In what might turn out to be a game-changing event for the future of the European Union (EU), Brussels hosts the first-ever EU Enlargement Summit on November 4, 2025. This unprecedented televised live event is organized by Euronews in cooperation with EU institutions. The summit offers a chance for high-ranking EU officials and candidate countries’ leaders to discuss the future of the EU’s integration and expansion into Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Among the participants are leaders from different European nations
Among the participants are European Council President Antรณnio Costa, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, and several heads of state and government of candidate countries including Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ, and the prime ministers of Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, namely Edi Rama, Milojko Spajiฤ, and Hristijan Mickoski, respectively.
Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, emphasized Albania’s commitment to EU values and its goal to join by 2030:
“For the first time in history, we can choose freely which empire we want to be part of … the empire of rights, values, safety, and security.”
Under the mandate of President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission has rebranded the enlargement package as the ‘reunification of Europe’ and committed to a strict timetable of accession for long-standing candidate countries.
The convening of the summit is timely, coinciding with the publication of the annual 2025 Enlargement Package by the European Commission. According to the words of the New Union Post, the aim of the summit is to reinvigorate the enlargement process. This implies both revitalizing the process for hopeful and long-standing candidate countries and addressing the urgency caused by Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.
Accelerated calls for enlargement as a tool to protect the European Union
At the same time, the summit will demonstrate the special challenges and aspirations of candidate countries.
Ukraine has indeed made a lot of progress, as the European Commission anticipates it will complete negotiations by 2027 – approximately twice as fast as previous applicants. Despite Russian intervention in domestic policies, President Sandu has always openly supported the country’s EU path.
President of the European Council, Charles Michel, emphasized the need for institutional reform:
โI believe we must be ready โ on both sides โ by 2030 to enlarge. We need to make sure we have the hearts of the people with us.โ
At the same time, the Western Balkans experience a lengthy and often infuriating accession process. Serbia entered the discussion in 2014, having watched public support for EU membership plummet from 70% in the early 2000s to 40% today.
However, both Belgrade and Brussels have reaffirmed Serbia’s European orientation. Albania, a candidate since 2009, has become a frontrunner and plans to join the EU by 2023.
European’s support of the bloc
Montenegro, with all 33 negotiations open and seven closed, plans to complete negotiations by 2028. North Macedonia, a candidate in 2004 when the accession process began, has postponed multiple negotiations since then due to bilateral disputes, but the most recent stemming from Bulgaria.
Additionally, the European Commission acknowledges that the summit also demonstrates that many Europeans support the bloc.
What makes this summit unique is that it will be broadcast live. This allows people across Europe to follow discussions between the EU leaders and representatives of candidate countries. Euronews will broadcast the event live from 14:00 to 17:00 CET via its online channels, particularly YouTube, and other digital platforms.
As the EU grapples with numerous geopolitical challenges and internal strife about its future trajectory, the EU Enlargement Summit in Brussels is a bold and unified step toward a broader and strategically coherent Europe. Whether the summit would result in meaningful progress for candidate countries that have been waiting a long time is still uncertain. The event, however, is an important turning point in the EUโs enlargement strategy.