Montenegro firmly believes the European perspective represents the only guarantee that the South-East Europe region can become the zone of peace, security, safety and development, which is the primary goal of the Cooperation process. That is why we are worried about the slowdown and undermining of the EU enlargement, President of Montenegro, Mr Milo Đukanović, told today at the South-East European Cooperation Process, SEECP Summit in Bosnia’ capital, Sarajevo.
He emphasized that dynamics of the events in the region and in Europe as well, has been quite intensive, while the challenges and tasks have remained almost the same, Mr Đukanović’s office said in a statement.
The President assessed that two major impressions marked the time before today’s meeting.
“The first refers to slowdown in the integration process of the Western Balkans. For those already involved in this issue – this has been an expected and politically announced moment.”
Mi u CG čvrsto vjerujemo da je evropska perspektiva jedini garant da region Jugoistočne Evrope zaista pretvorimo u zonu mira, sigurnosti, bezbjednosti i razvoja, što je i temeljni cilj Procesa saradnje. Zato nas zabrinjava usporavanje i zamagljivanje politike proširenja. #SEECP pic.twitter.com/hNY1JUTlT2
— Milo Đukanović (@predsjednik_cg) July 9, 2019
The second important moment is repeatedly discouraging messages from some of the most significant European political addresses.
“The last one, which came recently after the high-level meeting was held, clearly rejects any enlargement before some in-depth institutional reforms are conducted, which would boost the EU functionality. I don’t want to rush with the conclusions, especially not with these ones which are of crucial importance for the future of our countries and our common European home,” President Đukanović added.
According to him, it’s important to have factual not desired results.
“It’s true that the latest European election results suggested that two thirds of the elected representatives in the European Parliament support the vision of the united Europe, which also means that is not a guarantee for the European perspective of the countries of the region. We hope the EU will remain focused on the enlargement process and the integration of the Western Balkans, and that the enlargement policy will be on the agenda of the new EC,” President Đukanović was adamant.
He stressed it’s important to have the EU as a partner who encourages reforms and gives clear and permanent perspective.
President Đukanović also noted that the most significant precondition for the economic and social development of our countries is clear commitment to the EU.
Montenegro remains strongly committed to the promotion of good neighbourly policy and regional cooperation with the aim of strengthening democracy, mutual understanding and trust, as well as inter-connectivity.
“We firmly believe it’s necessary to continue with the activities and policies that are complementary to the European integration of the region. Montenegro is going to preside over the Central European Initiative and the Western Balkans Fund next year, and I believe this would be an opportunity to further strengthen the regional processes and synergy of different initiatives,” concluded Mr Đukanović, congratulating Kosovo on taking over the presidency of the SEECP.
