President of Montenegro Optimistic About Progress to EU Membership by 2028

The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, has expressed his optimism regarding the Balkan country’s progress to European Union membership by 2028. 

Milatović told Euronews he pushed for reforms to meet accession criteria while admitting that challenges remain, Schengen.News reports. 

The President of Montenegro said that among the challenges are press freedom, reducing Russian influence, and judicial independence. 

Hungary: Montenegro Is Taking Significant Step Towards EU Membership 
Montenegro’s journey towards EU integration started in 2008. In the same year, the Balkan country applied for EU membership, and it was granted EU candidate status in December 2010. 

The EU-Montenegro accession negotiations began in June 2012, with a total of 33 negotiation chapters being opened. Of the negotiating chapters, three are provisionally closed. In addition, the country also became part of NATO in 2017. 

In October 2024, the Foreign Minister of Hungary (the current holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union), Peter Szijjarto, said that Montenegro would close some EU accession chapters in mid-December, thus paving the way for the country to become a member of the European Union. 

Szijjarto told AA that the first goal of Montenegro, to be completed on December 17, is to obtain a report on the fulfilment of the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR). The Hungarian minister referred to an interim report on the rule of law that serves as a benchmark for the progress of a candidate state to the EU accession.

The Hungarian Minister said that Montenegro is taking another significant step toward EU integration with this. 

EU Progress Report Findings Concerning Montenegro 
In the latest annual EU Progress Report concerning Montenegro, the country’s progress in several aspects was mentioned. The report highlighted progress, particularly in Chapters 23 and 24. 

In a statement, the Deputy Prime Minister for Security, Defence, Fight Against Crime, and Internal Policy in Montenegro, Aleksa Bečić, considered the recent Progress Report of the EU the best that Montenegro has ever received.

Bečić said that if Montenegro maintains the pace of success and progress from the government’s first year, closing all negotiation chapters by the end of 2026 is entirely within reach. 

He said this would position Montenegro as the EU’s 28th member state by 2028.

Source: https://schengen.news/president-of-montenegro-optimistic-about-progress-to-eu-membership-by-2028/