PODGORICA, Montenegro, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- European Union officials said Friday Montenegro would be considered a formal candidate for membership despite corruption in the Balkan state.
Montenegro -- which borders Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania -- is ethnically diverse and faces the same kinds of problems as its neighbors, such as judicial independence and corruption, Deutsche Welle reported.
Montenegro's Minister for European Integration Gordana Durovic says her country has made progress, which the EU is recognizing.
"So, first, strengthening the capacities of our parliament, then the rule of law and independent judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime, media freedom, and improvement of dialogue between government and civil society, and of course, to further strengthen anti-discrimination policy," she said.
Piotr Kaczynski from the Center for European Policy Studies says the country's entry into the EU would have a beneficial effect in the region.
"It would have a large, stabilizing effect on the western Balkans, because this region needs to regain faith in its future, of peaceful coexistence of all the countries in the region, and, hopefully, within the European Union," he said. "It would send a very, very major message that the future of the western Balkans is in the European Union".
Montenegro joins Turkey, Croatia, Iceland and Macedonia on the waiting list of potential EU members, Deutsche Welle said. UPI
