Plenković: Croatia wants Montenegro to make progress towards EU membership, but outstanding issues must also be resolved

Croatia wants Montenegro to make progress towards membership of the European Union (EU), but also wants issues relating to good-neighbourly relations and European values to be resolved, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said, public broadcaster Radio Television of Montenegro reports.

- We have been entirely transparent about this. Both I personally and the minister have listed, on several occasions, eight issues that have remained unresolved for many years. I did so as well in Tivat in early June this year, at a meeting between the leaders of the European Union and the Western Balkan countries. These issues relate to European values, and unfortunately, Montenegro has so far failed to make progress in addressing them - Plenković said.

Ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, Plenković highlighted Croatia’s constructive role in its relations with Montenegro.

- Take North Macedonia, for example. At the Zagreb Summit in 2000, it was ahead of Croatia in institutional terms. It has still not opened accession negotiations. Two countries have, so to speak, spent 21 years, from 2005 to 2026, in the process of North Macedonia’s institutional rapprochement with the European Union. Croatia has not taken that approach. Despite the difficult legacy, we have adopted a very constructive approach towards Montenegro. As part of this constructive process, we have identified the issues that we believe Montenegro needs to address, because they form part of the European values it will be required to uphold as a future EU member state - Plenković said.

Among the outstanding issues, the Croatian prime minister cited an agreement on compensation for former detainees, saying that it should reflect the realities of what happened in the early 1990s.

- We have raised the issue of the plaque at the Morinj prison camp, where Croatian defenders were detained, with some killed, abused and tortured. In this regard, one of the men who was in charge of the guards there was apparently honoured after his death by having a swimming pool in Kotor named after him. Water polo clubs from Croatia do not play at that pool. These are minor issues that can be resolved: the plaque should be respected, and the issue of the name should be addressed - Plenković said.

He added that other outstanding matters included the prosecution of war crimes and information concerning 14 missing persons whom Croatia is still searching for, noting that Montenegro should have information about their whereabouts.

- There is also the issue of the property rights of Croats living in Montenegro, who expect court rulings to be respected and their property to be restituted. Equally important is the border issue, which forms part of the succession-related matters and is therefore an integral part of Chapter 31 - Plenković said.

He stressed that Montenegro was well aware of all these issues, as were the country’s president, prime minister and minister, adding that Foreign Ministers Ervin Ibrahimović and Gordan Grlić Radman had been tasked with finding solutions.

- We want Montenegro to make progress, but we also want these issues to be resolved. Now is the time to resolve them - Plenković concluded.