English

Montenegro still remains regional leader although EC took a hard line over its progress

Evropska komisija

European Commission Progress Report on Montenegro has provoked a chain of reactions as Brussels has brought  the failings of the system into the focus. All the good things Montenegro is doing or has already done – they haven’t been complimented mush. That’s nothing unusual, says political analyst from Zagreb, Mr Davor Đenero. He points out that same happened in Croatia.

“Great Montenegrin foreign policy, responsible regional behavior, development of relations with member states, high degree of harmonization of political and economic standards and greater openness of the Montenegrin society and economy have been mentioned in the Report, but only in the second place. It’s already been done, and the EC believes that it shouldn’t be in the focus anymore. Therefore, despite the obvious progress, somebody reading the Report could interpret is as negative. That’s the characteristic of any EC Report: they always take the hard line, but they are basically very fair and stimulating”, explains Mr Đenero.

At the time of the final negotiations, Croatia was functioning better than ever before, recalls Mr Đenero.

“General assessment is that Montenegro is forging ahead both as a society and as a state. From the Croatian accession experience, I remember the frustration which was caused by the EC Progress Report. Seemed like the Report was getting worse every year. Of course it wasn’t really so. European Commission insists on fulfillment of the commitments undertaken and what has been made in the previous years is never mentioned again”, says Mr Đenero for CdM.

He points out that the Report might look unfavorable because structural problems have been brought into focus.

“We face our own problems more easily when we talk about them, rather than when somebody from the outside points that out. Structural problems of the parliamentary system in Montenegro are not easy to tackle. The fact is that one part of the society fails to assume the burden of responsibility. Everybody criticizing parliamentary procedures in Montenegro is aware of this”, concludes Mr Đenero.

We are losing our strong position in the region

On the other side, President of the Civil Alliance, Mr Boris Raonić, says that the Report comes as no surprise. It’s a document with the slightest encouragement and moderate critic indicating inappropriate tempo of reforms.

Mr Raonić warns that we are gradually losing strong position we had in the region.

“As expected, we have been assessed worst in the area of media, fight against organized crime and corruption and election irregularities. It’s worrying that they once again passed remarks concerning war crimes, media, corruption… In addition, adequate level of reforms hasn’t been reached yet”, says Mr Raonić.

Mr Raonić has one more important note.

“Although it’s been quite clear so far, it is now crystal clear what it is that must be done for finally completing two key areas. I hope that decision-making bodies will recognize that and start more agile reforms in order to complete this negotiation process”, says Mr Raonić.

After he had been handed the Report, President of Montenegro, Mr Milo Đukanović, said Montenegro would analyze in detail all the recommendations and that it would keep improving the tempo and the quality of the negotiation process.

Vice-President of the Government, Mr Zoran Pažin, said the Report had shown that Montenegro was still leading the EU accession process and maintained the position of honest and stable EU partner.

Send this to a friend