Senza allargamento l’UE rischia di “perdere credibilità”, avverte il Montenegro
Il Montenegro è in testa tra i Paesi candidati all’adesione all’UE e punta a concludere i negoziati con Bruxelles il prossimo anno. La mancata adesione del Paese minerebbe la credibilità dell’UE e lancerebbe un “segnale terribile” ad altri candidati, avverte il suo vice primo ministro.
ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2025/11/10/senza-allargamento-lue-rischia-di-perdere-credibilita-avverte-il-montenegro
02:38ma era troppo tecnico. Non c'era alcuna politica da parte dei membri dei Stati Uniti
02:45di continuare con la sostanza dell'enlargimento.
02:48Inoltre, questo ha cambiato negli ultimi tre anni.
02:51Credo che l'Unione Europea ha finalmente capito che l'enlargimento è una delle,
02:56se non le, più possibili politiche che l'EU ha mai avuto.
03:00È l'essenza e la sostanza dell'Unione Europea
03:03e che l'enlargimento ha avuto un importante ruolo di trasformare l'Unione Europea
03:08in una geopolitica e geostrategica.
03:11Quindi Montenegro è molto attenzionato a contribuire a questo tipo di dimensione
03:17dell'Unione Europea.
03:18E noi stiamo cercando di diventare la prossima parte dell'EU,
03:22e questo è quello che stiamo dicendo 28 per 28.
03:25Quindi 28 membri dei Stati per 2028.
03:28We do hear, however, from EU officials,
03:30especially here in Brussels,
03:32concerns about the process of enlarging the Union
03:36and potential plans to integrate new members
03:39without giving them full voting rights.
03:42It's, I believe, a particular response
03:45to the way that some countries already within the European Union
03:47are using their veto power
03:49to block some foreign policy decisions.
03:51How would you feel about that?
03:53Would you accept that in 2028
03:55Brussels 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
04:01as all other member states have?
04:04Well, 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.
04:29What 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 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.
04:55And 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?
05:30I 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.
05:40this is a very abstract and theoretical question.
05:44And, 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 trialled 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.
06:23And we will be on trial until we close all negotiation chapters.
06:27So once we close the negotiation chapters, as far as I'm concerned, the trial is over.
06:32I'd like to ask you a little bit more about the report that the Commission has just put out.
06:39It does ask you to clamp down on some things and to advance some reforms.
06:44It 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.
07:20But, of course, there are certain recommendations that we want to take into account,
07:25not just regarding the coordination between the ministries,
07:27but also regarding showing even more progress in those chapters
07:33that concern the fight against organized crime and corruption.
07:37We are expecting to have a track record in final verdicts very soon
07:42until 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
07:58and it is basically very similar to those reports that certain countries
08:04that are now members of the EU used to get one or two or three years
08:08before 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.
08:22I'm going to ask you to perhaps wear your hat of foreign minister in answering this question,
08:28but how much of a geopolitical signal would it be if the EU were to accept Montenegro as a new country,
08:38and how much of a geopolitical cost would that be if the EU failed to do that swiftly?
08:45The answer to both of the questions is huge.
08:50So, it would be a huge gain for the European Union to finally prove that countries that do their job
08:56and that are actually willing to accede can accede and can become members of the EU
09:01because, as I said, it is the best policy that the EU has ever had the very substance of the European Union.
09:06because if the enlargement does not happen, not just with Montenegro but also with other candidate countries,
09:12then the very concept of European Union loses its credibility.
09:16It is not European, it is not Union anymore.
09:19So, with Montenegro, the European Union is going to prove its very name,
09:23it is going to prove its concept, it is going to prove its values,
09:26and it is going to prove its geopolitical status.
09:28However, if that does not happen, then it is a big loss not just for Montenegro and candidate countries,
09:34but for the European Union because the European Union will then fail the promises and it will lose credibility.
09:43For us, it will be a devastating situation in which we are performing all the reforms
09:48and are not becoming members of the EU and it will be a horrible signal to all other candidate countries
09:55because then they would understand that whatever they do is vain.
09:59And this is something that we cannot accept.
10:01Finally, Deputy Prime Minister, you come from a region where some countries have been in the waiting room for decades.
10:10Do you think it could be a pull factor, that is, could it send an important signal to the Western Balkans
10:16and encourage them to really accelerate their reforms?
10:21If Montenegro were to join, would it be a broader boost for that region of the world?
10:26As I previously said, if Montenegro does not join, it is going to be bad for the European Union,
10:31it is going to be bad for Montenegro and it is going to send a very bad message to other candidate countries.
10:36And it works the other way around.
10:38If Montenegro becomes a member of the EU according to the fair, strict and merit-based approach that we fully support,
10:45and that has been also envisioned in the enlargement package that we saw, then, as I said, EU confirms its credibility and boosts its geopolitical players' status.
11:00Of course, for us, it boosts our economy, rule of law, democracy, the feeling of our citizens that actually feel like they are there and they are knocking at the door.
11:12They just need this door to be open.
11:14And again, it will be a tremendously important message to all other candidate countries because it will prove that hard work and political dedication pays off, to put it in those terms.
11:30But it will also prove all other voices that are not very friendly towards the Western Balkans and not very friendly towards the European Union that keep saying whatever you do, you will not become member of the EU.
11:42So we need to prove those voices wrong.
11:45Minister, thank you so much. All the best with your reforms to come.
Commenta prima di tutti