The head of the Office for Central and Southern Europe in the US State Department, Malcolm McDowell, said that the election of Jakov Milatović as President of Montenegro and the extraordinary parliamentary elections that followed "are a good symbol and sign that, at least in one part of the region, we are turning our backs on the past and looking for a new generation leader".
He is as he reports Voice of America he said this at a conference in Washington, organized by the Transatlantic Leadership Network and the Atlantic Council.
"I want to congratulate Montenegro, which is celebrating its Statehood Day today. The President (Joseph Biden) sent a letter to the newly elected President (Jakov) Milatović in which he stated that the United States of America continues to support Montenegro as it works to build a stable, inclusive, multi-ethnic democracy , able to implement reforms in order to advance in EU accession and in the fight against corruption. This applies to all the countries of the Western Balkans, not only to Montenegro. The election of President Milatović and the parliamentary elections that followed, in our opinion, are a good symbol and sign , that at least in one part of the region, we are turning our backs on the past and looking for a new generation of leaders," McDowell said at the conference.
He added that a lot of progress has been made since the mid-90s, and that a lot of work still needs to be done, not only when talking about cyber attacks, but also about dependence on Russian energy.
He also adds corruption as a problem for the region.
"There are many challenges, how to reduce tensions and normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo. What are we, as an international community and region, ready to do to oppose those who would awaken the spirits of violence and tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which call into question its sovereignty and territorial integrity and multi-ethnicity. This is not something that the US can solve alone, it is how to help the countries of the region to be closer to each other, and therefore to the European Union, that is our strategic interest. That is why we supported various regional initiatives such as which is the Open Balkans," McDowell added.
The Voice of America states that a message was sent at the conference that America is thinking of the countries of the Western Balkans.
The president of the Transatlantic Leadership Network, Daniel Hamilton, stated that it is important to send such a message from Washington, that these countries want to connect and that "we all need to work on it together."
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