He said, asked under which conditions a referendum would be organized, that Montenegrin constitution does not say that referendum on NATO is mandatory and that correct interpretation of the Constitution is that ths decision could be made by the Parliament too.
„However, the Parliament can also decide to make the call itself, but also to call for a referendum. I think that we shouldn’t get into guessing now what the eventual parliament would do, after it’s voted in this October”, said prime minister at the mutual press conference with general secretary of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, it was reported by agency MINA.
As he said, latest research of public opinion shows that support for NATO grows in Montenegro, and it’s eight to nine percent higher than those who oppose membership, and also 75 percent of people believe that Mintenegro will become a member of NATO, the poll showed.
More work in reforms
Stoltenberg said that today’s signing of the Protocol is just a beginning of the road of Montenegro towards membership.
„This is good for Montenegro, but it requires that Montenegro continues with reforms, especially in areas of the rule of la and fight against organized crime and corruption, as well as to keep modernizing its defense institutions”, he said.
Asked about the length of the ratification process, Stoltenberg explained that it’s up to the individual parliament of each country to decide for themselves. “I think that it wouldn’t be wise for me to give advice to specific parliaments while sitting in Brussels. Last time it lasted around year and a half, and if that can be some sort of a model, it can give a hint about how long it could last.
Djukanovic and Stoltenberg agreed that they didn’t get the impression that internal problems within member countries could slow down the process of ratification.
Stoltenberg said that presence of NATO in Western Balkans contributed to stability of the region once full of conflicts, adding that the Alliance will remain focused on Western Balkans.
„We continuosusly think about how to contribute to further stabilization of the whole region, and expansion of NATO is important to achieve that”, said Stoltenberg.
