EU candidate Montenegro passes new election

(PODGORICA) - Montenegro passed a new electoral law Thursday, taking another step towards meeting the requirements for European Union membership.

After four years of debate, lawmakers in the former Yugoslav state passed the law unanimously.

"By doing this we have met the first condition ... towards getting a date for European Union accession talks," said parliamentary head Ranko Krivokapic.

"We have overcome an obstacle on our path towards the European Union," Montenegro Prime Minister Igor Luksic told journalists after securing an agreement with the opposition.

The country was awarded EU candidate status in December but Brussels has said it needs to tackle corruption and organised crime while bringing its administration and judiciary systems up to standard.

The European commissioner for enlargement Stefan Fuele welcomed the latest step taken by Montenegro.

"Reforms have to be pursued with determination, to the benefit of every citizen in Montenegro," he said.

"I am positive that with the determination of its people, Montenegro will continue to make steady progress towards the European Union."

Montenegro split from a loose union with Serbia in June 2006 after an historic independence referendum, and applied to join the European Union in 2008.

The country also wants to join NATO.

EU candidate countries must meet a number of democratic, economic and legal standards before they are allowed to join.

Montenegro has promised reform, but has been labelled in the past as a haunt of organised crime.