Member of the European Parliament Tonino Picula said that initiatives like the one on dual citizenship can have long-term consequences for the sovereignty of Montenegro and its European perspective, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) announced.
During the meeting with DPS general secretary Aleksandar Bogdanović, Picula said that such initiatives can cause additional divisions in society, which do not contribute to political and social stability, which is necessary for further reform processes.
Picula and Bogdanović met in Brussels.
According to the press release, Bogdanović informed Picula of the results of the local elections "which confirmed the dominance" of the DPS and showed that the citizens of Montenegro recognize the commitment and struggle to preserve national interests, the most important of which is EU membership.
"In this regard, the Secretary General of the DPS said that it is worrying that part of the parties of the parliamentary majority openly operate on platforms that promote anti-European policies, and that initiatives such as changing the Constitution, the Law on Dual Citizenship, as well as the proposal of the Law on Foreign Agencies are particularly worrying. which directly undermines the foundations on which the European perspective of Montenegro is built. He emphasized that there is a significant influence of external factors within the parliamentary majority, which further complicates the political situation and introduces additional divisions into Montenegrin society."
The DPS announcement also says that Bogdanović referred to the announced changes to the Law on Citizenship, stating that the DPS will have a ready response in case the government continues with unilateral decisions, without respecting the views of the opposition and a large part of the citizens.
"Tonino Picula pointed out that for the further progress of Montenegro towards the European Union, the commitment of political actors to a pro-European course, political stability and the resolution of internal challenges will be key, and in this context he welcomed the action of all truly pro-European options. He concluded that initiatives such as the one on dual citizenship may have long-term consequences for the sovereignty of Montenegro and its European perspective, and that such initiatives may cause additional divisions in society, which do not contribute to the political and social stability that is necessary for further reform processes endangering good neighborly relations by imposing political issues that call into question the cooperation of the two countries and the further progress of Podgorica on the way to the EU".
As stated in the DPS statement, commenting on the results of the census, Picula and Bogdanović assessed that Montenegro confirmed that society is based on a multi-ethnic democracy in which citizens can freely express their national identities, and that there is no room for deepening ethnic divisions that could threaten the country's stability and European future.
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