EU approved Montenegro’s candidate status

The European Commission has approved the granting of EU candidate country status to Montenegro, stated European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele. Fuele, at a press conference in Brussels, said that Montenegro would begin accession talks when it met the necessary political conditions set out by the Copenhagen criteria which relate to the rule of law and stable institutions.

The European Commission said in its report that the constitutional and legal framework of the country was in line with European standards, but that there were failures in the functioning of institutions and the application of laws. It pointed out that parliamentary supervision of the government was limited, that the separation of powers, in the case of the judiciary, was not entirely adhered to and that public administration continued to be “weak and very politicized.”