The 25th Accession Conference stressed that in terms of preparedness Montenegro is at the forefront of countries aspiring to join the European Union. The tiny Balkan country is on the way to close all accession chapters by the end of 2026. Enlargement Commissioner Kos indirectly admitted that, in connection with the ongoing war in Ukraine, a two-tier membership of the Union cannot be ruled out in the future.
After the meeting it has been announced that Montenegro closed Chapter 32 on financial control. In total, the Balkan country has already successfully gone through 40 per cent of all negotiation chapters. “It confirms that Montenegro is on a sustainable path towards EU memnebrship,” said Marilena Raouna, Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for European Affairs, who represented the Cyprus’s EU Presidency at the Conference.
“Focus on the fundamentals”
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement, had nothing but praise for Montenegro while speaking at a press conference. “Closing all chapters by the end of 2026 is possible (…) Montenegro is an inspiration for all accession countries,” Ms Kos confirmed. Talking about the coming months, Commissioner Kos recommended that Montenegro now focuses on the so-called fundamentals like rule of law. “That includes work towards strong and independent judiciary,” Ms Kos stressed.
Montenegro is an inspiration for all accession countries. – Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement
Montenegro’ Prime Minister Milojko Spajić emphasized that his country believes in hard work that eventually brings results. “Progress comes only through discipline and results. We will try to strengthen EU’s credibility,” Mr Spajić said at a press conference.
A somewhat different tone was heard after a journalist asked Commissioner Kos about the theoretical accelerated admission of Ukraine to the European Union—perhaps as early as 2027. Ms Kos admitted that such debates are taking place in Brussels. She also said that, in connection with the future peace treaty that would end the war in Ukraine, 2027 is being discussed as the year of Kiev’s possible accession to the EU.
However, Commissioner Kos did not provide any details on how such ’accelerated’ EU membership would look like. In other words, whether Ukraine would have fewer rights than other new member states such as Montenegro, which has gradually gone through the entire accession process.
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Leader of candidate countries
Montenegro is currently the only country that reached the most advanced stage of enlargement negotiations. Podgorica applied for EU membership in December 2008 and was granted EU candidate status in December 2010. The EU-Montenegro accession negotiations started in June 2012; the date of accession to the EU, however, has not yet been set.
Montenegro, a small Balkan country covering less than 14,000 sqkm, has a population of only about 650,000. Its accession to the EU would therefore be primarily a political and strategic signal. In terms of the dynamics of European institutions and financial flows within the EU, Podgorica’s accession would not bring much changes.
In addition to Montenegro, there are five more EU candidate countries actively negotiating, all of them in Eastern/Southeastern Europe: Albania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia were granted official candidate status in 2022/2023, but were asked to complete additional reforms before qualifying for the formal start of membership negotiations. Kosovo, which is not recognized as an independent country by all member states, submitted an application for membership in December 2022. Negotiations with Turkey were opened already in 2005, but have been effectively frozen by the EU since then.
