Montenegro Closing Two More EU Negotiation Chapters on Nov. 6

Montenegro, EU flags (BETAPHOTO/European Commission/Jennifer Jacquemart)

Montenegro will provisionally close two more negotiation chapters at an Inter-governmental Conference with the European Union on Nov. 6, Minister for European Affairs Maida Gorcevic announced on Nov. 5.

Gorcevic stated in the Montenegrin parliament that she had received confirmation from Brussels that this referred to chapter 1 about the free movement of goods and chapter 12 about food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy. “I believe that, when we speak about the successes of this government and the whole of Montenegro, we can say that they are lining up,” Gorcevic said during question time in the parliament.

Montenegro has so far provisionally closed 21 negotiation chapters and these two will raise that number to 23. The minister said that the current government had changed the course of European integration in less than three years – from years of stalling to the final phase of negotiations and preparation of the contract on EU accession.

In her words, by the end of October, Montenegro has fulfilled all the obligations needed for the provisional closing of the remaining negotiation chapters and delivered the negotiation positions to the European Commission and the Council of the EU. Gorcevic said that the goal was for the negotiations to be completed by the end of this year, the accession contract to be signed during 2027 and for Montenegro to become an EU member in 2028.