Podgorica, (MINA) – Montenegro’s EU accession process is characterized by formal progress that often outpaces substantive changes, which is why European integration risks to become a technical process, rather than a driver of real and sustainable transformation.

This has been assessed by the analysis “Montenegro as a Frontrunner without a Functional Rule of Law”, the first in the Montenegro in Focus edition of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), authored by executive director of the Center for Civic Education (CGO), Daliborka Uljarevic.

It is stated that the progress in closing chapters remains slow and uneven,with only 14 chapters or about 42 percent provisionally closed over 14 years, despite the renewed momentum of the EU enlargement policy.

“The government’s ambition to close all the remaining chapters by the end of 2026 seems increasingly unrealistic, even in a favorable geopolitical context and with the European Commission’s renewed focus on enlargement”, the analysis states.

According to Uljarevic, the failure to meet this goal would primarily reflect a lack of political commitment of the ruling majority, rather than restrictions imposed by EU institutions or member states.

Uljarevic pointed out that the gap between ambitions and results comes from persistent structural challenges, especially in the area of ​​political stability and the rule of law, including judicial independence, limited results in the fight against corruption and organized crime, as well as the misuse of public resources for party and private interests.

It is emphasized that the rule of law, although a fundamental condition for EU accession, remains burdened by a significant gap between formal compliance and practical application.

A special focus was placed on the judicial system, which is assessed as still vulnerable to strong structural and political pressures.

In her analysis, Uljarevic pointed out that judicial efficiency remains a chronic problem, marked by a backlog of cases, limited resources, uneven workload and insufficiently developed alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.