Plenković intervened in Brussels to make Montenegro’s path to EU membership more difficult
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković informed the leaders of EU member states, during a discussion on enlargement, of eight Croatian demands that Montenegro should address in order to secure Zagreb’s approval for the conclusion of its EU accession negotiations.
Following Plenković’s intervention, the conclusions on Montenegro were amended to some extent compared with the earlier draft, with specific timeframes removed, Index.hr reports.
Compared with the previous draft conclusions, the passage stating that an agreement on the provisional closure of negotiating chapters should be reached by the end of this year was removed, as was the passage calling for work on the accession treaty to begin as soon as possible.
We expect Montenegro to resolve outstanding issues
- The European Council welcomes the ongoing work on drafting the Accession Treaty with Montenegro. It takes note of the Council Presidency’s intention to reach an agreement on the provisional closure of all negotiating chapters by the end of this year, provided that Montenegro implements the necessary reforms, and to work towards completing the drafting of the Accession Treaty as soon as possible - the draft conclusions stated.
During the discussion, Plenković stressed that Croatia takes a constructive and benevolent approach to Montenegro’s accession, but expects the country to resolve outstanding issues that have been on the table for a long time and remain unresolved.
This week, Croatia sent EU member states, as well as the offices of the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, a document setting out in detail its position on Montenegro’s accession process. The document lists eight previously well-known demands that Podgorica should meet to secure Zagreb’s approval.
Six of the demands concern Chapter 23, Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, while the other two are related to Chapter 31, Foreign, Security and Defence Policy.