Nikolić: Summit a diplomatic success for the country, to which the opposition also contributed

Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Andrija Nikolić said today in the Parliament that the EU-Western Balkans Summit, which was held on Friday in Tivat, represents a diplomatic success for the country that came as a result of three years of political cooperation between the parliamentary majority and the opposition on the subject of European integration.

"I think that is the message that went to the EU and European leaders who, this time, were in a kind of role of someone who should simultaneously check Montenegro's capacities and ability to organize such a high and important event on an international scale," Nikolić said in the Parliament.

He added that we should not lose sight of the fact that the change in the political paradigm in relation to the enlargement process within the EU came as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and that the EU had not rushed into enlargement until then, "and that is a circumstance that is good for Montenegro at this time."

Deputy Prime Minister Filip Ivanović responded that substantial progress has been achieved through the efforts of this Government, although other institutions and the Parliament also had a deserved and adequate place.

Nikolić said that the previous government did not have such a constructive opposition.

He emphasized that the European integration process needs to be accelerated in the final phase, as a result of the political agreement between the parliamentary majority and the parliamentary opposition.

"Today, as a responsible opposition, we extend a hand to the Government and the parliamentary majority in the final phase of integration into the European Union. But we do not extend that hand to be an ornament to democracy before the international community. We made that gesture towards you to bring you to the negotiating table. And now the responsibility for overcoming the parliamentary and institutional crisis in Montenegro lies predominantly with the parliamentary majority," Nikolić said.