Montenegro has set an ambitious timeline to complete EU accession negotiations by 2026 and join the bloc by 2028, a goal reflected in the slogan "28 by 28 – The Next EU Member" emblazoned on planes of the national fleet and displayed on banners across the capital Podgorica. The push comes as Podgorica hosts an EU-Western Balkans summit, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz among attendees and a vocal advocate for speeding up enlargement across the region. Analysts caution that persistent corruption and rule-of-law shortcomings remain serious obstacles, even as Montenegro leads the pack among Western Balkan candidate countries — having received a key EU benchmark assessment on judicial reforms in mid-2024 — with civil society warning the country must not enter the union as a "broken state."