BRUSSELS – On Friday evening, ambassadors from EU member states endorsed the closure of three negotiation chapters with Montenegro, as reported by diplomatic sources. However, a fourth chapter that Montenegro was prepared to finalize will remain open due to objections from Croatia.
The intergovernmental accession conference to officially close the three chapters—Intellectual Property Rights, Information Society and Media, and Business and Industrial Policy—is scheduled for Monday, December 16.
Although Montenegro was set to close four chapters, Croatia opposed the closure of the chapter concerning Foreign, Security, and Defense Policy.
Last month, Croatia submitted a non-paper (an informal diplomatic document) to Montenegro, highlighting unresolved issues that impact their bilateral relations. The document emphasizes the need for both countries to address various topics, including the ownership of the training ship “Jadran,” mutual territorial delimitation, prosecution of war crimes, the search for missing persons, and the naming of a city pool in Kotor after former water polo player Zoran Gopčević, whom Croatia alleges served as a guard at the “Morinj” camp.
The new accession negotiation methodology, implemented at the start of 2020, allows for multiple interconnected chapters to open together within six thematic clusters, although closures of individual chapters still occur separately.
The Hungarian presidency is actively seeking to advance cluster 3 with Serbia, which the European Commission has deemed technically ready. However, consensus remains elusive among member states, with eight countries—Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Lithuania—continuing to oppose the opening of that cluster.
Additionally, ambassadors have agreed to open cluster 6 with Albania, which is set to commence on Tuesday, December 17. This cluster encompasses two chapters: External Relations and Foreign, Security, and Defense Policy.
(December 13, 2024.)
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