 In 2012, Montenegro became the first country from the current six Western Balkan states to start accession negotiations with the EU and to date, according to many officials, it is a frontrunner on the path towards the EU membership.As a part of the ongoing negotiations, the EU will have to deal with this unprecedented case in which a state, already using the common currency without implementing all the mandatory economic conditions, is striving to join the EU and the Eurozone.These conditions (convergence criteria) are set out in Article 140 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in order to ensure that a certain country is ready for integration into the monetary regime of the euro area.