Montenegro's EU accession stalled by church dispute and judicial deadlock

Montenegro's bid to join the European Union faces renewed scrutiny as both religious and judicial issues complicate negotiations. The government cited Estonia's experience of reassessing the status of a Russian‑linked Orthodox body, using it as a precedent to argue for clearer separation between the Montenegrin state and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which remains a dominant faith institution linked to a foreign patriarchate.

At the same time, internal political gridlock has left the Constitutional Court without new judges, jeopardising the implementation of a recently passed constitutional amendment. The impasse means Montenegro cannot fulfil the EU’s requirement for a functional judiciary, a condition tied to the closure of negotiation Chapter 14 on transport policy. While Chapters 8 (Competition) and 29 (Customs Union) have been successfully closed, the lack of consensus on judicial appointments signals a broader challenge for the country ahead of the EU‑Montenegro intergovernmental conference in Brussels on 14 July.