Montenegro moved a step closer to EU membership on Wednesday, as the bloc’s countries agreed to begin work on an accession treaty for the tiny Balkan country.
“Ambassadors from the 27 member states decided to create a working group for drafting an accession pact, a technical but key step on the road to membership,” said an EU official.
“We are convinced that this will send a strong signal that the accession is within the reach of the candidate countries” – added the Cypriot spokesman, whose country holds the next presidency of the EU for the decision taken during a meeting in Brussels.
Podgorica has completed negotiations for 14 of the 35 chapters of the talks. “Excellent news comes from Brussels” – declared the Montenegrin Minister for European Affairs, Maida Gorcevic.
“The establishment of the working group was another confirmation that we are on the right track for Montenegro to become the 28th member of the European Union by 2028”, she added.
“This is a big step on the way to EU membership, a clear recognition of Montenegro’s progress and an encouragement to speed up reforms,” said the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos.
“This step also provides an opportunity to draw lessons from past enlargements and include new and stronger safeguards in future accession treaties to prevent a backsliding on the rule of law and fundamental values,” she added.
European Council President Antonio Costa congratulated the country on Wednesday. “The decision to create the Working Group to draft the new Membership Treaty is a key moment,” he said.
Montenegro, along with Albania, is one of the leading candidates to become the first country to join the European Union since Croatia was admitted to the bloc in 2013.
