Garčević on Iceland and Montenegro’s Potential of Joining the EU
Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School, was invited by the Montenegrin News Agency MINA to comment on Iceland’s upcoming referendum on whether to resume negotiations on European Union (EU) membership. The interview was republished by several Montenegrin and regional media outlets, including Montenegro’s largest daily newspaper, Vijesti (News). The English-language version, titled Garčević: Positive Outcome of Referendum in Iceland Could Be an Incentive for Montenegro, was published on August 28.
Ambassador Garčević noted that a positive outcome in the August 29 referendum could provide an additional boost to the EU’s enlargement policy and create new opportunities for Montenegro’s path toward EU membership.
Garčević emphasized that a decision to resume negotiations would not automatically lead to Iceland joining the EU. Once negotiations are completed, Icelandic citizens would again have the opportunity to decide in a referendum whether to join the Union. He noted that opponents of EU membership have raised concerns about the potential loss of part of Iceland’s autonomy and national identity, while the most sensitive issues are primarily economic, particularly fisheries and agriculture.
According to Garčević, if negotiations were resumed this year, Iceland could relatively quickly reach a position in which it would be ready for EU membership, given the country’s previous experience with the accession process.
He also discussed the broader implications of Iceland’s potential return to the EU accession process. A successful and relatively rapid path to membership, he suggested, could stimulate a renewed debate in Norway about its relationship with the European Union.
Garčević further noted that discussions about the EU’s decision-making mechanisms and its institutional adaptation to future enlargement are already underway, independently of the accession prospects of Montenegro or Iceland. The potential admission of a larger number of new member states would further raise questions about issues such as the use of veto rights and how new members would participate in the Union’s decision-making processes.
Addressing the possibility that Montenegro and Iceland could join the EU at approximately the same time, or even as part of a broader accession package, Garčević said that their accession dates could potentially coincide. However, he stressed that the two countries should not be viewed as a single accession package, as their respective accession processes and circumstances are fundamentally different.
The interview can be read here in English.
Vesko Garčević is a professor of the practice of international studies at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and the director of the Center for the Study of Europe. An expert on multilateral issues, Garčević is the co-author of Montenegro and Serbia: A Velvet Divorce? (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) which explores the divergent past between Serbia and Montenegro between 1988 and 2023. To read more about his work and accomplishments, visit his faculty profile.