At the Second Forum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in Cetinje, Mr Luksic said that NATO integration represented a process that would last even after having received the invitation, the national broadcaster RTCG carried.
“What we have heard does sound encouraging, but “a match lasts until the referee blew the final whistle”. For us, it means that we are obliged to do the best we can, and not to prejudge the decision that 27 NATO member states would make in December, but I truly believe that there are conditions for a consensus on invitation to Montenegro to be reached”, Mr Luksic said.
He believes that there is reason for optimism, and it is supported, as he said, by result of opinion polls that show a growing number of citizens who support Montenegro’s membership in the Alliance.
“Everything indicates that we have reached a visible progress and countries we are communicating with recognise that, Mr Luksic said, reminding that there are still two months to that decision and the last thing we need now is to take a positive result for granted and to forget about our tasks.
“On the contrary, I think it is important to realise that the reforms will not be finished even in early December. We are entering a new phase with new obligations,” Luksic said.
According to him, the upcoming visit of the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, will be an opportunity to explain it.
“At this stage, we will have additional dialogue to promote values of membership in NATO. There is still work to do in order to explain the benefits of membership in NATO to citizens”, Mr Luksic said, adding that it is obvious that there is still a lot of work when it comes to standards of the rule of law, which is a process that will last longer, since the rule of law cannot be established overnight.
He also said he was satisfied with the dynamics of fulfilling the obligations towards the European Union.
