Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović said that Montenegro’s accession to the European Union would carry significance far beyond the country itself, presenting such a step as a development that could revive the broader enlargement process and send a strong signal to all candidate states. In the interview highlighted across the reports, Milatović argued that Montenegro’s possible entry into the EU in the coming years would show that enlargement remains alive, especially after a long period without new accessions and after the United Kingdom departs from the bloc. He said that, if Montenegro joins, the message to the region would be clear: reforms and a new political culture bring results.
The reports present Milatović’s statement as part of a wider political and diplomatic effort to secure support from key EU member states at a moment he described as crucial for Montenegro’s European path. According to the coverage, he traveled to Berlin for meetings with Bundestag members and to address the Committee on European Affairs, to reinforce the case that Montenegro is ready for the next phase of integration and for full EU membership. In a separate public message, he said Montenegro is continuing its “diplomatic offensive” in order to gain support for the final phase of EU integration, adding that the country now must be present and active at all important addresses where membership decisions are shaped.
Milatović also reiterated the goal of making Montenegro the 28th EU member state by 2028, describing that objective as still realistic. He said Montenegro is the frontrunner among candidate countries, being the only one of the ten to have opened all negotiating chapters and closed 14 of them. He added that the country hopes to close all chapters by the end of this year or during the next, leaving the second half of 2027 and 2028 for ratification in the parliaments of the 27 EU member states. At the same time, he said that whether the process is finalized in 2028 or 2029 is less important than ensuring it happens during the mandate of the current European Commission.
A central element in the reports is Milatović’s argument that EU enlargement has become more than a technical process and must now be understood in a broader geopolitical and security context. He said that after Russia attacked Ukraine in early 2022, European political leaders in Brussels and in member states came to understand enlargement as closely tied to the security of the European continent. In that sense, his remarks frame Montenegro’s accession not just as a national ambition, but as part of a wider European response to changing geopolitical realities.
