Montenegro has a credible chance of becoming the 28th member state of the European Union by 2028, and doing so would break a deadlock that has held back the wider region for two decades. That was the message from Amer Kapetanović, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), the main framework for regional cooperation in South East Europe, in latest Adria Future Summit podcast episode.
Kapetanović pointed to the government’s “28 by 28” target and to broad commitment across Montenegrin society. He set out two parts to the accession path: the internal reforms and benchmarks that are within a candidate’s own control, and the political decision of the 27 member states, several of which require parliamentary votes or referendums. He said he hoped the two would move in step.
He was direct about how enlargement has often been treated. The process, he said, has at times been reduced to a quip among politicians: “You pretend that you will join and we will pretend that we will accept you.” His conclusion was that the region needs to break this vicious circle, and that Montenegro “could be the first one to do it.” A success in Montenegro, he argued, would release positive energy across the Western Balkans.
On the wider work of the RCC, Kapetanović argued that trust has become “hard economic currency” rather than only a psychological matter. He cited the RCC’s annual Balkan Barometer survey of 6,000 respondents, which has recorded a persistent trust deficit over the past decade, in line with a global decline in confidence in parties, governments, parliaments and the judiciary. The way to rebuild trust, he said, is to deliver. He gave the example of the regional roaming agreement: promised in 2017, signed in 2018, and now a “Roam like at home” system with no roaming charges across a market of 18 million people. Further steps include travel on biometric ID cards, labour mobility and automatic recognition of academic qualifications, all aimed at creating a single economic space modelled on the EU’s freedoms of movement.
Kapetanović was clear that regional cooperation does not end when a country joins the EU. “The EU accession path goes through your neighbour’s yard,” he said, adding that the region remains geographically bound together. In a world that embraces power and where multilateralism is under strain, he warned that the region should not end up as “crumbs that will be wiped out once the feast is over,” and that it can hold its place only by acting together.
The conversation is part of the Adria Future Summit podcast series, produced with Manas Chawla of London Politica. The RCC is a partner of the Summit and works with Sustineri Partners on activities across the region, supporting businesses to grow, strengthening sustainability and engaging young people.
Find out more: https://bit.ly/afs-kapetanovic
