WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, said that in Brussels at the beginning of next year, they could consider stopping the entire process of accession to the European Union if Montenegro does not soon emerge from the institutional crisis.
She said that the situation in Montenegro is very worrying, and that it is necessary to establish the Constitutional Court as soon as possible. He expects a new competition for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court to be announced by Friday, noting that the procedure for their appointment should be completed by the end of January.
All the recent political events in Montenegro, as she said, caused a deep crisis of institutions and contributed to the slowdown of accession negotiations.
Slovenia and Austria are friends of the EU expansion policy and the progress of the Western Balkan countries on this path. We are here because we want to help and because we care about the European future of Montenegro - said Fajon at the press conference, who, on the order of the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Jozep Borelj, is staying in our country with the federal minister for European and international affairs of Austria by Aleksandar Shallenberg.
The situation is very worrying. During the conversation with the Presidents of the State, the Government and the Assembly, we agreed that it is high time to react. It is necessary to establish the Constitutional Court as soon as tomorrow, to appoint four constitutional judges. We expect that the procedure for appointing four judges of the Constitutional Court will be established this Friday, and this procedure would have to be completed by January at the latest. This is crucial for Montenegro to extricate itself from the deepest and worst political crisis - said Fajon.
She said that she wants Montenegro to have the support of the European Union.
Montenegro is one of the closest partners of the EU, the candidate country that has made the most progress in negotiations, and we clearly see the future of the people of Montenegro in the EU. Your country is a perennial, staunch ally of the EU, fully aligned with our foreign policy and actively engaged in our support for Ukraine and our measures against Russian aggression. And when High Representative Žosep Borelj visited Montenegro in July, political leaders in Podgorica assured us of their commitment to the country's accession to the EU and to move forward with reforms in the area of the rule of law, including the appointment of members of the judiciary. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened to date, that's why we're here - emphasized Fajon.
She said that she would inform the high representative of Borelj and all European Union countries about this visit.
The wake-up alarm is here. After today's meetings with the President of the State, the Government and the Assembly, I am an optimist - said Fajon.
When asked if they are here in the role of mediators to solve the political crisis, Fajon answered in the affirmative.
That. It can be understood that we are here as EU mediators on behalf of Borelj, he gave us the mandate. So, we speak the language of the EU and we will convey everything we talked about today to the countries of the European Union.
According to her, the formation of a new Government based on the adopted amendments to the Law on the President would be very questionable.
The change in the Law on the President is highly questionable. We know the position of the Venice Commission. If there will be an attempt to form a new government, we will seriously consider cooperation with the Government, which will be formed on the basis of the questionable Law - emphasized Fajon.
If the government were to be formed in this way, the risk of losing the trust of the EU would be minimal, Fajon points out.
You know that Montenegro has received almost one billion euros through EU funds since the beginning of the negotiations. Significant support is also in play now - 30 million euros for energy and other matters. You know that we have a review process, which means that if Montenegro does not build functional institutions, that is, if it does not get out of the institutional crisis, it means that in January or February in Brussels, they could consider how to stop the entire EU accession process. You know what the consequences would be. Nobody wants that. We are here as friends, the situation is serious enough that they quickly sent us to talk to everyone - said Fajon.
According to her, if all responsible politicians refuse to listen to citizens, then they will lose the most.
He sees the solution to this situation in the agreement of all political actors.
The formation of the Constitutional Court is an urgent issue. All responsible politicians are aware of their risk, of course then I expect some agreement on the elections. But it is the next step that is important, but a consensus needs to be found between all parties. We will be there to help, because it is very important that Montenegro stays on the path to the EU - concluded Fajon.
I.B.
