Đeljošaj: Milatović is deliberately obstructing Montenegro's integration into the EU by returning European laws

The decision of the President of the State to return European laws represents a serious and conscious institutional obstruction of Montenegro's European integration. Such actions clearly indicate that this year will be decisive for the country's European path and that in this process the responsibility of all actors will be precisely demarcated, those who support that path and those who slow it down or block it.

This was assessed by Nik Đeljošaj, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Economic Development.

He said that he was particularly concerned by the fact that such obstruction was occurring in the final phase of the process of closing negotiation chapters and that it was coming from an institution that, by its constitutional role, should contribute to the stability of the system and the continuity of the European agenda.

"The explanation that the laws were not sufficiently considered is not based on facts. After the laws were returned to the Parliament under that explanation, nothing changed, because at that stage, in accordance with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, the returned laws are not debated, but are only voted on. This clearly demonstrated to the public that the aforementioned argument does not produce any legal effect in the legislative procedure," Đeljošaj stated in a press release.

He emphasizes that each of the adopted laws under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Development has undergone a complete and transparent legal procedure.

"A working group was formed, a public call for the participation of the NGO sector was issued, a public debate was conducted with a published report from the public debate, which was followed by several months of coordination with the European Commission. The laws were in the parliamentary procedure for more than a month and were discussed in the relevant committees. Not a single law that received the green light from the European Commission has been amended in the Parliament so far, but all have been adopted without any intervention," concluded the Deputy Prime Minister.