The role of local and regional authorities in advancing Montenegro's European future was highlighted during the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) between the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Montenegro, held in the framework of the Enlargement Days 2026. The discussions focused on communicating Montenegro's EU accession process at the local level and on strengthening resilience against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), with particular attention to the role of local media and trusted public institutions.
Nikola Dobroslavić (HR/EPP), co-Chair of the CoR-Montenegro Joint Consultative Committee and member of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Assembly, welcomed Montenegro's progress on its path towards EU membership. "Montenegro is now the closest of the candidate countries to joining the EU. I am pleased to see that Montenegro's hard work and reform efforts are bearing fruit, with all the negotiation chapters having been opened and now multiple ones closed. It is very important that Montenegro continues to make concrete progress towards achieving the accession conditions," said Dobroslavić.
The discussion also focused on the role of local authorities in the accession process. "More efforts are however still required to allow local authorities to have a greater influence on the accession process. They enjoy the highest level of esteem and trust amongst the population and we must ensure that this is harnessed, in order to ensure that the accession process is supported by and includes the whole of society, so that nobody is left behind in this process," Dobroslavić added.
The meeting took place during Enlargement Days 2026, the European Committee of the Regions' platform for discussing the future of EU enlargement. Held under the patronage of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this year's edition places Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) at the heart of the debate.