The European Commission on Tuesday recommended granting membership candidate status to Montenegro, but withheld such a recommendation for Albania.
Montenegro can start accession negotiations when it meets the necessary requirements, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said.
The commission recommends the opening of accession negotiations with Montenegro and Albania after the two countries reach a necessary level of alignment with the membership criteria, defined in Copenhagen in 1993, Fuele told a news conference in Brussels.
Albania needs to make additional efforts to continue progress based on its achievements so far, he said.
Montenegro applied for EU membership in December 2008 and Albania did so in April 2009.
Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia, and Iceland already have candidate status.
