Montenegro can close up to nine negotiation chapters this year, if the dynamics of the Parliament's work allow, believes the chief negotiator with the European Union (EU) Predrag Zenović, while the executive director of the Center for Civic Education Daliborka Uljarević warns that the lack of dialogue in parliament could be a major obstacle.
Zenović, in a podcast by the MINA agency, which is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Media from the Fund for Encouraging Media Pluralism and Diversity, said that he expects an Intergovernmental Conference in June at which a certain number of chapters will be closed, while he expects a second conference at the end of the year.
He said that there is internal readiness for Chapter 4 - Free Movement of Capital, Chapter 5 - Public Procurement and Chapter 31 - Foreign, Security and Defense Policy, which is internally ready, but whose closure depends on the consensus of all member states, including Croatia, which blocked it at the end of last year.
"The dynamics depend on us and our work, but also on parliamentary work, which has been in a state of blockage in recent months, and all of this, unfortunately, may be reflected in the dynamics of closing the chapter," said Zenović.
He stated that, after assessing and determining the balance in the negotiation process, they came up with Agenda 26 - which envisages the temporary closure of all chapters by the end of next year.
"I think we can close up to nine negotiation chapters this year, eight or nine," said Zenović, pointing out that most chapters will remain for next year.
As he said, he is certain that Montenegro can close a certain number of chapters this semester, which will not be impressive.
"We are working to achieve the number I am talking about by the end of the year, and it is conditioned by the dynamics in parliament," Zenović said, pointing out that, due to these dynamics and disagreements between the opposition and the majority, there is already a delay when it comes to Chapter 4.
Uljarević assessed that it is more serious to take the principle of talking about a "certain number of chapters" that will be closed, due to the experience from last year when there was talk of closing several chapters, only to end up closing three.
"One thing is the assessed internal readiness, and this internal readiness is assessed not only by Montenegro, but also by the European Commission, and the other is the positions of individual member states, which have the right, when it comes to any chapter, to open additional questions and checks," Uljarević stated.
She said that European integration is not something that ends with the mere passing of certain laws.
"This requires a kind of internal consensus and dialogue, that dialogue does not exist in the Parliament now and that could be a huge obstacle in the future, regardless of whether these laws are formally and legally passed or not," said Uljarević.
She emphasized that Montenegro needs a broader social consensus for progress on the European path, which once existed in the Parliament.
"Although the parliament never spoke with one voice, if there was consensus on anything, it was on European integration," said Uljarević, assessing that the Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić is not working on what should be an internal dialogue, without which the state cannot move forward.
Zenović agreed that social consensus is important, stating that two other challenges that Montenegro must face are the issue of administrative capacity and the preparation of the Montenegrin version of the EU acquis.
According to him, European law is constantly being improved, complicated and expanded, and this legal acquis requires very complex administrative capacities.
Zenović emphasized that work must be done on these capacities and that the Ministry of European Affairs has drafted a document with experts that should map the differences in Montenegrin capacities and those that the state should have according to the final benchmarks.
"We hope that, in consultation with the Ministry of Public Administration, we will find a model for how to strategically approach this problem," added Zenović.
Uljarević states that the Montenegrin administration has long been liberated, assessing that it is currently in probably the worst condition compared to the time when EU negotiations began, because no government after 2020 has done what was at the heart of all promises - approach indiscriminately, to choose people based on merit and thus progress.
Speaking about the preparation of the Montenegrin version of the EU acquis, she pointed out that the least problem is how certain documentation will be translated and that it is necessary to see what the practice is and what of what has already been adopted is being applied.
Regarding the blockade of parliament after the termination of the office of Constitutional Court judge Dragana Đuranović, Zenović said that the blockade and the lack of cooperation between the government and the opposition led to negative consequences for the European process.
"The first signal is that Montenegro is in some form of cacophony, disagreements between political actors, that is the signal that the EU least likes to see and these are things that all EU members, but also Brussels and the EC, view as something negative," said Zenović.
While Zenović sees the agreement on consulting the Venice Commission as an agreement between the government and the opposition and states that he sees no reason why either party would not respect the expertise of that instance, Uljarević emphasizes that it is an agreement between part of the government and part of the opposition.
"What words were given by the parties of the former Democratic Front, the parties of Mandić and Milen Knežević, they publicly distanced themselves from that agreement," said Uljarević, adding that Milojko Spajić, despite being the prime minister, is not a representative part of the government because he does not have a majority within the government that can determine such things.
As she said, there is an ongoing parliamentary crisis in Montenegro.
"It will not be resolved by someone playing the "master of the house" instead of opening a serious parliamentary dialogue," said Uljarević.
She assessed that the issue of the constitutional crisis aspect will not be resolved either, because the election of judges was resolved "in reverse" when the Constitutional Court was blocked, when some kind of division was made as to how many judges belong to whom.
MINA's interlocutors speak differently about receiving a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR). Uljarević stated that IBAR was a gift to Montenegro and that even European officials no longer deny it, while Zenović emphasized that nothing was given to the country.
Uljarević pointed out that the Montenegrin judicial system has not been reborn after receiving the IBAR, stating that most of those laws that were adopted "on the spur of the moment" are now in the process of being amended, which shows that they were not good.
Zenović responded that it was not right to talk about IBAR as a gift and that the state had earned it all through its work, with great support from the European Commission (EC).
"Certain systemic laws have already yielded results when it comes to the rule of law, such as the law that enabled the election of a female president of the Supreme Court. No one said that these laws cannot be changed, they can always be changed," added Zenović.
Speaking about the failure to close Chapter 31 and relations with Croatia, Uljarević assessed that the parliamentary majority and the Government were solely to blame, stating that she did not see that anything had been done to repair the damage and prevent new consequences.
She said that many open issues with Croatia existed before, but that there was an unwritten rule in relations between the governments of the two countries until 2020 that they would first try to strengthen bilateral relations, and then, when they reached a certain level, move on to resolving ongoing and difficult issues.
"After that, there was a clear distancing of the Croatian authorities from certain actors in Montenegro who legitimized themselves not as representatives of the interests of Montenegro, but as promoters of the interests of Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian Orthodox Church," said Uljarević.
She pointed out that certain problems are not from earlier times and have no connection with the previous government, such as the change of name of the swimming pool in Kotor, the attitude towards the memorial plaque in Morinje, and the worsening of relations over the ship Jadran, which was close to being resolved.
"I think that a big problem for the country is that three very important figures at the level of statesmen are persona non grata in an EU member state and that in the meantime no work has been done to see how to solve this problem," Uljarević emphasized.
She said that the statement by Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, who said that Montenegro should have a resolution on Dubrovnik and what it did in the 90s, was a kind of reflection on the Resolution on Jasanovac.
Uljarević believes that the Resolution on Jasenovac was "unnecessary and insane", not because the crimes that did occur in Jasenovac did not occur, but because it is not an issue that Montenegro should be dealing with after so many years.
"What I cannot understand is the denial of the Lora camp, because that is indisputable and Croatia has not yet completed its obligations, which relate to the adequate processing of that case and establishing all the facts," Uljarević pointed out.
Zenović said that relations with Croatia have not been damaged since yesterday, but since the 90s, and that this is today the debt of not establishing elementary bilateral relations.
He emphasized that Croatia has been one of the biggest supporters of Montenegrin European integration from the beginning, and it remains so today.
Zenović states that the problematization of Chapter 31 was legitimate, since, if a form of common foreign and security policy is being built with other member states, it is also expected that good neighborly relations will be established as the foundations of foreign relations.
He believes that it is good that there is a diplomatic dialogue between Zagreb and Podgorica.
"I am convinced that the diplomatic services of the two countries are doing everything in their power to determine the roadmap, how and in what manner to resolve open issues and that Croatia will continue to be an unwavering supporter of Montenegro on its European path," said Zenović.
He stressed that it is important that Montenegro demonstrates 100 percent compliance with the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which deserves the closure of Chapter 31.
"These issues remain and they are legitimate to be raised, they must be resolved and Montenegro must treat them with complete responsibility," added Zenović.
Asked about the electoral reform and what will happen if it is not completed by the end of the year, he states that for him the deadline for completion was last year and emphasizes that at least the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Campaigns must come sooner, before the end of the year.
"I see no alternative to having a comprehensive set of laws related to electoral legislation finalized by the end of the year, and to delivering the Law on Financing of Political Entities, which is a segment of one of the IBAR benchmarks, to the European side as we promised," said Zenović.
As he said, he believes that the Committee, as soon as it resumes work, will return to the final draft of the law, work on it, and submit the draft law to the European side as soon as possible.
Uljarević pointed out that without internal trust and inclusive dialogue, there can be no electoral reform.
She believes that it is unrealistic to think that the Law on Financing Political Entities and Campaigns will be adopted before the complete set of laws for this area is adopted, because the rule applies that "nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated."
When asked about the relationship between the Government and civil society, Uljarević said that the current level of involvement of relevant civil society organizations in the negotiation processes is at its lowest.
As she said, the unfavorable environment in which civil society in Montenegro operates has significantly intensified after the changes in the United States of America (USA), and it is clear that certain ruling parties and media close to them have taken advantage of this to launch a new wave of hunting down critically oriented non-governmental organizations.
"The silence of everyone in the government indicates that this is an organized action, that the government as a whole does not want critically oriented individuals or other subjects, but views it as some kind of problem," Uljarević added, saying that a more substantive relationship between civil society and the government is necessary for a sustainable European path.
Zenović recalled that the Ministry for Cooperation with NGOs was formed and added that this cooperation is good and constructive, although there are differences, stating that criticism is welcome.
Speaking about the future of the EU after the developments with the US after the beginning of the term of US President Donald Trump, Zenović and Uljarević agree that the EU has shown vitality and strength in all challenges and that it has emerged stronger from such situations.
Uljarević questioned the lack of reaction from the Montenegrin government after the meeting between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office, even though there were many reactions from EU statesmen at the time.
"I hope that the rumors that our ambassadors have been instructed to be primarily committed to American policy at the moment, and not to any other that is in conflict, including EU policy, are not true," said Uljarević, to which Zenović responded that there was no such instruction.
Zenović pointed out that Montenegro co-sponsored a resolution of EU states that is based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and thus unequivocally remained on the position of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Bonus video:
