Stano: In order to remain a leader towards the EU, Montenegro should stay the course and make progress in reforms

The European Union is convinced that even with the new government, Montenegro will continue to achieve these very good results and will continue to progress in the accession process - said European Commission spokesman Peter Stano at a press conference in Brussels.
Answering the question of how he evaluates the election process and who in the EU they would like to see in the new convocation of parliament, he replied that Montenegro is a very important partner for the EU and that Montenegro is "the most advanced candidate country for accession to the European Union".
Stano confirmed that Brussels institutions monitored the election process in Montenegro on June 11, but that they will come out with an official reaction, according to usual practice, after the preliminary report of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODHIR) at the Organization for European Security and Cooperation ( OSCE).
Answering the question whether he is sure that Montenegro will maintain its course, taking into account that there could probably be a party in the future government that is openly pro-Russian, and what if that does not happen, he answered that he will focus on the facts and not speculate what could happen "if".
It is important for us that the elections were held and that Montenegro, in order to maintain its leading position as a candidate for accession, which also implies 100% alignment, should stay the course, invest energy and progress in important reforms, especially in the area of the rule of law and fulfilling other conditions arising from the membership process - emphasized Stano.
Montenegro, he points out, is one of the candidate countries with a record of 100 percent compliance with EU foreign policy.
The EU regularly points out and appreciates this because it (harmonization) has a price for the country, since it makes it a target of foreign malicious interference - concluded Stano.
The Europe Now movement and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) won the most votes in the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Montenegro on June 11.
56.4 percent of voters went to the elections in Montenegro on Sunday, which is the lowest turnout since the introduction of multi-party system in the country. These were the sixth parliamentary elections since the restoration of Montenegrin independence in 2006 and the twelfth since the introduction of the multiparty system.
Although it is the most advanced country when it comes to membership negotiations with the EU, Montenegro has not made any progress since 2021 in the accession process due to insufficient progress in key reforms, especially those related to the rule of law.
M. J.