Montenegro has closed 16 of its 33 accession chapters, and Ireland wants the other 17 finished on its watch. Dublin takes over the EU’s rotating Council presidency on July 1, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Rikard Jozwiak, writing on June 23, 2026, called it a half year that puts enlargement back in focus.
Prime Minister Micheal Martin admitted that closing everything would be “challenging.” It is still the goal. Montenegro has to wrap up talks in 2026 or early 2027 to have any chance of joining in 2028, given the time ratification takes.
Why Dublin
Ireland held the presidency in 2004, the year of the EU’s big enlargement, and has a name as an “honest broker” on accession questions. European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne, speaking to Politico Playbook, put Montenegro “front of the line” and called it “best in class.” Ukraine, he said, would stay important to Dublin too.
The European Commission is on board. At an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on June 15, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said two more chapters were being provisionally closed, taking the total to 16. That was “roughly half of the work Montenegro still needs to complete,” she said. If everyone keeps cooperating, talks could end under the Irish presidency or soon afterward. “In the past 16 or 17 months, we have achieved more than we did in the previous 15 years,” Kos added.
The other candidates
Albania opened all of its chapters in 2024-2025 but stalled on interim benchmarks in chapters 23 and 24, which cover judicial independence. It cleared that hurdle in May, which could allow three more chapters to close soon, according to RFE/RL.
Ukraine’s file is messier. Hungary, under new leadership, dropped a two-year block on opening five initial chapters. But Prime Minister Peter Magyar struck out wording that remaining clusters would open “as soon as possible” and floated a “10-15-year time frame” for Ukrainian membership. A Polish diplomat told RFE/RL that Warsaw prefers “a salami process” to opening everything at once. Ukraine and Moldova were due to open their first negotiating cluster on June 15.
Iceland holds a referendum in August on restarting accession talks that were suspended in 2013.
Enlargement is one of three Irish priorities, alongside competitiveness and the EU’s 2028-2034 budget. Byrne described the General Affairs Council as the first real “crunch point” in the budget talks.
Sources
- Wider Europe Briefing: Ireland's EU Presidency Puts Enlargement Back In Focus (RFE/RL, Rikard Jozwiak)
- Kos: Montenegro could reach the final stage of accession talks during the Irish Presidency (European Western Balkans)
- Ireland to prioritize Montenegro's EU accession during presidency (European Western Balkans)
