Gorčević: I expect that most of the disputed issues with Croatia will be resolved in the coming months

Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević said today that she expects most of the disputed issues with Croatia to be resolved in the coming months, pointing to good communication between the foreign ministries of the two countries.

"We want to resolve all open issues before joining the EU. Communication is ongoing and I expect that in the coming months we will resolve most of these issues, hopefully all of them, but some of them will take time," Gorčević said at a press conference in the European Parliament, after the adoption of the Resolution on Montenegro, answering the question of whether Montenegro is concerned about bilateral issues with Croatia.

She said that Montenegro has good cooperation with Croatia in closing chapters so far.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told reporters in Tivat, ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Summit on June 5, that Montenegro has made the most progress in negotiations with the EU and therefore has expectations regarding open issues between the two countries. He reiterated that Croatia's position there is clearly mapped out and there are preconditions that, if met, will lead to further progress in Chapter 31, Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security). Plenković said that the issue of compensation for Croatian prisoners in Morinje is one of the key issues, and another is to continue work on finding the 14 missing persons, "who are still being treated as such, from the Homeland War".

"The third is that Montenegro needs to continue prosecuting war criminals, the fourth is to resolve the property rights issues of Croatian families here, who have been left without their property. This process is going quite slowly," he said.

He emphasized that they "clearly marked the position of the board in Morinj".

He also said that the issue of the name of the swimming pool in Kotor, the return of the training ship "Jadran" should be resolved, and that "talks about the border, which have been ongoing for many years, should finally be initiated."