Plenković Sets Eight Conditions for Montenegro's EU Progress

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has laid out eight specific conditions that Montenegro must meet to advance on its path toward European Union membership. Speaking to reporters at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat on June 5, 2026, Plenković emphasized Croatia's expectations.

"The first expectation is compensation for former detainees. This is a crucial issue," Plenković stated. He added that a second key demand is the continued effort to find fourteen individuals still missing from the Croatian War of Independence. Further conditions include Montenegro's commitment to prosecuting war crimes, and resolving property rights issues for Croatian families who lost their assets in Montenegro.

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The first expectation is compensation for former detainees. This is a crucial issue. Second is that work continues on finding the fourteen missing persons from the Homeland War.

Plenković also highlighted other significant points of contention. These include the position and plaques related to the Morinjski incident, the naming of a bay in Kotor, and the return of the school ship Jadran. Finally, he stressed the need to initiate long-stalled border demarcation talks.

These prerequisites, if met, would facilitate progress in accession chapters. The summit also touched upon a German-French non-paper proposing gradual integration steps for candidate countries, allowing them observer status in the Council of the EU before full membership. This proposal aims to create incentives for faster progress and strengthen the EU as a whole, with further discussions expected at the European Council summit in Brussels.

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If the preconditions are met, there will be further progress in the chapters.