Montenegro expects EU green light in November

(LJUBLJANA) - Montenegro expects the European Union to give the green light in November for the tiny Balkan state to become an EU candidate, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said here on Friday.

"I expect in November it will recomend that Montenegro becomes a candidate country and I hope we could also, although conditionally, be recommended for the start of accession talks," Djukanovic told a joint news conference with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor.

Djukanovic said Montenegro "is the second best-prepared country after Croatia for starting the accession talks bearing in mind the small size and flexibility of its system."

Pahor said the economic crisis has had an impact on the speed of the EU's enlargement process, but said that "enlargement will bring benefits not only to the south-eastern Europe countries but also to the EU."

Montenegro, a former Yugoslav state like Slovenia, entered the EU's visa-free travel regime last year and also hopes to join NATO.