Thewesternbalkans
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, Filip Ivanović, received on April 29, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, Miroslav Lajčak, on a farewell visit.
Lajčak assessed that Montenegro is on a its path to close the negotiating chapters, which will bring it to the final phase of negotiations. “The EU wants Montenegro to continue to be a success story. The doors of the EU are open and Montenegro is best placed to be next member”, Lajčak pointed out.
He also said that Montenegro is traditionally recognized as a reliable partner and a country dedicated to good neighborly relations and regional cooperation, and that it is crucial to remain focused on the priority goal – EU membership.
Minister Ivanović thanked Lajčak for his commitment to affirming the European perspective of the Western Balkans. He assured that Montenegro remains fully focused on fulfilling obligations from the EU agenda and entering the final phase of negotiations.
During the meeting, the current regional situation was also discussed, with special reference to the necessity of strengthening dialogue and mutual understanding, based on common interests and goals, among which, in the first place, is membership in the European Union.
Comment: Montenegro started EU accession negotiations in June 2012. While it has opened all 33 negotiating chapters, it has closed only three of them. Under previous governments the process has slowed to a crawl as the country squandered good will by delivering little on the reforms that Brussels mandated. As a result, the EU member states expressed concern about the country, which has struggled with crime, corruption and Russian influence.
However, Montenegro had learned its lesson and had achieved significant progress in the previous months, under the government of Spajić. His government had introduced judicial reforms, increased average wages, restricted cash use in large transactions such as real estate to root out money laundering and was working to counter organized crime.
All these efforts as well as the EU’s need to have its successful story in the Western Balkans can lead to the realization of Spajić’s strategy Montenegro to become the 28th member state of the EU by 2028.
