Docent at the University "Donja Gorica", Nikoleta Djukanovic, she assessed that the lack of Croatian support for closing Chapter 31 (foreign, security and defense policy) should be a warning that the Union's political support is not unconditional and at any cost.
"I think that the political elites understood the political moment in the Union and how much the members support us just so that the enlargement policy would come to life, but Croatia's act, nevertheless, shows that this support is not unconditional", she said in an interview for "Vijesti" Đukanović.
She pointed out that in this particular case, Croatia has much more material to defend its decision, than the Montenegrin government has arguments to attack Croatia and explain that injustice has been done to Montenegro.
Đukanović said that the process of integration is not obstructed by member states, and neither is Croatia.
"Other countries can, and I believe, influence Croatia. However, her arguments this time are hard to refute. After all, Montenegro, as a member, will want to make decisions on an equal footing, so it is difficult to expect absolute influence on any member when it comes to the way it votes and acts," Đukanović assessed.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU Member States (COREPER II) approved on Friday evening the closing of three chapters in Montenegro's negotiations with the EU (7 - Intellectual property, 10 - Information society and media, 20 - Industrial policy and entrepreneurship, while Croatia blocked chapter 31 (Foreign, security and defense policy) Do you think that this is a political decision or something that has not been fulfilled? non-paper that contains requests such as solving the issue of ownership of the school ship "Jadran", demarcation, processing war crimes and finding missing persons...?
Croatia's act of blocking the closure of Chapter 31 can be interpreted from two undisputed angles.
One implies the fact that Montenegro, no matter how painful it sounds, did not deserve and fulfill all the prerequisites for that chapter to be closed.
It is true that for some time there has been a political will in the European Union to help Montenegro enter the Union as soon as possible, and this also means the willingness to turn a blind eye when necessary, as was the case with the adoption of the positive Report on the assessment of the fulfillment of temporary benchmarks - IBAR , but apparently Croatia did not want to do that this time.
Chapter 31, among other things, deals with issues of good neighborly cooperation and it is difficult to defend the thesis that Montenegro has done everything to improve neighborly relations.
I think that the truth is completely different, that our parliamentary majority, because of a few (parties and politicians), who are in the core great opponents of EU values and membership, did everything to spoil the relations with the neighbors.
However, unlike other neighbors, Croatia has the opportunity to assess and evaluate the Montenegrin reform process and to decide on our country, whether someone likes it or not.
In this particular case, I think that Croatia has much more material to defend its decision, than our government has arguments to attack Croatia and explain that injustice has been done to Montenegro.
On the other hand, I hope that we have understood that the process of integration is both a technical and a political process, that the new negotiation methodology has put a greater focus on the political component, which the parliamentary majority used in such a way that it caused great damage to Montenegro, which will require and time and work to rehabilitate it.
And this act shows that the democratic progressive forces in the government are in the minority, that their hands are tied by the prime minister who consciously tolerates the anti-European acts of the majority for the sake of the government's survival.
Good neighborly relations are not the only example, there are many that indicate that Montenegro will have a lot of obstacles on the way to membership, and all of them are invented by the majority, I assume, because it is part of their party agenda.
What impact can the blockade of Chapter 31 have on the overall negotiations between Montenegro and the EU?
This should be a warning, that the political support of the Union is not unconditional and at any cost.
I think that the political elites understood the political moment in the Union and how much the members support us just so that the enlargement policy would come to life, but Croatia's act shows that this support is not unconditional. We did not take advantage of the opportunities that opened up to us in a way to do good to our country. It seems that, as in the past, we use every opportunity to distance ourselves from the Union.
There are examples at the everyday level, and the most current is the lack of will to find a draft of the Law on legal recognition of gender identity based on self-determination at the last session of the Government. I think that this issue is much more important for society, more controversial for the majority, and crucial for integration.
If we cannot maintain political relations with our neighbors from the European Union on a sound basis, then how can we expect to close such important and sensitive issues for the benefit of our citizens.
Is there a willingness of other EU members to prevent Croatia from using bilateral issues to obstruct the negotiation process of Montenegro?
I think that the process of integration is not obstructed by the members, and neither is Croatia. Proof of this is that Montenegro received a positive IBAR, even though we are far from improving respect for the rule of law.
Instead of appreciating it and using it for the next steps in the process, we managed to worsen relations with our neighbors, to make the rule of law and legal certainty unattainable, to make the position of vulnerable groups even more complicated, etc. Today's situation should be used in such a way that we learn a lesson, and correct mistakes before it is too late to use the current political will of the Union.
Other countries can, and I believe, influence Croatia. However, her arguments this time are hard to refute. After all, Montenegro, as a member, will want to make decisions equally, so it is difficult to expect absolute influence on any member when it comes to the way it votes and acts.
Chapter 31, among other things, deals with issues of good neighborly cooperation and it is difficult to defend the thesis that Montenegro has done everything to improve neighborly relations. I think that the truth is completely different, that our parliamentary majority, because of a few (parties and politicians), who at the core are great opponents of EU values and membership, did everything to spoil relations with neighbors
The mentioned three chapters will be closed at the intergovernmental conference that should take place next week. What significance will closing these chapters have for the further process of European integration of Montenegro?
Every progress is significant. However, in the last little more than four years, we managed to close only three chapters, which is extremely small. In just two years, as many as 27 chapters await us, including those that are very demanding.
It turned out that there is a majority that guarantees the stability of the Government, but there is no real European majority, and I think that is the key problem.
If the current majority today makes it impossible for real democratic changes to occur, if it is openly against the human rights of any community in Montenegro, then we have a big problem that even closing Chapter 31 would not solve.
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