WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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Since we have been in the process of stabilization and association, since 2000, only Montenegro of all the countries in that process has never had officially frozen negotiations, which was affirmed both before and after the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which we have been solidly implementing all these years. We moved gradually but surely forward through the process, mostly promising what was realistically achievable. That's how we reached candidacy and opened accession negotiations. Today, we are witnessing that, after ten and a half years, accession negotiations are not taking place at all, and that we are going backwards in the field of political criteria - said Gordana Đurović.
The statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, that Montenegro is "a cancer of early European integration", is not only the position of Slovenia and its own
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but this is increasingly the position of all foreign ministers in the Union, where Montenegro is seen as a big disappointment in the Balkan European integration, which we have never been until now. This is a serious setback in the process - Gordana Đurović, president of the Montenegrin Pan-European Union, told Pobjeda.
She said that the messages from the recent session of the Committee for Stabilization and Association are also on that background.
But also very specific: elect the judges of the Constitutional Court, do not adopt amendments to the law that contradict the Constitution (the Law on the President), do not adopt the proposed amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, terminate the economic citizenship program etc. Do not join initiatives of "invisible" borders such as the "Open Balkans", it is derived from the continuation of the Berlin process and the announcement of the strengthening of control of Montenegrin border crossings by the EU, i.e. the deployment of the forces of FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, on some of our border crossings - pointed out Đurović.
She assessed that one of the few positive things, which favors the preservation of visa liberalization and convenient travel to the countries of the Schengen Agreement, is the recent repeal of Article 8 of the Regulation on the visa regime (after countless "warnings before exclusion").
Commenting on warnings from Brussels that negotiations with Montenegro could be frozen if the institutional crisis is not overcome and judges of the Constitutional Court are not elected, Đurović pointed out that an "extremely serious warning was sent from all reference European addresses".
Since we have been in the process of stabilization and association, since 2000, only Montenegro of all the countries of the process of stabilization and association has never had officially frozen negotiations, which was affirmed both before and after the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which we solidly implement all these years. We moved gradually but surely forward through the process, mostly promising what was realistically achievable. That's how we reached candidacy and opened accession negotiations. Today we are witnessing that, after ten and a half years, accession negotiations are not taking place at all, and that we are going backwards in the area of political criteria - said Đurović.
She pointed out that, when it comes to accession negotiations on EU membership, in recent waves of enlargement, they were occasionally blocked if there was a bilateral problem of a country negotiating with an EU member state or a problem with European values and political criteria.
Thus, due to the bilateral border dispute, Croatia was blocked from Slovenia in the first half of 2009, when no negotiation chapter could be opened or closed. Turkey has 16 negotiation chapters open, one closed, but also 15 blocked areas, mostly from Cyprus, France, but also the European Council itself. Although it is a proposal of the European Parliament, the negotiations with Turkey are not frozen, but essentially blocked, because the countries or the European Council individually block specific negotiation chapters - explains Đurović.
According to her, something similar has been happening in recent years with Montenegro and Serbia.
Although the Commission proposed in October 2021 that Serbia open both cluster III and cluster IV, only cluster IV has been opened so far. The opening of other clusters for Serbia, i.e. the closing of chapters in the case of both countries - is blocked, either because of the balance clause, or because of the disagreement of some member states, or because of the new negotiation methodology. Essentially, the negotiation chapters are blocked due to our "inaction" in the area of the EU agenda, but the negotiations have not been formally frozen so far - said Đurović, reminding that in 2021, as she pointed out, we had at least a political intergovernmental conference in Brussels, and in In 2022, not even that.
At the beginning of 2023, the conditions in the country continue to deteriorate, so the situation in Montenegro is called a deep institutional crisis, a constitutional and serious political crisis, which threatens to essentially end the negotiations. The European Union can formally stop negotiations with Montenegro. In the common negotiating position of the EU,among other things, it says that "in the event of a serious and constant violation of the values on which the Union is based by Montenegro, the Commission will, on its own initiative or at the request of one third of the member states, recommend the suspension of negotiations and propose conditions for their possible continuation" - Đurović said.
She reminded that in the new methodology of negotiations with the EU, which we have officially accepted, forms of so-called negative conditionality in the case of setbacks in the process of European integration and the fulfillment of the political criteria for accession, especially the rule of law.
It states that “in the event of serious or prolonged stagnation or backsliding, EU members could decide that negotiations can be put on hold in certain areas, or in the most serious cases, suspend the entire process. The volume and intensity of EU funding could be adjusted downward, with the exception of support for civil society organizations; benefits from closer integration, for example accession to EU programs and unilateral concessions for market access may be paused or withdrawn" - reminds Đurović.
According to her, if these mechanisms exist, the European Union is known for "delay", because it has, as she said, a complex mechanism in the decision-making process and no "red phone".
That is why the announcement of the possible freezing of negotiations with Montenegro is still not officially on the agenda of the Council for Foreign Affairs, but an extremely serious warning has been sent from all reference European addresses. The warnings are clear and we've all heard them. In other words, the EU can block negotiations in specific negotiation chapters, today clusters, and list the criteria for their unblocking (unfreezing). Due to the new methodology, which integrates the balance clause, Montenegro is already blocked in the first cluster (due to political criteria and the weakening of democratic institutions). It may happen that we receive a list of criteria for unblocking the cluster, to which we would have to respond with a road map for strengthening democratic institutions. And these are the areas: electoral legislation and elections, the Assembly, the Government and dialogue with civil society - pointed out Đurović.
She said that another, more specific blocking could be the blocking of some pre-accession support funds or access to some Union programs.
But even that is not necessary, because we are already starting to lose significant funds due to our insufficient actions
EU support (e.g. like lost 41 million euros for the Budva bypass or non-payment of tickets for some programs, and we have nothing proposed in the Energy Package IPA 2023 for projects in the field of sustainable energy sources, where Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo have two projects each, while Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania do not have any) - pointed out Đurović.
Commenting on the fact that Montenegro was a topic under "current issues" at the EU Council session, along with Armenia, Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela..., Đurović says that "this is how you start on the scale of priorities, that is, problems".
After the missions in the field, there is first an oral report on current issues, then a written report, then an item on the agenda, which slowly becomes more and more important as things get more complicated. We have become one such case - pointed out Đurović.
According to her, a serious risk for the EU's effective action towards Montenegro is the very complex current situation in many crisis areas, where, as she says, the biggest problem is certainly the war in Ukraine and the preservation of EU unity in terms of further support for that country.
Currently, the EU crisis management mechanism has not put Montenegro on the list of priorities, although the situation is visibly deteriorating. Even in the regional context, the bigger picture is being looked at, so in our country, many have a justified fear of some proposals, which put Montenegro in the position of "collateral" for the sake of peace in the region. Therefore, he encourages the arrival of European officials, intensified communication and the presence of European ambassadors at the session of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the Assembly. If we are still not on the agenda of the EU as a strategically serious political and security issue, even if we are at the operational level. It would really be more than useful and valuable for the stabilization of conditions in the country if the deputies agreed on the judges of the Constitutional Court - Đurović pointed out.
The government must take its share of responsibility
Prof. Gordana Đurović, commenting on the statement of Prime Minister in the technical mandate Dritan Abazović that he does not feel responsible for the criticism of Brussels, said that the Government must take its share of responsibility.
The government is largely responsible for the quality and dynamics of the country's European integration process. Although the focus is on the Assembly, the Government has and must assume its share of responsibility - said Đurović.
M. J.
