Abazović from Brussels: Divisions overcome, they remembered Independence Day too late

The leader of the Civic Movement (GP) URA, Dritan Abazović, announced that divisions are outdated policies, and that the government was late in remembering the anniversary of the restoration of independence.

He said this in his podcast "Friday with Dritan", which he recorded on Victory Day over Fascism and Europe Day in Brussels, where he is attending a leadership meeting of the European Greens together with the Vice President of the URA Movement, Ana Novaković Đurović.

Abazović stated that everyone in Montenegro should focus on development policies that bring us closer to 2030, instead of dealing with what happened in 1945 and divisions based on that.

"I hope that we will also be part of the great European family, and that Europe will find the strength to position itself much better in relation to geopolitical circumstances and to emerge stronger as a continent. I regret that today there is a large gap between those who won the Second World War. Today, this should be seen as part of a broad political spectrum that has its own conflicts and is not characteristic only of Montenegro. I call on us to be far from what was in 1945, and to be close to what should be in 2030. To engage in development policies, to reconcile among ourselves," he said.

Abazović believes that Europe, due to all these events that have caused a major global crisis, needs to return to itself, to revive the enlargement process, and for us as a country to seize the moment and become a full member.

"Montenegro should become the first next member of the EU. What is May 9, Europe Day and Victory Day over Fascism? I think that we should inherit the anti-fascist policy, that it is the obligation of Montenegro, the obligation of every well-intentioned citizen. It is true that there are still divisions in our country, but we should be aware of one thing: these are outdated policies. The policy of the future is the policy of development, the policy of new technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics, the policy of creating a better standard of living, smaller social differences and greater opportunities for the development of social policies," he added.

Speaking about the initiative to form a Sveti Stefan Inquiry Committee in the Parliament, he said that the URA is always there where the state's resources are defended.

"We want to preserve resources and be close to the citizens. We have fulfilled the obligation given to us by the residents of Sveti Stefan and I take this opportunity to call on all MPs to help us find out the full truth. There is no place for non-transparency, for hidden agreements to the detriment of the citizens, for something that is unfair to what is our common treasure. We need to have a transparent, open and honest policy and I expect everyone to support this initiative," he said.

In the context of the work of the Parliamentary Group in the previous week, the leader of URE also mentioned the initiative of the head of the Group, Miloš Konatar, to support children with autism and their parents.

"This is a big problem facing the state. A large number of citizens are affected by this situation. The state does not look back, these people do not have state help, no one hears them. These parents and all these children need help. We cannot be a European state if we ignore some segments of society. We cannot build a fair and just society while pushing people who are in a state of social need or have certain health problems to the margins. URA will try to always be close to citizens in the coming period," he added.

Abazović expressed satisfaction because the state, on the third anniversary of taking over the Kamenari-Lepetani ferry line, generated 26,7 million euros in revenue.

"That's how responsibly public finances can be managed, that's how responsibly the state is managed. The entire investment, or rather the purchase of eight ships, cost the state 11 million euros. In just three years, we have already generated 26 million euros in revenue. And those ships that we bought will transport people for who knows how many years to come. Expenditures are not more than two or three million euros annually. With all the repairs and other costs, in numbers, it is the best business that the state has launched, even better than the one related to electricity. So, there is nothing where the state has invested money that has returned the investment faster and that has the prospect of generating almost 10 million euros per year in the next who knows how many years," he said, stating that in the future, through the 365 program, a development policy for Montenegro should be implemented.

Commenting on the controversies surrounding the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the restoration of independence, he assessed that the government had forgotten about the state anniversary. He believes that the reason is that there are no people in the Spajić government who celebrate May 21st.

He stated that three months before the anniversary, in March of this year, the government tried to quickly secure money through the budget reserve, because it had not planned for it in the budget.

"You can't hire a star for a wedding a month or two in advance. Imagine who sits in the Government of Montenegro and thinks that if they call a star, they will come, and these people are booked and have a schedule a year or two in advance, not to mention longer. In the end, they got Ricky Martin at a higher price. Livin' la vida loca is an appropriate song for the situation Montenegro has been in for the past few months," he said.

When asked by citizens how much his arrival was paid for, he said that the amount mentioned was 900 thousand euros and that he believed that the singer was overpaid, because the short deadlines took their toll, even though he is a megastar.

Asked who is most responsible for the corruption case in Možura, he said that behind everything was an organized criminal group that operated for an extended period of time, and which was linked to officials of the former government, especially in the period from 2010 to 2017.

Speaking about the Government's indolent behavior regarding the tourist season, he said that he had not heard of any activities being carried out on the matter, apart from the announcement that the inspection would work in multiple shifts because their state coffers were empty.

When asked whether the URA Montenegro 365 Movement's program planned the development of agriculture, he answered in the affirmative, stating that he supports domestic farmers and domestic products, which are of higher quality.

"I think that special benefits should be given to the north of Montenegro. This will be the subject of work, or rather our program, which we will offer to the new government in 2027, if we participate in it," he added.