TIVAT, Montenegro (Reuters) — The European Commission has begun drafting Montenegro’s accession treaty, the first such exercise in 17 years, with a target of membership by 2028. Officials estimate the net cost to the EU budget at about €3 billion over 2028–2034 — “less than a coffee” per EU citizen, the Commission has said.
Montenegro hosted the June EU-Western Balkans summit and has provisionally closed a large share of negotiating chapters. It remains the regional frontrunner, ahead of Albania. Brussels still wants tighter rule-of-law and media standards and is watching Podgorica’s delay on removing Chinese Huawei and ZTE telecom gear. If the timeline holds, Montenegro would become the EU’s 28th member.