Montenegro reaches important milestone in EU accession process

Montenegro’s bid to join the European Union moved a step closer this week, as EU officials formally began drafting the accession treaty that would pave the way for the Western Balkan country to enter the bloc.

EU ambassadors on May 12 approved the creation of an Ad Hoc Working Party — a group composed of representatives from EU member states that will meet regularly to work through the legal and technical details of Montenegro’s membership process, as reported by SeeNews.

Montenegro has provisionally closed 14 of the 33 negotiating chapters required for accession. The rule of law remains the most difficult obstacle, with the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos urging Podgorica to maintain the pace of reforms.

The country of roughly 600,000 people became an official EU candidate in 2010, four years after separating from Serbia, and formally opened accession negotiations in 2012. Montenegro has set a target of joining the bloc by 2028, even adopting “28 by 28” branding through its national airline campaign.

Last month, Kos said EU member states had agreed to begin drafting Montenegro’s accession treaty — the first time since Croatia joined the EU in 2013 that the bloc has started preparing such a document for a prospective member state.

In another statement, Kos also noted that Montenegro’s treaty would differ from previous accession agreements by including stronger safeguards aimed at preventing democratic “backsliding” and weakening of the rule of law after membership.

The proposed framework is widely seen as part of a gradual, two-tier accession model designed to give the EU more leverage over member states after entry.

The model has drawn criticism both within the EU and among several candidate countries, some of which have rejected participating in what they describe as an institutional “experiment.”

Meanwhile, NATO Chief Mark Rutte met Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatović during a visit to the country this week.

According to the Balkan state’s leader, the two discussed key factors that it must work on as a country in the final stage of negotiations with the European Union, including regional stability and Montenegro’s role as a credible NATO ally.

By Nazrin Sadigova