The enlargement process is politically motivated and it has been a long time since the leaders of the European Union (EU) countries were so positive about accepting new candidates, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced during a panel in Davos, which was also attended by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić.
As announced by Spajić's office, this is a clear message that the European Union is ready to accept candidates who meet the conditions from the negotiation chapters, and that this is a historic chance for Montenegro as well.
"Leaders in the EU Council view the enlargement process positively and I must say that I have not seen such an attitude towards accepting new members in a long time," said Plenković, adding that leaders in Montenegro and Ukraine would certainly not like the period without accepting new members to be extended.
"We wouldn't like that either," added European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, and later added:
"When the Prime Minister of Montenegro says that they want to complete negotiations by 2026, of course we support that and that we will push them to succeed on that path, but they have to deliver results and that is all that counts, because there are no negotiations on the fundamental values of the EU."
Spajić emphasized that the enlargement process is not a process of competition between candidates, because ultimately success is based on achieved results.
"Montenegro is not looking at others in this process, we only want to be better than we were yesterday. To reform ourselves, to improve relations with the countries of the European Union, to bring more tourists from those countries, so that they too can testify that Montenegro is ready to be the 28th member," Spajić emphasized and added:
"This is a two-way process and I think everyone benefits, both candidates and member states, especially because the negotiations are based on adopting common values. We want to meet the requirements for our sake, because we want to be a better society in a democratic sense, to have more efficient institutions. That is what we want to achieve through this process – to build a system."
As announced, Ukraine hopes to open two cluster chapters during 2025, and they believe that this is also dictated by the geopolitical situation.
"The European Union must grow, without the EU enlargement process the project cannot be rounded and complete," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sibiha.
In this context, Commissioner Kos concluded that from an enlargement perspective, this year could be the most successful in the history of the European Union.
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