Merz Tests the Waters in Montenegro as EU Enlargement Grinds On

Friedrich Merz has travelled to Montenegro to sound out the accession prospects of the Western Balkan nations, turning political attention toward an EU enlargement process that has seen no new member cross the threshold for over a decade. Nine candidate countries are currently queuing to join the European Union, yet accession negotiations have largely remained stuck since Croatia completed its entry in 2013. The visit focuses on Montenegro, widely considered the most advanced contender among the Balkan aspirants, to examine whether the bloc's dormant expansion machinery can realistically be set in motion again.

The stakes along the EU's southeastern flank stretch far beyond diplomatic courtesy calls. A collapse or prolonged freeze of Montenegro's accession bid would deliver a welcome strategic opening to external powers, particularly Russia and China, both of which have spent years expanding their economic, diplomatic, and infrastructural footprint across the Western Balkans. For citizens in candidate countries, European integration represents the tangible promise of single-market access, judicial independence, and economic convergence. For current member states, demonstrating that the accession door is genuinely open is essential to keeping neighbouring capitals aligned with European standards, rather than watching them drift toward alternative alliances when reform pledges yield no visible finish line.

Enlargement occupies a unique position in Brussels, where boundless rhetorical optimism regularly collides with institutional paralysis. Leaders in the European Council routinely insist the Western Balkans belong in the European family, yet the mechanics of accession require all member states to agree unanimously at every procedural turn. In Brussels practice, an accession bid involves opening and closing dozens of separate thematic negotiating chapters—the policy areas ranging from judicial reform to public procurement that candidates must align with EU law before entry. This unanimity requirement means any single capital can quietly park a neighbour's progress for domestic political reasons. Montenegro remains the test case for whether the Commission's technical progress reports can ever overcome the Council's political hesitations.

Montenegro will continue its work to meet the remaining legal and administrative benchmarks across its open accession chapters. In EU capitals, debate will persist over whether the union needs internal governance reforms—such as curbing the use of national vetoes—before it can safely admit new members, or whether candidate countries might instead be offered phased, gradual integration into select EU programmes while full membership remains on the horizon.