The Government is aware of the importance of civil society for the EU accession process and we are truly committed to continuous encouragement of direct dialogue, said the Prime Minister, Mr Duško Marković, at the opening of round table “Cooperation of the Government and NGO in the EU accession process, organized by the General Secretariat of the Government.
“I firmly believe that your specific knowledge, practical experience and critical opinion, framed into concrete and constructive suggestions, can improve the quality and increase the speed of our negotiation process”, said Mr Marković.
Prime Minister appealed to civil sector and political parties for uniting our potentials, knowledge and strength so that we can together achieve the most important objective – EU accession.
“Only with joint action, can we enhance the synergy of all Montenegrin potentials. That’s the safest and fastest way to our EU membership”, pointed out Mr Marković.
He stressed that the theme of integration was still current and inspiring and said that neither the Government nor NGOs were satisfied with the cooperation level. He said that Montenegro was entering the new, more demanding stage of negotiation process.
“We believe that EU strategies and commitments in relation to enlargement will remain unchanged. But the fact is that a lot hinges on personal engagement and commitment of those who will have the chance to implement that strategy”, said Mr Marković.
Montenegro was the first country to include NGOs into its negotiation structure. Number of representatives of civil society hasn’t been reduced due to the recent negotiation structure rationalization.
“By means of this decision, the Government has proven to be open for all the representatives of civil society through their direct participation in the negotiation working groups”, said Mr Marković.
He stated that a specific number of NGO representatives fail to attend the meetings of working groups.
“I think such an approach doesn’t lead to the improvement of the situation in the negotiation process”, said Mr Marković.
He pointed out that he had an impression that representatives of Montenegrin NGOs were ardent advocates for every position of European negotiators, whilst forgetting that they were actually part of Montenegrin team.
“I suggest we hold open and uncompromising dialogue inside working groups and together come to a joint platform that we are going to defend in the dialogue with our partners from Brussels”, said Mr Marković.
He called on the NGO representatives to state objections to the Government and the Prime Minister in the context of their mutual cooperation.
“I would be glad to hear that you are able to identify all the potentials of civil society and differentiate them from para-political action of a specific number of NGOs. It seems quite illogical to me that non-governmental sector is anti-government oriented “, said Mr Marković.
