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MEimportance 28

Montenegro

Montenegro grapples with tourism pricing criticism and political disputes amid EU ties

Montenegro faces scrutiny over beach chair pricing during summer season while domestic political tensions simmer around governance issues and regional connectivity. EU-Balkans diplomatic engagement continues with leadership discussions.

Why it matters

Montenegro, the smallest and most advanced EU candidate, has been negotiating membership since 2012, and a 2028 target would make it the first new member since Croatia in 2013 — a tangible signal that EU enlargement remains alive amid the bloc's renewed strategic focus on the Western Balkans after Russia's war in Ukraine. Hosting the summit and securing an accession-treaty drafting step underscores how Podgorica has reaccelerated reforms since the 2023 political shift away from the long-dominant DPS.

Sources

Country basics

Population
623K
Capital
Podgorica
Currency
EUR
Head of state
Jakov Milatović
Government
republic

Montenegro is a small Adriatic republic in the Western Balkans that regained independence from its union with Serbia in 2006 and joined NATO in 2017, making it a Western-aligned state in a region of competing influences from the EU, Russia, and Serbia. Governed as a parliamentary republic, it is led by President Jakov Milatović and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić of the reformist Europe Now movement, who have prioritized EU accession—a process where Montenegro is among the front-runners among Balkan candidates. Key fault lines for news readers include lingering pro-Serbian and pro-Russian sentiment, tensions over national identity and the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and persistent concerns about corruption and rule-of-law reforms tied to EU membership.

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