Az EU „a hitelességét kockáztatja”, ha nem bővít – figyelmeztet Montenegró
Montenegró az EU-tagjelölt országok élmezőnyében van és reméli, hogy jövőre lezárhatja a csatlakozási tárgyalásokat Brüsszellel. Ha az ország csatlakozása nem valósul meg, az csorbíthatja az EU hitelességét, és „szörnyű üzenetet” küldhet a többi jelöltnek – figyelmeztetett Ivanović.
00:00My guest is Filip Ivanovich. He 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, it is considered a frontrunner and widely tipped to become the next EU member state.
00:28Deputy Prime Minister, welcome to 12 Minutes With. Thank you for joining us on Euronews.
00:33Thank you for having me and for talking about Montenegro.
00:35Well, let's talk about Montenegro. As I said, the smallest but the most advanced on its path to becoming an EU member.
00:44And you just received a glowing appraisal from the European Commission saying that if you keep up with this speed of reforms, you are on track to join in the next three years.
00:54Tell 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 is 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.
01:13So, previous year we had the best report up until then, and 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, but not just of the government, but also of other political institutions in the country.
01:29But it is also an introduction, I would say, to a very successful intergovernmental conference that we will have by the end of this year, where we will close several chapters.
01:41And on the other hand, it is, let's say, a blueprint of what we need to do in the forthcoming 12 or 13 months in order to fulfill our goal to finish the negotiations and 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, as 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? Do 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 the 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 to continue with the substance of enlargement.
02:47However, this has changed in the past three years.
02:50I would say that the European Union has finally understood that 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 and that enlargement plays a key role in transforming European Union into a geopolitical and geostrategic player.
03:11So, Montenegro is very much keen on contributing to this kind of dimension of the European Union and 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. So, 28 member states by 2028.
03:27We do hear, however, from EU officials, especially here in Brussels, concerns about the process of enlarging the Union and potential plans to integrate new members without giving them full voting rights.
03:42Yes. It's, I believe, a particular response to the way that some countries already within the European Union are using their veto power to block some foreign policy decisions.
03:51How would you feel about that? Would you accept that in 2028 Brussels would tell you you can come in to the club, you 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, and 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, to 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, and this is why we are doing all the so-called homework in 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, 100% aligned with common foreign and security policy, and it continues to be so.
04:54And we actually had a different idea to become observers, regular observers at the Foreign Affairs Council, because if we are 100% aligned, why not be there without the right to vote, of 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, and this is potentially why there are new ideas being brainstormed right now about 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, especially since, as I said, for years we have been aligned and 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, has given its contribution to every decision of the European Union regarding 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 is this concept of a probation time where a new country would join and would be trialed, in a sense, for a certain amount of time, maybe months, maybe years.
06:18How would you feel about that?
06:20Well, we've been on trial for the past 13 years, and we'll 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.
06:31I'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.
06:43It includes media freedom.
06:45It includes things like more coordination between ministers, because you have quite a big government.
06:53How are you looking to address these concerns?
06:55Well, let me tell you first that, as we said at the beginning, this 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.
07:13But 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, not just regarding the coordination between the ministries,
07:27but also regarding showing even more progress in those chapters that concern the fight against organized crime and corruption.
07:37We are expecting to have a track record in final verdicts very soon until we finish the negotiations.
07:44We will, of course, update and upgrade the legislative framework that 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, and it is basically very similar to those reports that 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 to 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 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?
08:47The 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 and that are actually willing to accede,
08:58can accede and can become members of the EU because, as I said, it is the best policy that 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 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, it's going to prove its concept,
09:25it's going to prove its values, and it's going to prove its geopolitical status.
09:28However, if that does not happen, then it's a big loss, not just for Montenegro and candidate countries,
09:35but for the European Union, because the European Union will then fail the promises and it will lose credibility.
09:44For us, it will be a devastating situation in which we are performing all the reforms and are not becoming members of the EU,
09:50and 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.
10:02Finally, 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?
10:12That 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's going to be bad for the European Union,
10:31it's going to be bad for Montenegro, and it's 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,
10:41according 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,
10:51then, as I said, EU confirms its credibility and it boosts its geopolitical players' status.
11:00Of course, for us, it boosts our economy, rule of law, democracy,
11:06the feeling of our citizens that actually feel like they are there and they are knocking at the door.
11:11They just need this door to be open.
11:13Open, and again, it will be a tremendously important message to all other candidate countries
11:18because it will prove that hard work and political dedication pays off,
11:27to put it in those terms.
11:29But it will also prove all other voices that are not very friendly towards the Western Balkans
11:35and not very friendly towards the European Union that keep saying,
11:39whatever you do, you will not become member of the EU.
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