OddsFrontMontenegro offers Ukraine practical help with EU rule-of-law reforms
Podgorica says its accession officials can share working methods with Kyiv as both countries navigate the European Union's demanding, merit-based membership process.
An accession frontrunner offers assistance
Montenegro has offered to share its experience of European Union accession reforms with Ukraine, giving Kyiv access to practical lessons from the candidate country furthest along in the process. European Affairs Minister Maida Gorcevic told the Kyiv Independent on September 9 that Montenegrin officials can provide expertise on rule-of-law changes and the detailed work required to align national legislation with EU standards.
The offer rests on a cooperation memorandum signed with Ukraine in March. The arrangement envisages expert support from public officials in judicial reform, anti-corruption policy, public-administration reform and economic criteria. It also provides for regular contact between negotiating teams, joint studies and projects. Montenegro has established similar cooperation with Moldova and Albania, while emphasizing that candidates can learn from one another.
Montenegro's working model
Gorcevic described an intensive system in which a dedicated Montenegrin rule-of-law team meets European Commission specialists twice each week. Officials examine legislative and administrative requirements in detail, including the bills needed to satisfy closing benchmarks. That method is relevant to Ukraine because accession requires more than passing framework laws: Brussels also evaluates implementation, institutional capacity and whether reforms survive domestic political resistance.
The Council of the EU says Montenegro has opened all 33 negotiating chapters and provisionally closed 18. Its latest accession conference, held on July 14, closed chapters covering competition policy and the customs union. The Council cautions that provisional closure is not final membership approval and that the EU may revisit chapters if implementation slips before an overall accession agreement is reached.
Why the offer matters for Kyiv
Ukraine has opened two of the six thematic negotiating clusters, covering seven chapters, and wants all chapters opened by the end of 2026. Its path remains tied to institutional reforms and continued scrutiny of judicial independence and anti-corruption safeguards. Montenegro's experience may help Ukrainian ministries organize technical work, but it cannot substitute for political decisions in Kyiv or the unanimous agreement required among EU member states.
The next measure of progress will be whether the cooperation produces regular exchanges and concrete changes to Ukrainian legislation and enforcement. Montenegro hopes to close another chapter in September and the remainder by year-end, an ambitious timetable rather than a guaranteed accession date. For Ukraine, the value lies in seeing how a smaller administration turns broad EU conditions into sequenced laws, benchmarks and evidence of implementation.