Appointments to the judiciary are a prerequisite for the continuation of Montenegro's European path and, if there is political will, that part of the work can be completed by the end of the year, it was announced at the conference of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights "EU integration: On the right track again?".
Acting General Director for the European Union (EU) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Snežana Radović, said that in Montenegro it should stop saying that only the government votes for some European laws, and the opposition does not.
"When we talk about appointments in the judiciary, it's just the beginning and a prerequisite for us to be able to go before our partners and say we did it initially in order to move on," said Radović.
As she said, Montenegro must harmonize legislation with European legislation, continue XNUMX% compliance with the EU's foreign and security policy and be a constructive partner in the region.
"We should have a very strong will to continue working despite the fact that there will be steps back," said Radovic.
She pointed out that there is significant optimism that Montenegro could and should be a member of the EU, while on the other hand, there is talk of reforms within the EU itself.
"The EU functioned with 28 members for six years, there is an infrastructure for so many members," said Radović.
She believes that Montenegro should be a member even before 2030, because she fears that candidates will get tired.
Radović said that, when it comes to the European integration of Montenegro, she avoids the regional context because the country should go alone towards the EU.
"We shouldn't look back too much on the progress of the region, of course we should all be members of the EU, but Montenegro cannot wait for other countries in the region," stated Radović.
According to her, although Montenegro is the closest to EU membership compared to other countries in the region, if the country is not a credible member of the Union, it means nothing.
"That's why we need to solve the legislation, to build independent institutions, so that it doesn't matter who is the majority, who is in power and who is in the opposition. "It doesn't matter who the captain is on the ship, if the ship is going in the direction it should go," said Radović.
She repeated that 80 percent of citizens want Montenegro to join the EU, and that it is up to the politicians to make it happen.
Radović said that this year's six negotiation chapters were rated worse compared to the previous one.
"The most realistic picture of all this is that only two chapters were evaluated as good and good progress was made, and those are chapters 25 and 31," said Radović.
Speaking about the Berlin process, she said that she was glad that there was talk about that initiative, and not about the Open Balkans.
"The Berlin process is an action that can push us to prepare for the common market as soon as possible. The Berlin process definitely belongs to those activities that Montenegro should pay attention to, which should contribute to a better life," said Radović.
Speaking about the Franco-German proposal, she stated that both governments say they will seriously consider the document.
"We must not wait for the reform of the EU, because the reform of the EU must go in parallel with the enlargement," said Radović.
She said that the negotiation structure is cumbersome and that they probably need to create an efficient and not cumbersome structure.
Member of the Civil Movement URA Miloš Konatar said that the election of the seventh judge of the Constitutional Court is a good and big step for meeting the political criteria when it comes to negotiations with the EU.
"I think that as soon as possible we have to resolve the issue of the election of the Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT) and the missing members of the Judicial Council in the Assembly. We need to do what is up to us, and then let's see if someone from the EU likes us or not," Konatar said.
As he said, according to media announcements, at least 50 MPs will support the election of Faruk Resulbegović as a judge of the Constitutional Court tomorrow, and in this way one of the three issues blocking Montenegro from meeting the political criteria will be resolved.
"After that, VDT and the Judicial Council remain. If there is a will, we can finish it by the end of the year," said Konatar and added that the work could theoretically be completed by December 31 if there is a will to immediately form the Committee for the Political System and the Judiciary.
Konatar emphasized that it is a challenge, above all, for the new parliamentary majority and the Government.
"The process will not be stopped because of opposition MPs, the ball is in the court of the parliamentary majority." The parliamentary majority appointed the President of the Assembly, and will also vote tomorrow for the President of the Committee for the Political System and the Judiciary. These are processes that formally depend on the parliamentary majority to initiate them," Konatar said.
He stressed that the opposition will be constructive in those processes.
Konatar said that Montenegro is lucky that there are no major political issues that need to be resolved.
As he assessed, Montenegro must not wait for the countries of the region and in any way tie its integration to the speed with which other countries of the Western Balkans will move closer to the EU.
"It is in our interest that the entire ZB is part of the EU, but Montenegro must exclusively follow our path towards EU membership," Konatar said.
He said that the biggest danger of the European integration process in the region is that he is not sure that people in the Western Balkans believe that the countries of the region will actually become members of the EU.
According to Konatar, this danger would be best overcome if one country in the region became a member of the EU in the foreseeable future, and Montenegro is an ideal country to be the next member of the EU.
Speaking about Serbia's failure to impose sanctions on Russia, he said that this is Serbia's problem.
"We are absolutely clear about that and we should continue on the same path as before. They should emulate Montenegro, not us," said Konatar.
The executive director of the Politiko Institute for Socio-Political Research, Ana Nenezić, said that she would not like the narrative to remain that the work is done when key people in the judiciary are appointed.
"We are waiting for much more complicated issues that we have to deal with, such as temporary benchmarks," Nenezić said.
She said that it is difficult to be optimistic when you see what the parties have been doing.
"I believe that the political will is declarative and that in practice it will be difficult to resolve some issues, especially from the parties that make up the current political majority," said Nenzić.
As she said, there is no one in Montenegro who advocates a principle other than the one that implies promotion based on merit - the regatta principle.
"Moldova successfully passed the process of internal reforms, it is on the way to the EU, there is a lot of support from the public and they are ready to easily solve the issue that is holding them back. "There is a political willingness to resolve this issue quickly," said Nenezić.
She emphasized that the 28th place in the EU does not have to be left for Montenegro, even though it is the leader in the integration process, stating that it has Moldova and Albania behind it, which can solve their issues.
"We missed a lot of opportunities, I'm afraid that if we miss what we have now, it will be a very difficult process for Montenegro. "The EU made a lot of mistakes, we did too, we need to draw a line on that side," Nenezić said.
As she said, in the last report of the European Commission, it was announced in detail what it should do.
"During the previous two years, we have been dealing with the reform of the negotiation structure, and now the story is that we have to enter the reconstruction process, that's where time is wasted, which, in that sense, we don't have," said Nenezić.
She emphasized that the EU clearly states that all countries with open neighborhood issues are not eligible to be members of the EU.
"Montenegro is not there at the moment, and I think there is a serious risk for that. "Serbia can be someone who will start the process, it is a country that has ethnic groups in other countries of the Western Balkans and in this way can influence the destabilization of other countries," said Nenezić.
He said that it is often skipped to say why Montenegro is often called a leader in the process of European integration.
"I think it's not just about chapters, because we haven't done anything there since 2017, but it's good for us that we don't have open issues with our neighbors and we fully follow the EU's foreign and security policy," Nenezić said.
As she stated, when you look at other countries from the region and the things they are facing, Montenegro already seems like a success story.
Nenezić stated that in Montenegro, politicians are often heard declaratively ready, but that this is absent when it comes to a situation where something needs to be done.
She pointed out that, in the current geopolitical moment, society should put strong pressure on decision-makers, so that something could happen on the European road.
As she stated, today in Brussels the Western Balkans are being discussed as a potential security problem and that their focus is to prevent a potential escalation.
"I believe that their interest in speeding up that process is also related to that segment," Nenezić said.
Speaking about the Berlin process, she said that in Montenegro, the declarative readiness for that initiative was highlighted.
"There is real room to bring the Open Balkans into focus, fortunately for us, Albania has put an end to that story and that is a good thing for us," concluded Nenezić.
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