Brussels, (MINA) – The Council of the European Union has decided to establish an ad hoc working party to draft the Accession Treaty with Montenegro.

This is stated in the enlargement conclusions, adopted as the Danish presidency conclusions, since there was no consensus among the member states. The adoption of the conclusions was blocked by Hungary, which opposed the text concerning Ukraine.

The document notes that Montenegro has made additional progress in the accession negotiations and has provisionally closed 12 negotiation chapters, and that the EU supports the closure of new chapters as soon as the conditions are met.

Based on Montenegro’s overall progress, the Council decided to set up an ad hoc working party for drafting of the accession treaty, with an emphasis on the need for preparatory activities to ensure the body functions effectively once established.

Regarding reforms, the Council called on Montenegro to accelerate the fulfillment of final benchmarks, especially in chapters 23 and 24, and to continue strengthening the judiciary, freedom of expression and media freedom, as well as the fight against corruption and organized crime, with a stronger balance between investigations and final verdicts in high-level corruption cases.

The conclusions also emphasize the concept of gradual inclusion of candidate countries before full membership, with concrete benefits such as Ukraine and Moldova’s joining the “roam like at home” regime from January 1 next year, and partners from the Western Balkans are expected to achieve the same during 2026.