Montenegro officially applies for EU membership
16/12/2008
PARIS, France -- Montenegro's official EU membership application was submitted Monday (December 15th) at a meeting in Paris between Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency. All 27 EU members must approve the application for Montenegro to be given official EU candidate status and to launch accession negotiations. The approval process takes about a year and future negotiations may last between one and five years. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed Montenegro's move, describing the day as historic. (Beta, RTCG, Deutsche Welle, ITAR-TASS - 15/12/08)