Montenegrin Foreign Minister Đorđe Radulović said that the European Union considers the countries of the Western Balkans to be part of itself, and that Montenegro has every chance to soon close the main chapters in the accession negotiations.
“I am convinced that the EU has good intentions, and its officials have repeatedly emphasized that they view the Western Balkans as an integral part of the Union. This is evidenced by the fact that they allocated nine billion euros for infrastructure projects in the region,” Radulović noted.
When asked whether Montenegro could join the EU by 2025 or 2026, he replied that all chapters had been opened over the past eight years.
“The European Commission, in its reports, gives us friendly advice and points out where we are making mistakes. In fact, the European Union is showing us a roadmap — what needs to be done for Montenegro to become a member as soon as possible. Several reports say there are problems in the area of the rule of law and the fight against corruption, so the new government is more than ready to make progress in this area and make progress in Chapters 23 and 24, so that we can gradually close the other chapters. Montenegro has adopted the new methodology, although it has been negotiating under the old one for eight years, to show that EU membership is our ultimate foreign policy goal. I know there have been certain criticisms that it is unfair to change the rules of the game during the negotiation process and the like, but let us give the new methodology a chance and see how it works in practice,” the minister noted.