According to Pajović, leader of Positive Montenegro and Speaker of Parliament, the decision of Great Britain to leave the EU it not good news, but it will not affect Montenegro’s journey to the Union.
“We see our way into the EU as a means to achieving certain standards, whether in democratic, political or institutional reforms.. The issue of NATO integration was never more important; in the context of all that can happen in the EU, I believe it is of utmost importance that Montenegro soon becomes a member of NATO. Also to confirm its political identity and make a civilizational step forward – to become part of the Western civilization”, Pajović said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency.
Montenegro’s Accession Protocol has been ratified by five NATO member countries in the past 20 days. Pajović adds Bulgaria will complete the process by the end of this week, while Romania and even the United Kingdom are expected to do the same very soon.
“Also, we have an announcement that the United States will do so before the last NATO member, which was never the case”, said Pajovic stressing that the road to NATO has no alternative.
Commenting on the fact that rumors say Russia is pressuring certain NATO members to not ratify Montenegro’s membership, Pajovic said some resistance was expected.
“Besides, we also have domestic political forces that used to send opposing letters to member states of NATO. But their failure is best represented in the example of Albania, where we did not have a single vote against the ratification of the accession protocol, as well as in Slovenia, where there were only three votes against. Their energy would be better spent in a more constructive way”, added Pajović.
Asked whether other countries in the region could be NATO members in the near future, Pajović said that after some time, he believes rationality will replace emotions.
“Part of Western Balkans, but also a part of Montenegro, is still emotional about NATO. However, I am absolutely sure that the region in which wars erupted every few decades, where practically every generation participated in a war, and which could not develop its economy exactly because of this, will surely come to see that not just Montenegro but of all Western Balkan countries have a perspective through NATO integration. All the more so with recent events in Europe, and with security factors in the world. So I’m sure that rationality will prevail over emotional strings and even cheap political exploits when it comes to explaining to citizens why the road to NATO is good or is not good”, stressed Pajović, adding that Montenegro is a true anchor of stability and peace in the Western Balkans, proven in the past two decades, when Montenegro was the only country in the region uninterested in war developments.
“We are very proud of the multiethnic and multi-religious harmony that Montenegro did not conjure just yesterday, but has been cherishing for centuries”, said Pajović.
Commenting on the unresolved issue of the Croatian border, and litigation within Kosovo over the border with Montenegro, Pajović noted that these issues do not cause any disturbances between the neighboring states and that they will be dealt with in a peaceful manner, in due course.
Pajović emphasized it is very important to say that thanks to its diplomacy, turkey is very present in Montenegro.
“We have a large number of investors who came to Montenegro – in the municipalities of Bar, Niksic, in the north of the country, with the development agency TIKA, which undertook many development projects. I am convinced that these relations can go upward, because there is a lot that connects Montenegro with Turkey. As we know, Turkey was for a long time the fastest growing economy in this part of the world, and we are certainly flattered to have good relations with a large country willing to invest in Montenegro”, Pajović said.
The political scene in Montenegro in recent months attracted the attention of the foreign public, to which Pajovic said protests are now over, the Parliament is functional, and the new government is operational to monitor the forthcoming elections
“Today we have everything that we wouldn’t have if the decision of January 27, when we supported the government, were different. I won’t be modest, I want to be more realistic, and say that this is enormously the merit of Positive Montenegro. I believe that now we can all see the quality of that decision, when we enabled representatives of the opposition to enter the executive branch of the government. We made a new government, and after 27 years, we finally have a different political environment, which not only guarantees democratic changes, but has made them already”, Pajović said underlining that it was Positive Montenegro who back in 2012 discovered and published the “Snimak” affair in which the public saw the well-established mechanism for buying votes.
And this is what opened doors for the debate on free and fair elections, made possible four years later, when the opposition took hold of the departments crucial for controlling the use and abuse of state resources for party purposes. This also includes “cleaning” of the electoral roll.
“These important mechanisms are now in the hands of the opposition. We are the ones who demanded to leverage this power, accusing the ruling elite of abusing it. And now that we have it, when we are free to manage these sectors, the responsibility is on us”, said Pajović, among other things.
