Montenegro and the European Commission have drafted a roadmap which could end the country’s EU membership talks by 2026, European Affairs Minister Maida Gorcevic said on August 23.

Podgorica hopes to become member of the EU by 2028 but the negotiations and reforms process has been delayed due to political instability since 2020. This year, Podgorica managed to provisionally close two chapters.

“We are closing the negotiation chapters after seven years of waiting! At the meeting with the delegation of the European Commission, we established the roadmap and made a plan of steps to complete the negotiation process by 2026,” Gorcevic wrote on X.

In June, Montenegro provisionally closed Chapter 23 on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Chapter 24 on Justice, Freedom and Security. The two chapters were opened eleven years ago but Montenegro has made no significant progress on them until now.

Montenegro has opened 33 chapters in its EU accession talks and has provisionally closed three.

During a visit to Podgorica, Gert Jan Koopman, the European Commission's director general of the neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations directorate (NEAR), confirmed Gorcevic’s estimations and said that now the country should focus on implementation on what has been agreed with the EU during the negotiations process.

“Now the focus is on meeting the set goals. We want to see your success in the implementation of the Reform Agenda and we are here to support you,” Koopman said during the meeting as quoted in government’s statement.

“The European Commission presented us with a plan for new investments in Montenegro, and director-general Kopman said that he would work with us to attract hundreds of millions of euros of new investments. With the EU as our most important partner, success is guaranteed,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said.