Montenegrin govt adopts laws on corruption, judiciary to speed EU accession

The laws are critical for meeting the interim benchmarks in negotiation chapters 23 and 24, as well as for receiving a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR) from the EU, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Montenegro's government, led by the pro-European Europe Now party of prime minister Milojko Spajic, took office in October 2023, setting as a short-term goal receiving a positive IBAR from the EU by June, as it strives to become the 28th member state of the bloc by 2028.

The small Adriatic state launched EU membership talks in 2012 and has so far opened all 33 negotiating chapters, but has closed only a few of them as the lack of political will had impeded accession process over the past years.

The European Commission is due to publish its annual enlargement package reports on all candidate countries in October, with Montenegro hoping to get the positive IBAR and close most negotiating chapters by then. The key chapters 23 and 24 concern areas such as judiciary, corruption, justice and freedom.

The legislation adopted on Wednesday includes amendments to the laws on the activity of the judicial council, judges, prosecutor's office and courts, the confiscation of assets acquired through criminal activities; prevention of corruption; and transparency of media ownership and public financing of media, among others, the government said.

Most of the amendments incorporate recommendations made by the European Commission.