BRUSSELS – Iceland and Montenegro could join the EU at the same time in 2028 if Iceland votes to relaunch membership negotiations this month, reports Politico. According to its “Brussels playbook” newsletter, this was confirmed by eight diplomats.
Iceland is scheduled to hold a referendum on 29 August on whether to restart EU accession talks. If the voters take this decission, Iceland could quickly catch up with Montenegro given its already advanced status.
“Given the timelines, a joint Montenegro-Iceland package, with member countries ratifying their bids together, is a strong possibility, another Commission official said. Iceland’s wealth would make it a net contributor to the EU budget and effectively pay for the membership of Montenegro”, Politico writes.
Meanwhile, Financial Times published today an analysis of the enlargement process, assessing that many inside and outside the EU see the remaining months of 2026 as the most critical moment for enlargement for a generation.
“If Montenegro can close its remaining chapters while the EU’s existing members also agree on internal reforms to make a bigger union function smoothly, they say, a bigger and more geopolitically muscular union is possible”, the FT article reads.
It assesses that, despite the pro-enlargement rhetoric, there is still uncertainty in Brussels about whether and how to accept future members.
FT reminds that France and Germany have both circulated initial proposals that would offer a staged, gradual integration model, with membership benefits extended in exchange for reform milestones.
However, the proposal has received a “broadly lukewarm responses” from the rest of the EU, and Brussels is set to present its own proposal on potential enlargement reform, FT reports.
The article notes that some candidate countries, such as Ukraine, are not in favour of modalities of integration that would amount to less than full membership, while Serbia is more open to these possibilities, as confirmed by President Aleksandar Vučić.
With all these factors to consider, the second half of 2026 is crucial.
“Should Brussels be dragged into internecine disagreements over what enlargement should look like and result in, patience among those waiting outside the red-velvet rope could well snap”, FT writes.
That, says Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, whose country currently chairs the Council of the European Union, would only play into the hands of Europe’s enemies.
