Swedish threat to Montenegro’s membership talks

Concerns over corruption.

Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister, has threatened to hold up a decision by the European Union to open membership talks with Montenegro because of the country’s failures in fighting organised crime and corruption.

The EU’s General Affairs Council, attended by ministers for foreign or European affairs, is supposed to decide in Luxembourg next Tuesday (26 June) whether to open accession negotiations with the Balkan nation.

“There is a big expectation that there will be a positive decision to launch talks before the end of the month,” a diplomat said. But Bildt, a former high representative of the international community to Bosnia, has requested that the ministers hold a restricted discussion on Montenegro’s performance in fighting crime and corruption, suggesting that there might be new information on high-level corruption.

Member states’ concerns about corruption have abated since the departure in December 2010 of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who dominated Montenegrin politics for two decades. The administration of Igor Lukšic, who took over from Djukanovic, is seen as more serious about cleaning up Montenegro’s politics and its business sector, which are closely intertwined. Sweden’s reservations are shared by France and the Netherlands.

A diplomat from one of the doubters said that his government was “not really convinced” that Montenegro had done enough to strengthen the rule of law. Naïve attitude? Bildt earlier this month accused the European Commission, which has recommended that membership talks begin, of a “somewhat naïve attitude” toward corruption and organised crime in Montenegro. If there is no agreement among the ministers, they could refer the matter to EU leaders who meet in Brussels later in the week (28-29 June).

Diplomats are divided over the likelihood of such a development. Montenegro is the first membership candidate subjected to a new EU approach to accession talks, under which the difficult policy areas dealing with rule of law and the judiciary are supposed to be opened early in the process.

“The negotiation framework has become much stricter and has been tilted toward securing the involvement of member states,” a diplomat said. Montenegrin officials suggested that a snap election for president and parliament might be called this autumn if the country opens membership negotiations this month, to secure a popular mandate.

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