The European Union is beginning preparations for the accession treaty with Montenegro, marking another step on the country's path to membership.
Points of attention
- The EU has begun preparing an accession agreement for Montenegro, confirming the country's prospects for European integration.
- Montenegro, along with Albania, are considered the main candidates for EU membership, and the accession process could be completed in the coming years.
Montenegro joins the EU
According to European officials, ambassadors from the 27 EU member states have agreed to create a "special working group" to draft an accession treaty.
"We are confident that this will send a strong signal that accession is quite realistic for enlargement partners," said a spokesman for Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency, commenting on the decision taken during a meeting in Brussels.
Montenegro, along with Albania, is considered one of the main candidates for joining the European Union after Croatia, which joined in 2013.
The country has now completed negotiations on 14 of the 35 chapters, covering key areas from tax policy to ecology.
This gives reason to expect that the accession process may be completed in the coming years.
"Excellent news is coming from Brussels," said Majda Gorcevic, Minister for European Affairs of Montenegro.
According to her, the creation of the working group confirms that the country is moving in the right direction and can become an EU member by 2028.
As a reminder, the EU admits that new candidates may appear in the queue for accession, capable of overtaking the current applicants. These are economically developed countries, in particular Norway and Iceland, which already meet most of the EU criteria and can quickly advance in negotiations.
At the same time, the EU recognizes that such states look more attractive for membership than the poorer countries of Eastern Europe.
