Šehović: Montenegro's European future must be above any party interest

The European future of Montenegro must be above any party interest, one of the leaders of the European Alliance, Damir Šehović, announced today.

He stated in a statement that "the messages sent to Montenegro from the summit of the European Union and the Western Balkan countries in Tivat represent strong encouragement and additional confirmation that our country today has a real opportunity to become the next member of the European Union."

"It is obvious that the enlargement policy once again occupies an important place on the European agenda, and that Montenegro has a historic opportunity to successfully complete the accession process. These messages are a special satisfaction for the European Union, whose constituents are the founders of the European idea in Montenegro, and as such they represented and promoted it even in periods when it was neither simple nor popular, as well as in periods when Europe itself was not ready for continued expansion. The European path has never been a political slogan for us, but a value commitment and vision for the development of a modern, civic and European Montenegro," Šehović emphasized in a statement.

He added that it is important to emphasize that Montenegro's current position should not be attributed to any one individual, government, or political generation.

"It is the result of many years of work, reforms and efforts of numerous people, institutions and political actors who built the European path of our country, often making decisions that did not score political points, but did bring Montenegro closer to the European Union. Therefore, European progress must not become a subject of party appropriation. Membership in the European Union will be a shared success of Montenegro, and not the merit of just one political generation," said Šehović.

He said that it is equally "important to be aware that the European path is not an irreversible process."

"Therefore, it is necessary for all political actors to show additional responsibility and avoid irresponsible moves that could slow down European progress or question the European dynamics that we can have. It is precisely from such an understanding of responsibility towards the European future of the state that the platform offered by the opposition for overcoming the political and institutional crisis emerged. Its goal was not to open new divisions, but to put issues that could slow down or jeopardize Montenegro's European path on the table and try to secure the broadest possible social and political consensus around them. We believe that the European goal cannot be the responsibility of just one political address. On the contrary, the closer we are to membership, the more important it is that the broadest possible agreement is reached among all social and political actors on key reforms, strengthening institutions and protecting democratic standards," said Šehović.

He said that "therefore, the encouraging messages from Tivat should not be a reason for complacency, but an additional incentive to lead the final part of the European path responsibly, wisely and with full respect for the fact that this is the most important national interest."

"The European Union will, as before, support every move that leads to Montenegro's full membership in the European Union, regardless of who is in power. Because the European future of our country must be above any party interest. Today, when encouraging messages are coming from Europe and confirmation that membership is an achievable goal, we all have the right to be optimistic. But we also have an obligation to show political maturity and responsibility in order to jointly seize the great historical opportunity that Montenegro has received, mostly due to a combination of geopolitical circumstances," said Šehović.