Montenegro On Track To Join EU In 2028, Commission Says

Where things stand now

Brussels signaled that Montenegro could restart the EU's enlargement push, with officials saying the country is on course for membership in 2028. Kos told reporters, "At the current pace, we will be ready to sign the accession treaty as soon as June 2027." After that, every EU capital would still need to ratify for Montenegro to actually join.

Kos said the accession treaty will include safeguards that limit veto powers. This addresses enduring concerns about unanimity-based decisions in a bigger union - in which a country as small as Montenegro, with a population just above 600,000, could still halt negotiations.

Who else is moving and who is not

Kos added that Albania, Moldova and Ukraine are on "credible" paths toward membership. The commission's report laid out tailored "roadmaps" for each candidate but did not set dates.

Progress has been uneven. North Macedonia moved forward, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo saw little advancement. Serbia, Georgia and Turkey slipped in various ways. A commission official said Moldova's bid will no longer be tied to Ukraine's; this year, Kyiv has made slower headway on EU reforms, partly due to the escalating impacts of Russia's war.

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The bloc has not taken in a new member since 2013, and the UK departed following the Brexit referendum in 2016.

Roadblocks and regional friction

One final hurdle is Montenegro's ties with its only EU neighbor, Croatia. The two were on opposite sides in the 1990s Yugoslav wars, when volunteers from Montenegro took control of Croatia's far south and besieged Dubrovnik. To wrap up the accession negotiations, Croatia has presented Podgorica with a list of demands largely tied to those wartime matters.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić called the requests "surmountable" and said the process "shows that the reconciliation in our region is possible." Kos said discussions are "not easy," but are "progressing in the right direction." Zagreb has sent encouraging signals without firm commitments. "The mood in the European Union toward enlargement is more positive, and institutional readiness for new members is at a higher level," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Tuesday. "Croatia supports the politics of enlargement, on the basis of each country's individual merit."

What this could mean for your portfolio

Enlargement is back on the docket after a decade without new members, and leaders are weighing how adding countries could affect the EU budget, local industries and unanimity-driven decision making. In plain English: investors should watch for policy shifts that come with preparing the single market and EU institutions for possible new entrants.

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