Although Montenegrin officials optimistically speculate about the dates for joining the European Union, the facts show that our country has been engaged in marathon negotiations that have already lasted for 12 years and 9 months.
Montenegro officially began negotiations with the European Union in June 2012, and only Turkey, whose negotiations are currently frozen, has a longer negotiation experience, starting in 2005.
This situation becomes even more paradoxical when considering that Montenegro’s European path was defined in the preamble of the 2007 Constitution, where European and Euro-Atlantic integration are highlighted as the country’s strategic goals.
According to a December 2023 survey by the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro, 78.5% of Montenegrin citizens support Montenegro’s membership in the EU, which clearly indicates that this is a rare issue with tangible social consensus.
In addition, many political parties, since the restoration of independence, have highlighted European integration as the main goal in their programs, but it is easy to conclude that this is a declarative priority, and that real progress is slowed down due to different interests of political parties.
The fact is that the process of EU integration is taking place under changed geopolitical circumstances, since the introduction of the Copenhagen criteria, which were implemented by the European Union in the 1990s and early 2000s to encourage reforms in Central and Eastern European countries.
The Copenhagen criteria were first applied during the major expansion in 2004, when the EU was joined by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia. These countries started negotiations in 2000. Romania and Bulgaria began negotiations in the same year, but due to unpreparedness in some areas, they became members in 2007.
The aforementioned criteria have become increasingly demanding over time, but this cannot be used as an excuse for Montenegro’s prolonged negotiations with the EU, especially considering that all these countries managed to complete their negotiating processes within a reasonable timeframe, including neighboring Croatia.
When comparing the negotiating processes of Montenegro and Croatia, which has been an EU member since 2013, it is clear that there are significant differences in the dynamics of closing negotiating chapters, particularly the key ones. As the last country to join the EU, Croatia relatively quickly closed the chapters related to the rule of law (23 and 24), but our country is facing long and complex reforms.
Montenegro, instead of adopting essential reforms, has been enacting laws that are characterized as quick fixes, and the path to the EU seems to be a longer one. The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has stated that Albania (which officially started negotiations in 2018) could accelerate its progress and formally become part of the European Union by 2027.
