While the European Union is set to begin membership talks with Ukraine in the near future, Montenegro has made significant progress in its EU accession process. The country, a candidate since 2010, hopes to become the 28th member of the European Union by 2028. Ambassadors from all EU member states said they had decided to set up a “special working group” to draft an accession treaty, which European Council President Antonio Costa called a “key milestone” and “a major step towards joining the European Union,” Euronews reports.
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At a meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) held in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, Minister for European Affairs Majda Gorcevic said that, along with the closure of negotiation chapters, the drafting of the Accession Pact heralds “the final stage of a fourteen-year marathon on the road to the EU.” She added that the move marks the final stage of the EU membership negotiation process, which is scheduled for 2028.
Gorcevic also stressed the important role that civil society plays in Montenegro's accession process through its participation in working groups. Speaking at the same event, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Riccardo Serry, said: “Montenegro has a historic opportunity to complete the process of accession to the European Union. But there is no time to lose – progress depends on the implementation of concrete reforms in the coming months.”
Montenegro, along with Albania, has been one of the leading candidates for membership since Croatia joined in 2013. It currently has a special relationship with the European Union, as it has unilaterally adopted the euro as its currency, rather than being part of the eurozone. Accession negotiations have been ongoing for some 14 years, although several key obstacles remain that Montenegro is currently trying to resolve.
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European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos confirmed that “Montenegro's place in the EU is currently being shaped.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine is being offered a “lightened” membership in the EU, which does not include access to the common EU budget and voting rights until full membership. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not respond very favorably to this proposal. At the same time, Kyiv has stated that it is ready to make concessions for the sake of joining the European community.
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