The success of Montenegro in European and Euro-Atlantic integrations would mean encouragement for the other countries of the Western Balkans on that path and improving the image on the regional and global stage, it was assessed at the round table of the European Movement of Montenegro.
The President of the European Movement of Montenegro, Momčilo Radulović, said today, at the round table "Montenegro in NATO - a look into the future", that Montenegro has become a symbol of something much higher than its size, because, in his opinion, it has become " "litmus paper" for the political and security orientation of the entire Western Balkans.
"Montenegro's success in European and Euro-Atlantic integration was the success of the entire Western Balkans and would be an encouragement to other countries to move forward on the path to the European Union and NATO," said Radulović in the PR Center.
According to him, Russia is stopping not only NATO, but also, as he said, trying to stop the process of European integration with various constructions - "that it is an outdated project, an unsuccessful project from the nineties, and that Eurasian integration gives a much greater perspective than European integration".
Radulović, commenting on the statement of the vice-president of the Russian Duma, Sergej Zelezniak, who supported the opposition in not recognizing the elections, assessed that it was a threat to Montenegro.
"This can be interpreted as an exceptionally strong message, calling for extra-institutional conditioning of the elected government in Montenegro," Radulović believes.
The Ambassador of Hungary to Montenegro, Kristijan Poša, said that Montenegro is a leader in the region when it comes to Euro-Atlantic integration.
"Montenegro is the country that will most likely become a full member of the Alliance next year. So far, 13 countries have ratified the Protocol on Montenegro's Accession to the Alliance, and we should not forget that there are still some countries that will do the same this year," Poša said.
He said that yesterday he received information from a colleague from Croatia that, after the formation of the new government, that country will ratify the Protocol on Montenegro's accession to the Alliance in a very short period of time.
"I think that at the beginning of next year there will be two or three more members of the Alliance that will ratify the Protocol, and that this process should be completed during the middle of next year. It is a very big success, not only for Montenegro, but also for the region," said Poša.
The Minister of Defense, Milica Pejanović Đurišić, believes that the fact that Montenegro is on the threshold of full formalization of membership in NATO is of particular importance.
"I consider the invitation to become part of the Alliance, the signing of the Accession Protocol, which was ratified by 13 NATO member states in this short period, a very valuable confirmation of the success of the overall reform processes that we are implementing in Montenegro and the fact that European and Euro-Atlantic values are being successfully adopted in all segments of our functioning", said Pejanović Đurišić.
She assessed that the results of the recently concluded parliamentary elections showed that the citizens of Montenegro, expressing their attitude towards what was the political offer, to a significant extent opted for political programs that have the foreign policy goal of Euro-Atlantic integration.
"The results of the election showed that in Montenegro the consciousness has matured, which definitely implies majority and significant support for the values of Western civilization and what is the commitment to an even more intensive continuation of integration both on the European and Euro-Atlantic paths," Pejanović Đurišić pointed out. .
Regional expert and columnist on international relations from Serbia, Boško Jakšić, said that, bearing in mind all the pressures and attempts to destabilize the region that are evident, he expects that Russia will continue with pressures in Montenegro, "but also in the countries where it can". .
"Considering that the Montenegrin opposition, or a part of that opposition, offers as an option the annulment of the contract with NATO, that is a big deal that Russia would like to achieve. This is an important goal that Russia will fight for, and it will fight for it in various ways - underground and above ground, with all the skill of its diplomacy and with all the readiness to use the most open pressures", believes Jakšić.
As part of the round table, the panel "Social and political attitudes about Montenegro's membership in NATO" was organized, during which representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists, Demos and the Socialist People's Party spoke - Tarzan Milošević, Miodrag Lekić and Aleksandar Damjanović.
The round table "Montenegro in NATO - a look into the future" was organized with the help of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation.
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