On Friday, the European Commission recommended the holding of an Intergovernmental Conference with Montenegro and sent a positive Report on the fulfillment of temporary benchmarks in Chapters 23 and 24 (IBAR), Montenegrin media reports.
According to unofficial information from the Montenegrin media, the EC gave the green light for further consideration of the report in the Council of the EU.
The report on the fulfillment of temporary benchmarks (IBAR) was submitted by the European Commission to the EU member states, which finally decide on the continuation of the process of accession negotiations between the candidate country and the European Union.
In its assessment, the EC concluded that Montenegro has overall met the temporary benchmarks, achieved a good result on the level of compliance and is making progress in the application of the EU acquis and European standards in chapters 23 and 24.
In the case of Montenegro, a positive IBAR was necessary for the country to emerge from a multi-year standstill in the process of membership negotiations. Montenegro has opened all chapters, but has temporarily closed only three of them so far.
Montenegro applied for EU membership in 2008, and accession negotiations began on July 29, 2012.
Negotiations between the EU and Montenegro came to a standstill in 2020, when the Democratic Party of socialist Milo Đukanović was replaced in the parliamentary elections for the first time after three decades.
Negotiations were unblocked at the end of 2023, with the arrival of a new government led by Milojko Spajić from the populist Europe Now movement, reports Hina.
