EU Delegation: Claims that some member states sought suspension of negotiations with Montenegro are unfounded

Media claims that several European Union member states sought a suspension of Montenegro’s accession negotiations are unfounded, representatives of the EU Delegation in Podgorica told “Vijesti” today.

“Vijesti”‘s editorial office asked the Delegation whether the claims that five member states sought a suspension of negotiations were true and what the reasons were. The newspaper “Dan” published today that the Netherlands requested a pause in processes related to Montenegro’s further EU integration, citing the need for additional analysis and more consistent implementation of all established standards, and that Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia joined the request.

According to “Dan”‘s Brussels source, it is currently completely unclear when there will be movement toward closing chapters and scheduling the Intergovernmental Conference.

The Delegation emphasizes that the scheduling of intergovernmental conferences and the provisional closing of negotiating chapters are part of the regular accession process and imply the completion of the respective procedural steps, full alignment with EU rules and standards, and the agreement of all member states in the Council.

“Montenegro has achieved significant progress in all negotiating chapters. In this final phase, it is essential to maintain focus and broad political support for the remaining European reforms, particularly in the field of the rule of law,” the response states.

RTCG reported yesterday that the Intergovernmental Conference where Montenegro could close the next chapters will not be held on the margins of the EU General Affairs Council this month, as expected. An EU official said intensive work is underway to approve the closing of further chapters for Montenegro: many chapters are highly technical and require extensive internal consultations by each member state — it is a matter of time, not anything else.

European Affairs Minister Maida Gorčević told the Mina agency today that it is realistic to expect Montenegro to close negotiating chapters 18 and 19 before the October Intergovernmental Conference and that only the completion of the procedure in the Dutch parliament is awaited. According to her, all other EU member states have given the green light for closing these two chapters.

Source: Vijesti