Visiting Brussels on Thursday 26 January, Montegro's Prime Minister Dusko Markovic confirmed his country's ambition to become a member of the European Union.
"The government will focus on the process" of reforms linked to EU accession, Markovic told press at the end of his meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk, adding that two new ministries aimed to focus on the negotiations and their success. He said that his country was committed to fulfilling the economic and political conditions to join the EU, and that it was working on strengthening its public administration. Earlier in the day, at the end of a meeting with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Markovic had said he hoped his country might be able to open new negotiation chapters under the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU. He had added that Montenegro would soon be ready to close Chapter 30 on external relations. Podgorica has opened 26 out of 35 chapters, and two have been provisionally closed.
Tusk said he fully supported Montenegro's Euro-Atlantic ambition, adding that "de facto, it was a member state" because the country has totally aligned its foreign policy with that of the EU, especially as regards the policy of sanctions and its participation in CSDP missions. Tusk also thought that there was no alternative for the Western Balkans than the European perspective.
More generally, Tusk encouraged the government of Montenegro to redouble its efforts on reforms on the rule of law and the fight against corruption and organised crime, saying that these would be the criteria on which the member states and the people of Montenegro would judge the government's success.
Tusk also said he would like Montenegro's prime minister to work on a close dialogue with the opposition (which is boycotting the parliament) and to clarify the outstanding questions on the attempted coup that was planned on the day of the elections on 18 October. In his view, this would help restore trust and foster the dialogue. Markovic assured Tusk of his government's resolve to create the conditions for such a dialogue with the opposition. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)