Italy is Montenegro’s closest major partner within the European Union and one of the most consistent advocates of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. Nevertheless, bilateral cooperation remains fragmented across separate diplomatic, security, economic, and accession-related instruments, according to the analysis “Italy and Montenegro: Bilateral Cooperation and Montenegro’s Accession to the European Union“, published by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Rome. The author of the analysis is Sara Čabarkapa, Active Citizenship Programme Coordinator at the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and a fellow of the joint programme of the IAI and the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans (OSF–WB).
Montenegro is entering the final stage of its negotiations for European Union membership. By June 2026, all 33 negotiating chapters had been opened, with 16 provisionally closed, while the Government has set the ambitious goal of concluding the negotiations by the end of the year. In April 2026, an ad hoc working group was established to prepare the draft Accession Treaty, marking the transition of the accession process into its final phase of legal and technical preparations. In this context, coordinated support from Italy becomes increasingly important, particularly as the political space for EU enlargement continues to narrow.
Italy’s interest extends beyond its principled support for enlargement and is focused on the quality and sustainability of reforms in Montenegro. This is particularly evident in areas where Italian expertise can provide tangible added value, such as financial investigations, anti-corruption efforts, border management, and the fight against organised crime. Cooperation based, among other things, on the experience of the Guardia di Finanza could contribute to meeting the benchmarks under Chapters 23 and 24, while also demonstrating how Italian expertise can be translated into measurable results within the accession process.
Italy also supports reforms in Montenegro through instruments such as IPA, TAIEX, Twinning, and Interreg programmes. However, these instruments operate within the framework of European Union programming priorities, rather than as part of a strategically designed Italian support policy tailored to Montenegro’s specific needs, which reduces their visibility and overall impact.
The key finding of the analysis is not that Italian support is lacking, but rather that its full potential remains underutilised due to insufficient coordination among the various channels of cooperation. Italy’s engagement takes place simultaneously through diplomatic support for enlargement, security and defence cooperation, economic and investment ties, and support for reforms within the accession negotiations, yet without a single strategic framework capable of bringing these different instruments together.
The analysis recommends that Italy shape its support for Montenegro during the final phase of the accession negotiations as a coordinated strategy, rather than a collection of parallel initiatives, by linking diplomatic, security, and economic instruments around a clear objective—the successful conclusion of the accession negotiations and the signing of the Accession Treaty. In doing so, Italy would further strengthen its position as one of the most consistent advocates of EU enlargement policy at a time when Montenegro’s success extends beyond the bilateral dimension and represents a test of the credibility of the European Union’s enlargement policy.
The analysis was published as part of the IAI Briefs series (26|36), which features concise, research-based publications intended for policymakers and the expert community. It was prepared within the framework of the IAI – Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans (OSF–WB) Fellowship Programme, during which the author conducted her research in Rome.
Ivan Kašćelan, Project Assistant