Berlin has stepped in, asking Croatia to constructively resolve the bilateral disputes that threaten to derail the accession of the EU’s most advanced candidate, four officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Euronews.
Earlier this week, Zagreb circulated an eight-point list of grievances that it wants resolved before Podgorica can finalise its accession bid. Behind the scenes, Berlin has been manoeuvring to ensure that enlargement does not lose momentum.
Berlin also recently offered to mediate, but the offer has not been put into practice. The government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz is positioning itself as an honest broker, fearing that unresolved bilateral problems could jeopardise the enlargement process.
“There are issues which we have signalled to our Montenegrin neighbours for years,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told reporters ahead of the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.
“In the last two years, there has been no progress whatsoever,” Plenković said, arguing that his country has been “extremely constructive” in the accession talks with Montenegro.
In recent weeks, the European Commission has been participating in the talks between the two countries, and several member states have worked to keep enlargement from stalling over bilateral issues.
In particular, France wants to avoid trouble with enlargement for domestic reasons, while Luxembourg has taken aim at using the accession process to resolve bilateral issues.
All three European governments have been actively talking with Croatia to pressure it into resolving the bilateral issues. But the strongest push comes from Germany, which is seeking to get the enlargement process going.
The disputes mostly stem from the legacy of the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s, including property claims and contested borders. They threaten Montenegro’s ambition to become the EU’s 28th member state by 2028.
Croatia’s stance has also drawn public criticism, including from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who said on the margins of the European Council that the accession process should not be hijacked by bilateral issues.
Zagreb has been accused of raising the disputes at the last minute to exert maximum pressure on Montenegro. Croatia counters that the issues are long-standing and that it has made only a handful of symbolic requests.
Zagreb points out that the investigation of war crimes and reparation of victims are targets Podgorica needs to fulfil to close its accession work. Still, EU officials fear the tide could quickly turn against enlargement if Montenegro’s accession is not finalised soon.
A string of elections is scheduled in key member states next year, including in France, where far-right leader Marine Le Pen, traditionally a sceptic of EU expansion, is the favourite to win the presidential race.
Germany has been pushing for new ways to enlarge the EU, including a special “associate candidate” status for Ukraine, the notion of “gradual integration” of candidate countries and stronger democratic safeguards for newcomers.
Montenegro would also be the first country to join the bloc under the current enlargement methodology.
The Berlin Process, an intergovernmental initiative launched in 2014 to promote regional cooperation among Western Balkan countries, is chaired this year by Podgorica, which has worked closely with the German government through the forum in recent months.
EU officials read Germany’s move on the bilateral matter as Berlin taking ownership of the process.
Montenegro’s accession also comes against a broader geopolitical backdrop, in which Brussels is increasingly using enlargement to anchor its immediate neighbours to the West amid growing tensions with Russia.
As Podgorica is first in line, a disruption caused by what some regard as futile bilateral issues could have a devastating effect on the other “frontrunners”, namely Albania, Moldova and, most notably, Ukraine, whose accession bid will likely be closely linked to the eventual peace negotiations with Moscow.
In other words, Germany believes it is time to move ahead with Montenegro’s accession, given the effort Podgorica has put in, and a geopolitical picture that demands enlargement keep its momentum.