EU riskiert einen Glaubwürdigkeitsverlust, wenn sie sich nicht erweitert, warnt Montenegro

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EU riskiert einen Glaubwürdigkeitsverlust, wenn sie sich nicht erweitert, warnt Montenegro  Montenegro zählt zu den führenden Beitrittskandidaten der EU und hofft, die Verhandlungen mit Brüssel im kommenden Jahr abschließen zu können. Sollte der Beitritt scheitern, könnte dies die Glaubwürdigkeit der EU untergraben und ein „verheerendes Signal“ an andere Bewerber senden, warnt Ivanović.  LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2025/11/10/eu-riskiert-einen-glaubwurdigkeitsverlust-wenn-sie-sich-nicht-erweitert-warnt-montenegro  Abonnieren Sie! Euronews gibt es in 12 Sprachen.

Transcript

00:00Musik

00:00My guest is Filip Ivanovich.

00:11He is the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Foreign Affairs of Montenegro.

00:17And despite being the smallest of all the countries wishing to join the EU,

00:22it is considered a frontrunner and widely tipped to become the next EU Member State.

00:28And Deputy Prime Minister, welcome to 12 Minutes With.

00:31Thank you for joining us on Euronews.

00:33Thank you for having me and for talking about Montenegro.

00:35Well, let's talk about Montenegro.

00:37As I said, the smallest but the most advanced on its path to becoming an EU Member.

00:43And you just received a glowing appraisal from the European Commission

00:47saying that if you keep up with this speed of reforms,

00:51you are on track to join in the next three years.

00:55Tell us then, what is the secret recipe for Montenegro's success?

01:00Well, first of all, let me tell you that the report that we have just received

01:04is an additional evidence to the plan that we as a government had,

01:09which is to have each of the reports being better than the previous ones.

01:14So, previous year we had the best report up until then,

01:18and now this is the best report ever, so to say.

01:21So, it is an evidence of a very hard work of the government of Montenegro,

01:26but not just of the government, but also of other political institutions in the country.

01:30But it is also an introduction, I would say,

01:34to a very successful intergovernmental conference that we will have by the end of this year,

01:39where we will close several chapters.

01:41And on the other hand, it is, let's say, a blueprint of what we need to do

01:46in the forthcoming 12 or 13 months in order to fulfill our goal to finish the negotiations

01:51and to close all chapters by the end of 26.

01:54So, I would say that the political dedication and hard work are the key ingredients of this success.

02:04If you do meet that target and you are joining the EU around January 2028,

02:09as you aim to do, it will be 20 years since you first applied for EU membership.

02:16Do you feel that the process has been too demanding?

02:20Do you feel it's been too burdensome on you as a country?

02:23It's not an easy question because, of course, it depends in what period of time you make this question.

02:29So, indeed, we have been negotiating for the past 13 years and for many years

02:35the whole process was, I wouldn't say, too demanding, but it was too technical.

02:40There wasn't any political will from the side of the EU member states

02:43to continue with the substance of enlargement.

02:48However, this has changed in the past three years.

02:50I would say that the European Union has finally understood

02:53that enlargement is one of the, if not the best possible, policy that EU has ever had.

03:00It's actually the essence and the substance of the European Union

03:03and that enlargement plays a key role in transforming European Union

03:08into a geopolitical and geostrategic player.

03:11So, Montenegro is very much keen on contributing to this kind of dimension of the European Union

03:18and we are looking forward to becoming the first next member, as you have said, of the EU

03:22and this is why we are saying 28 by 28.

03:25So, 28 member states by 2028.

03:27We do hear, however, from EU officials, especially here in Brussels,

03:31concerns about the process of enlarging the Union

03:35and potential plans to integrate new members without giving them full voting rights.

03:42It's, I believe, a particular response to the way that some countries already within the European Union

03:47are using their veto power to block some foreign policy decisions.

03:51How would you feel about it?

03:52Would you accept that in 2028 Brussels would tell you you can come in to the club,

03:58you can join the club, but you won't have the full voting rights as all other member states have?

04:03Well, I would say that the word concern is one of the key words here in Brussels

04:09and we hear it from time to time on different aspects of European policy.

04:14So, we do understand, of course, that EU has certain needs of being reformed itself.

04:21However, we want this process, without interfering with it,

04:25to go hand in hand or in parallel with the process of enlargement.

04:28What we are aiming at is full-fledged membership into the European Union

04:34and this is why we are doing all the so-called homework

04:37in order to qualify to become an equal partner at the table.

04:42But let me tell you, I do understand where these concerns come from.

04:46But, for example, Montenegro has been for years aligned,

04:49100% aligned with common foreign and security policy

04:52and it continues to be so.

04:54And we actually had a different idea to become observers,

04:59regular observers at the Foreign Affairs Council

05:02because if we are 100% aligned, why not be there without the right to vote,

05:07of course, until we become members.

05:09But what we expect is no less than full membership in the European Union.

05:13You say that you are 100% aligned with the EU's foreign policy.

05:17Other neighbours in the Western Balkan region are not

05:20and this is potentially why there are new ideas being brainstormed right now

05:23about the potential integration.

05:25Would you be willing to be accepted initially without your full voting rights?

05:31I would say that this is hardly acceptable,

05:34especially since, as I said, for years we have been aligned

05:37and why we will not continue to be aligned.

05:40Again, this is a very abstract and theoretical question.

05:45And, of course, we do not want to be victims of anybody else who thinks differently.

05:50So, so far Montenegro has been aligned,

05:53has given its contribution to every decision of the European Union

05:58regarding its foreign and security policy

06:00and we actually want to contribute to it more actively and not more passively.

06:05Another idea that is making the rounds here in Brussels

06:08is this concept of a probation time

06:11where a new country would join and would be trialed, in a sense,

06:15for a certain amount of time, maybe months, maybe years.

06:18How would you feel about that?

06:20Well, we have been on trial for the past 13 years

06:22and we will be on trial until we close all negotiation chapters.

06:27So, once we close the negotiation chapters,

06:29as far as I am concerned, the trial is over.

06:31I would like to ask you a little bit more about the report

06:36that the Commission has just put out.

06:39It does ask you to clamp down on some things

06:42and to advance some reforms.

06:43It includes media freedom.

06:45It includes things like more coordination between ministers

06:50because you have quite a big government.

06:53How are you looking to address these concerns?

06:56Well, let me tell you first that, as we said at the beginning,

06:59this is by far the best report that we have ever received.

07:02But, of course, it's not perfect.

07:03If it were perfect, we wouldn't be a candidate country.

07:06We would be already in the top five most advanced EU member states.

07:11So, of course, some work needs to be done.

07:14But there is no chapter in which we had any sort of regress or backsliding.

07:19But, of course, there are certain recommendations

07:22that we want to take into account,

07:25not just regarding the coordination between the ministries,

07:27but also regarding showing even more progress

07:31in those chapters that concern the fight against organized crime and corruption.

07:37We are expecting to have a track record in final verdicts

07:41very soon until we finish the negotiations.

07:44We will, of course, update and upgrade the legislative framework

07:48that regards freedom of expression, media pluralism, and so on, and so on.

07:53But, as I said, all in all, I think this is a very good report.

07:59And it is basically very similar to those reports

08:03that certain countries that are now members of the EU

08:06used to get one or two or three years before they joined the European Union.

08:10And, as I said at the beginning, this report is not just an introduction

08:14to a successful intergovernmental conference by the end of this year,

08:17but it is also a blueprint for the things that we need and want to do by the end of 26.

08:23I'm going to ask you to perhaps wear your hat of foreign minister

08:26in answering this question.

08:28But how much of a geopolitical signal would it be

08:33if the EU were to accept Montenegro as a new country?

08:38And how much of a geopolitical cost would that be

08:42if the EU failed to do that swiftly?

08:47Answer to both of the questions is huge.

08:50So, it would be a huge gain for the European Union

08:53to finally prove that countries that do their job

08:56and that are actually willing to accede

08:58can accede and can become members of the EU

09:01because, as I said, it is the best policy that the EU has ever had

09:04the very substance of the European Union

09:06because if the enlargement does not happen,

09:09not just with Montenegro, but also with other candidate countries,

09:12then the very concept of the European Union loses its credibility.

09:16It's not European, it's not Union anymore.

09:19So, with Montenegro, the European Union is going to prove its very name,

09:23it's going to prove its concept, it's going to prove its values,

09:26and it's going to prove its geopolitical status.

09:28However, if that does not happen,

09:31then it's a big loss, not just for Montenegro and candidate countries,

09:35but for the European Union,

09:36because the European Union will then fail the promises

09:41and it will lose credibility.

09:44For us, it will be a devastating situation

09:46in which we are performing all the reforms

09:48and are not becoming members of the EU,

09:51and it will be a horrible signal

09:53to all other candidate countries

09:55because then they would understand

09:57that whatever they do is vain.

09:59And this is something that we cannot accept.

10:02Finally, Deputy Prime Minister,

10:04you come from a region where

10:06some countries have been in the waiting room for decades.

10:10Do you think it could be a pull factor?

10:12That is, could it send an important signal

10:14to the Western Balkans

10:16and encourage them to really

10:18accelerate their reforms?

10:21Because if Montenegro were to join,

10:23would it be a broader boost

10:24for that region of the world?

10:26As I previously said,

10:27if Montenegro does not join,

10:29it's going to be bad for the European Union,

10:31it's going to be bad for Montenegro,

10:33and it's going to send a very bad message

10:34to other candidate countries.

10:36And it works the other way around.

10:38If Montenegro becomes a member of the EU

10:41according to the fair, strict,

10:43and merit-based approach

10:44that we fully support,

10:45and that has been also envisioned

10:47in the enlargement package that we saw.

10:51Then, as I said,

10:52the EU confirms its credibility

10:54and it boosts its geopolitical players' status.

11:00Of course, for us,

11:01it boosts our economy,

11:03rule of law, democracy,

11:06the feeling of our citizens

11:07that actually feel like they are there

11:10and they are knocking at the door.

11:11They just need this door to be open.

11:14And again, it will be

11:15a tremendously important message

11:17to all other candidate countries

11:18because it will prove

11:21that hard work

11:23and political dedication

11:25pays off,

11:27to put it in those terms.

11:30But it will also prove

11:31all other voices

11:33that are not very friendly

11:34towards the Western Balkans

11:35and not very friendly

11:36towards the European Union

11:37that keep saying

11:38whatever you do,

11:40you will not become member of the EU.

11:42So we need to prove

11:43those voices wrong.

11:45Minister, thank you so much.

11:47All the best

11:47with your reforms to come.

11:49Thank you for joining us

11:50on 12 Minutes With.

11:51Thank you.

11:51Thank you very much.

11:54Thank you so much.

11:55Thank you so much.

11:56Thank you so much.

11:57Thank you so much.

11:57Thank you.

11:58Thank you.

11:59Thank you.

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12:11Thank you.

12:12Thank you.

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12:14Thank you.

12:15Thank you.

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