Plenković in Brussels: “Two States Took 21 Years” — Macedonia Becomes an Argument in Zagreb’s Dispute With Montenegro
At the Brussels summit the Croatian prime minister cited Macedonia to argue that Zagreb, unlike Athens and Sofia, is acting “constructively” toward Montenegro; no reaction from the Macedonian side has been reported.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, at the EU summit in Brussels, according to media reports of October 16, used Macedonia as an example while defending Zagreb’s conditions for Montenegro. “Macedonia in 2000 was ahead of Croatia in institutional terms,” he said, adding that “there are two states that took 21 years, from 2005 to 2026, from Macedonia’s institutional approach to the EU” and that “Croatia did not take that approach.” He did not name the two states; Expres and Racin write that this means Greece and Bulgaria.
The context is the dispute between Zagreb and Podgorica. Croatia has eight conditions for Montenegro, six in Chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and two in Chapter 31 (foreign and security policy). Plenković said Croatia approached Montenegro “very constructively,” that there has been no progress in the last two years and that open issues must be resolved before accession is completed. After he raised the matter, wording setting a deadline to finish negotiations by the end of 2026 was removed from the draft conclusions.
What is not known: the articles we checked contain no reaction from the Macedonian government, Greece or Bulgaria. Racin treats this as Plenković’s own argument, not an independently confirmed assessment. What can be verified is two facts: Macedonia has held candidate status since December 2005 and has still not opened accession talks, and it was Bulgaria that in 2020 blocked the negotiating framework.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 17, 2026
