MFEP: Croatia has shown strategic patience and understanding, Montenegrin side to accelerate work on open issues

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) of Croatia announced today that Croatia has shown strategic patience and understanding throughout the process, but that now is the time for decisive steps by the Montenegrin Government.

The ministry's statement states that they call on the Montenegrin side to engage in constructive dialogue and accelerate work on open issues.

"Croatia emphasizes that the principle of good neighborly relations is one of the key political criteria in the EU enlargement process, which is explicitly stated in the Negotiating Framework of Montenegro and other candidate countries," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said in a statement published on the ministry's official website.

The statement says that the European Union (EU) "is very clear in its messages that it cannot and does not want to import bilateral disputes and therefore open issues must be urgently resolved, so that they do not burden bilateral relations or the accession process."

"In an effort to find a way forward in relations and resolve outstanding issues, Croatia at the end of 2024 reiterated its call for dialogue with Montenegro to resolve outstanding issues that must be concluded so as not to burden the key, final phase of the accession process. Croatia has shown strategic patience and understanding throughout the process, but now is the time for decisive steps by the Montenegrin Government," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs said in a statement.

The Croatian government's department said that their expectations are clear: "resolving the issue of compensation for camp inmates, continuing work on finding 14 missing persons from the Homeland War, prosecuting war crimes, resolving property issues of Croatian families who were left without property in Montenegro and whose court proceedings are stalled, preserving the memorial plaque at the former Morinj camp and the necessity of changing the name of the swimming pool in Kotor, continuing talks on the border at sea, and returning the Jadran training ship."

"There are only a few months left until the end of 2026, and therefore we once again call on the Montenegrin side to engage in constructive dialogue and accelerate work on open issues," the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.

The statement by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs came a day after the meeting between European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos and Croatian officials stated that the process of accession to the European Union (EU) must be based on the implementation of reforms, and that resolving bilateral disputes in the spirit of good neighborly relations is of key importance.

Kos then stated on the Iks network that she had spoken in Zagreb with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman.

Her post did not mention Montenegro.