The report of the European Commission (EC) will state the progress of Montenegro in all negotiation chapters, said the Minister of European Affairs, Maida Gorčević.
She said this at the consultative hearing of the negotiating team on the overall progress in the negotiations on the accession of Montenegro to the European Union (EU), before the Committee for European Integration.
The board adopted the 40th, 41st and 42nd quarterly report on activities within the process of integration of Montenegro into the EU, which refer to the period from December last year to June this year.
The board adopted the 20th and 21st semi-annual reports on overall activities within the process of integration of Montenegro into the EU, which refer to the period from July last year to June this year.
Gorčević said that the biggest step forward was obtaining IBAR, which is an indicator that EU integration is a cohesive factor of all political subjects.
She pointed out that Montenegro is in the process of drafting a new EU accession program for the next two years.
"We will have new deadlines in the part of closing the chapter, which we will communicate with the departments and with the EC", stated Gorčević.
She said that the most obligations are planned for the current year – 326.
As she said, last year, out of 300 obligations, 98 were fulfilled, and this year, out of 102, 50 obligations have been fulfilled.
She repeated that by obtaining IBAR, the path to the EU was unblocked, thanks to excellent cooperation within the Government together with the parliament and other actors, but also at the regional level and with European partners.
Deputy of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Mihailo Anđušić asked if there is any reason for concern when it comes to certain events.
"The best moment was getting the IBAR, after that it can be said that there followed a period of stagnation through some kind of political instability that was marked by the adoption of controversial laws until certain activities when it comes to some kind of diplomatic gaffes," said Andušić.
Gorčević said that she does not agree that there was a period of stagnation.
"We are in the phase of closing the chapters, the Ministry of European Affairs (MEP) has been working all the time on communication with the EC in order to close the four chapters in December," said Gorčević.
Commenting on the fact that it was mentioned earlier that the state will close ten chapters this year, which was also pointed out in the analysis of the cabinet of the President of the State Jakov Milatović, she said that the Government is still working on it.
"The dynamic does not depend only on the Montenegrin side, but also on cooperation with the EC, on the Council and on the vote at the Intergovernmental Conference," Gorčević said.
She said that in the EC there were changes within the administration and that the elections in the EP slowed down the dynamics of communication with all member states.
"The agreement was that we can officially close four chapters by the end of the year, regardless of the fact that we are now in communication to close two more, which we will close officially at the beginning of next year together with Poland," Gorčević added.
She said that the plan is for the state to close all chapters by 2026.
"But that is our desire, the question is whether the EC will be able to respond to all our requests in the part of monitoring. The concern about ten chapters is not justified because we do not give up on that goal, we do not only deal with certain chapters during the year, but we deal with all chapters", said Gorčević.
According to her, four chapters after seven years of not closing a single one is a serious success.
"Apart from those four chapters that will be closed, we will internally close other chapters," Gorčević added.
Answering Andušić's question about party employment, Gorčević said that care must be taken as to who are the people who are employed.
"I can speak from the point of view of the MEP, all the people who are employed in the MEP are still employed and were there before me," Gorčević said.
Commenting on the statements of the MP of the Citizens' Movement URA, Ana Novaković Đurović, who pointed out that many adopted laws did not pass European practice, Gorčević said that the laws proposed by the Government passed all the procedures.
"I'm sure that when a chapter is opened we have to pass all the laws in the compliance part, and some laws will probably have to be amended when we close the chapters," said Gorčević.
Responding to the comment of the deputy of the Albanian Forum, Nikola Camaj, she said that she regretted not reading the analysis of the president's cabinet.
"If we look through the prism of EU integration, the biggest concern at the moment, apart from the technical part, is a very important political moment because all 27 member states have to vote to close the chapter in December," said Gorčević.
She said that the most important thing, apart from the technical one, is the diplomatic work that should now be done through diplomatic-consular representations.
"I would be glad if through this analysis the concern of the president because our embassies are not filled and how he plans to solve that problem because, realistically, he is behind it," said Gorčević.
Answering the question of Boris Pejović, MP of the Europe Now Movement, whether IBAR was given to Montenegro, Gorčević said that "nothing was given to us, but we went through all possible procedures".
Gorčević said that obtaining the IBAR represented serious work not only by MEPs, but also by the Government, the Assembly in communication with the EC.
"The IBAR laws that have been adopted are temporary non-final measures, we did not close chapters 23 and 24 by obtaining the IBAR, they will be the last chapters that we will close, this represents the minimum in the part of the rule of law that exists in the member countries," she said. is Gorcevic.
Speaking about the political will in Brussels, Gorčević said that for the year of the Government's work, not only declarative support was received, "but the support is also through receiving certain assistance in order to bring this work to an end".
"We expect the EC report on October 30, if we take into account the entire report, I fundamentally believe that Montenegro has progressed in all chapters, which the report will state," said Gorčević.
She said that the two intergovernmental conferences held so far and the third one that will be held in December represent the best indicator for Montenegro and its path to the EU.
"I believe that these are messages that encourage us to continue working as we have been doing so far," said Gorčević.
When asked by the President of the Committee and MP of DPS, Ivan Vuković, whether she shares the concern regarding human capacities, not only for the MEP but also for the entire negotiation structure, Gorčević said that she believes that departments should be strengthened.
"MEP is also launching an invitation for internships for students who are in their final years of college. As for the capacities of the MEP itself, the previous budget provided for the employment of four people, I could not exceed that," said Gorčević.
She said that if we want to "close the process by 2026, we will need a lot of money and people and political will."
"I am sure that we can conclude the process by 2026 on the basis of negotiations with the other side, for sure we will have a million challenges, both regarding the law and regarding people," said Gorčević.
She said that she does not think that the subject of EU integration has been neglected.
"I believe that the dynamics until 2026 is a challenge in itself, but not unattainable," said Gorčević.
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