Montenegro to close three EU chapters in Luxembourg
At the 29th Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg, three negotiating chapters are provisionally closed instead of two, bringing Montenegro to 21 closed chapters.
Montenegro will provisionally close three negotiating chapters, not two as first planned, at today’s Intergovernmental Conference with the European Union in Luxembourg. Podgorica has opened all 33 chapters and closed 18 so far, so the new ones will lift the total to 21. The conference, the 29th with Montenegro, starts at 5:30 p.m.
What exactly has been announced, and by whom?
This morning the daily Danas, citing the Podgorica paper Dan, reported that chapters 18 (Statistics) and 19 (Social Policy and Employment) were on the table. Before noon, Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Filip Ivanovic announced on X that three chapters would be closed. Neither N1 nor RTCG names the third in his statement.
European Affairs Minister Maida Gorcevic filled in part of the picture. According to her, EU member states agreed that Montenegro has met the closing benchmarks in the chapters covering economic and monetary policy, statistics, and social policy and employment. Statistics and social policy are chapters 18 and 19 from the morning report, so the new one is economic and monetary policy, though none of the sources we read gives its chapter number.
At the previous Intergovernmental Conference, held on July 14, chapters 8 (Competition) and 29 (Customs Union) were closed. Ahead of today’s meeting we reported that Montenegro was closing Chapter 19 ahead of schedule. What is new is that the scope is now larger than announced.
What is Podgorica saying?
In his post on X, Ivanovic called this excellent news for Montenegro’s European integration. He contrasted the government with those who, as he put it, are slowing the road to membership, without naming anyone:
“Unlike certain political actors who vote for European laws halfheartedly, refuse to support the necessary constitutional amendments and try to slow down the European path by every means, the Government is doing its job responsibly and with dedication.”
He ended by saying Montenegro will be a step closer today to the goal known in Podgorica as “28 by 28”, meaning EU membership in 2028 as the 28th member.
Gorcevic, on the same network, also announced the next step. According to her, the efforts of all institutions involved in the process have been recognized among member states, and the goal Montenegro set more than two years ago is getting closer. Assessments for another ten chapters are already under way before EU Council bodies:
“Procedures to assess the readiness of another 10 chapters, which are before the EU Council bodies and for which we submitted negotiating positions earlier, are already well under way.”
She added: “We are continuing resolutely toward closing all chapters by the end of this year and Montenegro’s EU membership in 2028.”
When will the outcome be known?
Radio-Television of Montenegro will carry the address from Luxembourg after the conference live tonight at 6:30 p.m. on the Parliamentary Channel. Until then, all that is known is what Ivanovic and Gorcevic said ahead of the meeting: that the number is three, that the total is 21, and that benchmark assessments for ten more chapters are in progress.
