Croatia blocks closing of one policy chapter in Montenegro's EU accession talks

The intergovernmental conference on accession at which Montenegro will close the three chapters - Intellectual Property Law, Information Society and Media, and Enterprise and Industrial Policy - is scheduled for Monday, 16 December.

Although Montenegro was technically ready to close four chapters, Croatia objected to the closure of the chapter on Foreign, Security, and Defence Policy.

Last month, Croatia sent a non-paper (an informal diplomatic document) to Montenegro, requesting the resolution of several outstanding issues that have strained bilateral relations between the two countries.

According to diplomatic sources, the non-paper highlights the need to address several issues, including ownership of the training ship "Jadran," border demarcation, prosecution of war crimes, the fate of missing persons, and the naming of the city pool in Kotor after former water polo player Zoran Gopčević, whom Croatia claims was a guard at the Morinj prisoner of war camp.

The new methodology for accession negotiations, adopted in early 2020, foresees opening multiple chapters connected into six clusters, rather than individual chapters. However, chapters are still closed individually.

The Hungarian Presidency is pushing strongly for Cluster 3 to be opened with Serbia, for which the country is technically ready, according to the Commission's assessment. However, there is still no consensus among the member states.

Serbia was not on the agenda of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CEREPER) on Friday, as eight countries still oppose opening this cluster: Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Diplomatic sources say COREPER will reconvene on Sunday and Monday.

Cluster 3 encompasses eight previous chapters: Digital Transformation and Media; Taxation; Economic and Monetary Policy; Social Policy and Employment; Enterprise and Industrial Policy; Science and Research; Education and Culture; and Customs Union.

Serbia had already opened five of these eight chapters before the change in the negotiation methodology.

In addition, ambassadors reached an agreement to open one cluster with Albania, Cluster 6, which will be opened on Tuesday, 17 December.

Cluster 6 covers two chapters: External Relations and Foreign, Security, and Defence Policy.