Zenović: There is a possibility that we can meet the temporary benchmarks from Chapters 23 and 24 by the summer

If Montenegro continues the current pace of negotiations, there is a possibility that it will meet the temporary criteria from Chapters 23 and 24 by the summer, and the closing of the first chapters will begin in the fall.

Chief negotiator Predrag Zanović announced this to Television Vijesti, referring to the messages that arrived yesterday from the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels.

For Zenović, those messages are a clear political signal that the appointments in the Montenegrin judiciary have finally created the prerequisites for meeting the temporary criteria and Chapters 23 and 24.

"We have received assurance from the Commission that, if we continue with this dynamic, there is a possibility that by the summer we will receive a report on the assessment of the fulfillment of temporary standards, the famous IBAR, which is the first important instance for Montenegro and can mean a kind of unlocking of the entire process of European integration and its incredible acceleration," Zenović said.

That, says Zenović, means that by the end of the six-month Belgian presidency of the Union, another Intergovernmental Conference should be held at the expert level, after which the chapter would be closed.

"When it comes to Chapter 20, which refers to entrepreneurship and industrial policies and the chapter related to intellectual property, it is almost certain that in the new mandate of the Commission, which would be elected in the fall, it could be closed."

In addition, 15 chapters require minor interventions to enter the closure phase. And which one will be the most demanding?

"Relating to the energy system, to the relationship with the environment, for example, chapter 27 would pose a challenge that we can call financial in nature in terms of investment," Zenović said.

Chapters related to agriculture, food safety and veterinary medicine, as well as fisheries, are also challenging.

"But at the moment it's all in the shadow of the story about chapters 23 and 24, which, of course, even after fulfilling the temporary benchmarks, in that case we get the final benchmarks for those chapters, which of course must remain a priority for us," said the chief negotiator. .

And here, Zenović points out, everyone from the prosecution and the judiciary, through the police and MUP, the Ministry of Justice, KAS, and the improvement of working conditions in the judiciary should contribute. And after everything they heard yesterday, is 2028 the year when Montenegro could be ready to join the Union?

"We already have that one motto - for Montenegro to be 28 members in 28 years, and I think that it also realistically reflects the dynamics, that in the mandate of this Government, Montenegro has an internal readiness to join," Zenović said.

In the meantime, the Government appointed negotiators for six clusters within which 33 chapters are distributed. Zenović adds that by the end of next Sunday, he will have a completed negotiating structure, which will also include representatives of the civil sector, and they expect the involvement of the academic and wider community as well.