Milojko Spajić, Prime Minister of Montenegro, told the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 16 April that his country was “running at full speed towards the finish line in sight”, namely EU membership.
“I would like to remind you how hard we have worked over the last few months towards a political, legislative and economic agreement to enable convergence with the European Union in three areas”, he told MEPs. The three areas cited are the political and democratic stability of the institutions, “an unprecedented acceleration of legislative and judicial work in order to meet the criteria for the assessment that awaits us in June” and economic convergence with the EU (see EUROPE 13374/5).
He listed the decisions taken by his government (necessary appointments in the judiciary and appointment of the governor of the central bank, legislative alignment and reform of the Rule of law, etc.) Milojko Spajić highlighted, in particular, the new legislative framework in the fight against organised crime and corruption.
“We are not resting on our laurels. We are determined to continue making progress and we have a window of opportunity opening up to us at the moment, particularly during the current Belgian Presidency of the EU Council. It’s with the same enthusiasm that we’re working to get closer to closing a number of additional chapters, as many as possible. In any case, this is what we want to achieve under the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council”, said the Prime Minister of Montenegro.
Some work takes longer, such as constitutional changes or electoral reform. He also spoke about regional cooperation and the economy. The reform agenda is the most advanced in the Balkan region, he noted.
In response to questions from Vladimír Bilčik (EPP, Slovakian), Matjaž Nemec (S&D, Slovenian) and Georgios Kýrtsos (Renew Europe, Greek), in particular on Montenegro’s position towards Russia and political stability in the country, Mr Spajić stressed that the Rule of law was the country’s priority. Russia’s influence in Montenegro is minimal, he said. Common values and the single market are the most important aspects of EU membership, in our view, he concluded. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)