidency from an Albanian standpoint. Two clusters were opened, and there was progress on economic integration through the Growth Plan. The deputy minister also noted that Western Balkan countries were also included in important discussions including several informal meetings with ministers. Daniel Mitov, Minister of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria, noted that Western Balkan integration is a priority for Bulgaria, too, so the Hungarian approach was appreciated. He also expressed gratitude for the presidency’s role in finally giving Bulgaria full Schengen membership.
Julianna Ármás then turned the conversation to gradual integration, which allows the Western Balkan countries to enjoy some of the benefits of EU membership before becoming full members. János Bóka began with a provocative statement: “In an ideal world, it would not exist.” In his view, gradual integration is necessary only because problems have emerged with the regular accession process, although it is useful because it builds trust and paves the way for future membership. Filip Ivanović, Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Montenegro, noted that until three years ago, access was an “all or nothing” process that felt never-ending. The gradual integration process, which Montenegro has supported from the beginning, ended this. Still, it should not become a substitute for full accession, which still needs to happen.
Towards the end, the conversation turned to cooperation between the European Union and the Western Balkan countries, especially in the area of migration. Daniel Mitov noted that right now, the priority for Bulgaria is to make sure that the Bulgaria-Türkiye border is well guarded. There is also a lot of collaboration at the moment on combatting organized crime and making sure sanctions are not circumvented with organized contraband smuggling. János Bóka highlighted the Hungary-Austria-Romania-Bulgaria cooperation as well as police coordination with North Macedonia and Serbia on migration.
Looking towards the future, Megi Fino emphasized the importance of maintaining the current momentum. During future EU presidencies, there needs to be deeper political engagement and increased financial assistance, and the merit-based enlargement process needs to be upheld. Albania specifically hopes to open all clusters in 2025 and close technical negotiations by 2027. The May 2025 European Political Community (EPC) summit will also be held in Tirana, which is a promising step. Filip Ivanović emphasized similar points and highlighted the importance of morale—if the EU does not move forward with enlargement now, morale will die, and the Western Balkans will forget about the EU. Without the Western Balkans, the European Union will never be whole and complete.