The vision of the development of the civil and European state of Montenegro, as I presented it at the beginning of my term, shaped my actions and decisively influenced the decisions made in the previous year, said President of the State Jakov Milatovic in his address on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of his inauguration as the President of Montenegro.
He strove, he says, as a factor of reconciliation and unity, and for the benefit of society as a whole, “to work dedicatedly on directing social processes towards the further democratization of Montenegro”.
“In the previous year, significant steps were taken towards meeting the benchmarks that will bring us closer to EU membership”, Milatovic said, and that in this way, after years of stagnation, significant progress was made on our European path, he stressed.
He said that in the days when we celebrate the coming of age of the restoration of independence, “we are in an important historical stage, the quality of our lives, as well as the generations to come, will depend on its successful completion”.
In this sense, as he stated, the further development of democracy, improvement of the state of the rule of law and sustainable economic development are three parallel processes requiring the greatest involvement of all social factors, because “the EU is not a goal in itself, but a value determination to which Montenegro belongs”.
He also noted that at the internal level, fundamental values such as education, science and culture were brought back into focus, thereby creating conditions for building a society of equal opportunities.
He recalled that facing the past was an “obligation” and a debt to those who, due to a different national, religious or political commitment, made a sacrifice that was ignored by the state for decades.
In the end, he expressed his belief that as a society we had managed to recognize the importance of the current moment, so that everyone “could continue to build a more prosperous future for our country”.
Irrelevant president!