Corruption, affairs, electoral legislation, decline in rule of law performance and monopoly are still the problems standing in the way of the EU accession-it is said at the National conference “Montenegro and the new accession model to the EU-encouragement or excuse for missing the opportunity?”, held in Hilton hotel, in Podgorica.
Ana Nenezić, the executive director of the Center for monitoring and research (CEMI), says that the aim of this conference is to define both the status of Montenegro and other candidate countries in regard to the EU accession as objectively as possible.
“At the end of November, or beginning of December 2016, the Prime minister, while presenting the government program for its four-year term, said that the aim of the government was to close all the chapters by the end of 2019”, Nenezić says.
She also ads that we still have no official reports on Chapter 23 and 24 and that the citizens’ support of the accession to the EU has declined to 55%, as opposed to 63% in favor of the EU in the previous year.
Nenezić points out that Montenegro has done everything it was supposed to do and that the problems are within the EU.
“Citizens also doubt the quality of government institutions and their support of the same is on the decline, as well. Many affairs, such are The envelope, Apartments, etc, have affected the accession talks to the EU. French proposal to reform the membership application process comes from the fact that the reforms give no positive changes and the transformation is almost invisible. Despite that, the newly elected heads of the EU say that the Western Balkans region is still high on the EU agenda and remain of the top priorities.” , Nenezić concludes.
Croatian ambassador to Montenegro, His Excellency Veselko Grubišić, states that it is of great honor for Croatia to preside over European Union and that The Strong Union is a new presidency motto. He also mentions the victory of Boris Johnson, which will inevitably lead to Great Britain leaving the EU and going through a certain process, in the same time. He also says that Croatia prioritizes important transformations within society. When talking about Montenegro, he says that there is only one chapter left unopened, hoping to be opened at the time of Croatian presidency. He states that that the road to the EU is not a two-way roadway, but two one-way lanes where one can pass, speed up, or slow down.
“For Croatia, it was of an utmost importance to join EU and NATO. We were not supposed to preside over EU, but ever since Great Britain decided to leave, it was suggested Croatia take a lead. We shall support Montenegro, but you will have to do the most on your own”, Grubišić states.
Marko Mrdak, the deputy of Montenegro’s chief negotiator with EU, says that Montenegro has 32 opened chapters of which 1 has not been opened and the other 3 closed temporarily; therefore, Montenegro can rest assured on its way to the EU.
“I hope Montenegro will join EU soon”, says Mrdak.
Slaven Radunović, the representative of Demokratski front and the president of Parliamentary Committee for European Integration says that the transformation and improvement of society on its way to the EU is of utmost importance.
“We can’t hope for much while we have a state of emergency at the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office and prosecutor’s secretary under investigation”, Radunović says.
He also says that we have to have more confidence in legislative process and that he agrees with president Macron in regard to his new proposal which would, in the long run, bring benefits and help close some chapters.
On the other hand, Daliborka Pejović (DPS), the member of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration, thinks that Macron has not criticized Montenegro.
“If European Union says that our country fulfilled all criteria, then we do not know what else is left to be done in order to become member state” Pejović says.
Dragan Krapović, the Deputy president of the Demokratska Crna Gora party, states that democracy is defined by free elections, which Montenegro has not had, yet. The leader od DEMOS, Miodrag Lekić, points to the fact that the road leading to the EU is a two-way roadway, one being Copenhagen criteria and geopolitical context the other one. Filip Adžić, the Deputy president of URA party thinks that the government of Montenegro is the main problem on the way to the EU, which is to say its chief negotiators.The president of HGI, Adrijan Vuksanović, says that the EU is not one state, but the state that consists of many others. General secretary of SDP, Ivan Vujović, says that Montengro has opened 32 chapters, except the chapter 8-Competition policy, which has been already degraded by 155 million of state aid to Montenegro Airlines.
