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Montenegro's accession path unfolds where the EU's geopolitical ambition to enlarge meets fragile democratic practice. Political elites pledge loyalty to the 'European path' while quietly probing the limits of core principles, from freedom of association and expression to good neighbourly relations and judicial independence. These patterns reveal a strategy of norm teasing: pushing against liberal-democratic standards, recalibrating behaviour in response to Brussels' signals, and gradually shifting what is treated as acceptable. The case of Montenegro thus captures a process unfolding under geopolitical pressure, shaped as much by boundary-testing and tactical ambiguity as by formal compliance, raising unsettling questions about how resilient the EU's normative foundations remain when stability and symbolism trump substance.

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EU Enlargement Under Geopolitical Imperatives: Norm Contestation in Montenegro’s Accession Process

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Nemanja Stankov,
  • Ivan Vuković

摘要

Montenegro's accession path unfolds where the EU's geopolitical ambition to enlarge meets fragile democratic practice. Political elites pledge loyalty to the 'European path' while quietly probing the limits of core principles, from freedom of association and expression to good neighbourly relations and judicial independence. These patterns reveal a strategy of norm teasing: pushing against liberal-democratic standards, recalibrating behaviour in response to Brussels' signals, and gradually shifting what is treated as acceptable. The case of Montenegro thus captures a process unfolding under geopolitical pressure, shaped as much by boundary-testing and tactical ambiguity as by formal compliance, raising unsettling questions about how resilient the EU's normative foundations remain when stability and symbolism trump substance.