Thewesternbalkans.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Marta Kos said on Tuesday (25.08.2026) at a conference of Croatian ambassadors, consuls and military attaches in Zagreb that 2026 was a record year for progress in the European Union’s enlargement process.
Kos warned that the EU must learn from the 2004 enlargement and put in place mechanisms to ensure that new members continue to adhere to the rule of law and the EU’s core values after accession.
The EU can no longer afford to wait for candidates to spend decades in the accession process, she said, adding that the Union must develop more ambitious forms of gradual accession.
Speaking at the conference, Marta Kos called on Croatia to support Montenegro’s integration into the EU and work to resolve remaining bilateral disputes. Kos stated that Croatia and Slovenia have a special responsibility to support the integration of South-Eastern Europe. She noted that Montenegro remains the leading country in the enlargement process, having already provisionally closed more than half of the negotiation chapters, and that EU member states have started preparing the country’s accession treaty.
Comment: To date, Montenegro has opened all 33 negotiation chapters in the EU accession process. Of these, 18 are provisionally closed. Montenegro is already far ahead of the other candidates from the Western Balkans. According to information from recent days, Brussels is discussing an accelerated timetable, in which the remaining 15 chapters would be closed by the end of 2026, and the draft Accession Treaty would be prepared by the end of September.
