On October 01, 2026, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, went to Podgorica, Montenegro, for the third leg of her annual tour of the Western Balkans. Welcomed by Jakov Milatović, President of Montenegro, and Milojko Spajić, Montenegrin Prime Minister, she praised the country’s impressive progress, noting that it has already provisionally closed 18 negotiation chapters and aims to close the remaining 15 by the end of the year. At a joint press conference, she delivered the strong message ‘28 by 2028’, confirming that the EU supports Montenegro’s goal of becoming the 28th Member State by 2028, and announced that work was gathering pace to prepare its official accession treaty. The two-day visit also included the inauguration, alongside local authorities, of the brand-new EU-funded National Coordination Centre (NCC) for the border police.