Montenegro as the most advanced candidate country in the European Union (EU) accession process is facing numerous challenges and difficulties in achieving its main foreign policy goal. This Master’s Thesis analyses the impact of domestic and foreign factors on Montenegro’s foreign policy. It analyses, through a central research question, how domestic and foreign factors influence Montenegro’s foreign policy interests (governmental and state) in the EU accession process. The theoretical part of the thesis is based on the conceptualisation of the basic concepts: foreign policy, domestic and foreign factors of foreign policy, state and governmental interests, and the EU accession process. In the following part, the thesis offers a historical developmental analysis of Montenegro’s foreign policy from 1992 to the present day. The empirical part of the Master’s Thesis is based on twelve conducted interviews, which address the influence of domestic and foreign factors in two case studies. The first case study examines the impact of foreign factors (2016 and the coup attempt) on the formation of Montenegrin foreign policy in the process of EU accession. The second case study deals with domestic factors (political and institutional instability) that influence the formation of Montenegrin foreign policy in the process of EU accession. The Thesis reveals, that domestic and foreign factors have a dominant influence on Government interests. The domestic political situation plays a dominant role in shaping Montenegro’s foreign policy interest.
|
