MADRID 26 Oct. () –
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, continued her tour of the Balkans this Saturday with a visit to Montenegro, a country that is “within reach” of achieving its goal of joining the European Union in 2028.
“It is a very ambitious goal and it is within reach,” Von der Leyen assured from the country’s capital, Podgorica, where she recommended that the authorities keep their sights set on that year “to meet all the requirements to achieve it.”
“Montenegro has done a great job on the reform agenda. In total, the country is expected to receive more than 380 million euros under the Growth Plan. Starting with 27 million euros by the end of the year,” he assured the president.
Von der Leyen spoke accompanied at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajic, on the last leg of her tour of the Western Balkans, which also included five countries that aspire to join the bloc: Albania, Macedonia North, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo.
Montenegro recently emerged as the favorite among six Balkan nations, which are at different stages of the negotiation process. The former Yugoslav republic, of 600,000 people, voted in a 2006 referendum to become independent from Serbia and began talks with the EU in 2012.
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