BELGRADE, April 23. /TASS/. Montenegro would like to become the 28th member of the European Union by 2028, the country's Minister for European Affairs Maida Gorcevic said, commenting on the decision by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states to set up a special working group to draft the Treaty on Montenegro's accession to the bloc.

"The establishment of a working group to draft the Agreement on Montenegro's accession to the EU is yet another confirmation that we are on the right track for Montenegro to become the 28th member of the European Union by 2028," Vijesti newspaper quoted Gorcevic as saying.

According to her, the establishment of the working group is "the final step towards Montenegro's full EU membership." The task of the group will be to coordinate the final legal and technical preparation of the agreement, including the definition of transitional periods and safeguard mechanisms to ensure Montenegro's gradual integration into the EU legal and institutional framework, the ministry said. "The particular significance of the agreement lies in the fact that it will be the first accession treaty in 13 years since the last enlargement, making it a new-generation treaty and a potential model for future enlargements," the document reads.

Commenting on the creation of the working group, EU Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Commissioner Marta Kos wrote on her X social media page that "this is a major step to EU membership, a clear recognition of Montenegro's progress, and an encouragement to accelerate reforms."

Accession negotiations are aimed at aligning all of a candidate country's legislation with that of the EU. They usually take over 10 years, and there are no rigid timeframes for this process. Turkey, for example, began accession talks in 2005 and they have been ongoing for 20 years without any real prospect of the country joining the bloc. Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, as well as Georgia and Moldova, have official candidate status for EU accession.