Milatović: The invitation to Spajić is a hand that concerns state responsibility and the European future

The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, said that his invitation to the dialogue to the Prime Minister and leader of the Europe Now Movement, Milojko Spajić, was a hand extended regarding state responsibility and the European future.

At the press conference with the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, in Cetinje, he said that he made the invitation as the president of the country and "a man who traced the country's path towards what he hopes will happen - that Montenegro becomes the 28th member of the EU by in 2028".

He believes that it would be important for both Montenegrin and regional politics to change the modus operandi from homo-balkanicus to homo-europicus.

"The Montenegrin public knows that from the moment I assumed the office of president, every corrective and cohesive step I took within the Montenegrin political spectrum was aimed at realizing what was mentioned for the first time on my part, which is that Montenegro will become the 28th member in 2028. Unfortunately, it is evident that the processes that existed in the political sense in the previous period, from a movement of which I was the founder, which significantly contributed to the transformation of Montenegro, in the period 2022-2023, that today he has come to a situation where he no longer leads the transformative processes that are necessary for Montenegro", said Milatović in response to journalists' questions in which context he will conduct the dialogue, whether as the leader of the Movement for Podgorica, or on behalf of the coalition that participated in the local elections in Podgorica and why it is necessary for the dialogue to be preceded by a visit to Brussels.

The questions were whether this is a step towards the formation of a government in Podgorica, whether this means without the Civic Movement URA and whether this means that he does not see a coalition "For the future of Podgorica" ​​in the civic block.

Milatović said that today the PES has neither the president of the country nor the mayor of the capital city and has come to a situation that "not only harms the Movement, but also harms the state in the context of the goal - Montenegro, the 28th member of the EU".

"My address this morning, a call to dialogue and a call to accountability to all political constituencies at the center, should be viewed in this sense, and in the foreground is the leader of the once largest political party and Prime Minister Spajić," said Milatović.

He explained that he is traveling to Brussels next week at the invitation of the new President of the European Council, Antonio Kost, and will also meet with the new Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Callas.

"These are extremely important meetings that come at an extremely important moment for Montenegro. I am not a member of any party in Montenegro, I know that journalists sometimes say otherwise. I supported a civic list in the local elections. In this sense, a hand was extended for dialogue, which concerns state responsibility and the European future. I think that this move is also a logical sequence of events," he said.

He criticized the Government, but also the parliamentary majority for the strained relations with its neighbors, reminding that 20 years after the Berlin process, North Macedonia did not open any negotiation chapter, because of the things the president talked about, namely the bilateral relations between North Macedonia and neighboring countries .

"It seems to me that due to certain actions of the Government and the parliamentary majority, Montenegro is also sliding towards more complex relations with certain EU member countries, I am primarily thinking of Croatia. Unfortunately, last year we thought that we would close 10 chapters by the end of the year, and now, there is every chance that we will close only 4. Here the question arises about the dynamics and the realization that is needed to complete the set goal, to complete the EU membership by 2028. From the position of the president, I am doing everything in my power but this is a social process, not of the president, nor of the Government, nor of the Assembly, but of all political and social actors, which largely depends on the bilateral relations between the country that wants to join the club and the countries that are already members of the EU," he said.

When asked whether Olivera Injac will be the ambassador to Belgium, and Todor Goranović the ambassador to NATO, he replied that he did not want to talk about names and that he would continue the conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ervin Ibrahimović.

"The focus should be on career diplomats. I respect Ms. Injac as a former colleague, as a minister of defense, a political comrade at one point and in that sense I do not want to comment on any name, but I do not know if it will come to that and how I will I can appoint, but I am a conversationalist, and if any proposal for an ambassador is well explained, I, as president, have a constructive interlocutor," said Milatović.

He said that the conversation with Ibrahimović was of an informal nature because none of those names had been adopted by the Government yet.

When asked what his call means in the context of the negotiations on power in Podgorica, he said that these are not related matters.

Speaking about relations with North Macedonia, he said that he was particularly pleased with the appointment of Radmila Šekerinska, the former Macedonian Minister of Defense, as Deputy Secretary General of NATO.

"This is a great recognition for North Macedonia, but also for the entire region, congratulations on that. We are convinced that with her in that high position, we will more effectively contribute to strengthening regional stability. Montenegro and North Macedonia share the common goal of integration into the EU. Montenegro as a leader in that process, it aspires to become a member by 2028, and on that path we remain sincere friends of European integration and North Macedonia and the entire region," he said.

He emphasized the good cooperation with North Macedonia so far and reminded that Montenegro now has nine cadets studying at the Military Academy in Skopje, which, he says, speaks in favor of good cooperation.

"Given that the last joint session of the two governments was in 2019, we agreed that the joint session of the two governments should be held soon. I am especially glad that within the framework of the upcoming change to the Constitution, if North Macedonia decides to do so, to be added to the Montenegrin minority. For Montenegro, the constitutional recognition of the Montenegrin minority is a sign of friendship because it will enable their greater visibility and better exercise of their rights," said Milatović.

He pointed out that all these good political relations should be accompanied by better economic cooperation, and in this sense it would be significant to hold joint Joint Commissions for economic cooperation.

The key prerequisite for that, he added, is a better traffic connection

As he said, the issue of establishing an airline between Montenegro and North Macedonia was raised again, and the Montenegrin ambassador worked intensively on this in the previous period.

"I believe that we will have the results of that work in the spring or summer of next year," he said.

Siljanovska Davkova said that she decided that her first visit would be to Montenegro, because Montenegro is currently a leader in the process of "European reintegration of the region where it truly belongs - in the EU".

"Geographically, historically and culturally, we have always been part of the EU," she said.

Siljanovska Davkova said that she believes that Montenegrins will be recognized in the amendments to the Constitution of North Macedonia.

"No one denies them, there are no problems, we have all been together for a long time, for better and for worse," she said, stating that constitutional amendments are a somewhat longer process in that country, and that they are the record holders for constitutional amendments in the last 30 years. they had 36 of them.