The Clock Starts Again: Will Montenegro Be the EU’s Next Member?

Last week the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states, acting through the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), approved the establishment of an ad‑hoc working group to start drafting Montenegro’s Accession Treaty, marking the first such step since Croatia’s treaty was prepared more than a decade ago. The decision was immediately hailed as a “historic moment” by Montenegrin Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević, who called it “the final step on the path to full membership of Montenegro in the EU.” European Council President António Costa described the move as “a key milestone” and noted pointedly that it was “the first time since 2013” that the EU had “started the clock for the next enlargement....