00:00Prime Minister, thank you so much for joining us on Euronews
00:03on what has been a very important week for your country,
00:07of course, in terms of your history, the celebrations that you held this week,
00:10but also the EU-Western Balkans Summit.
00:13You say 28 by 28.
00:15Will Montenegro join the European Union in basically less than two years?
00:20That's what we hope for, and that's why we are here.
00:22I think we could showcase Montenegro to the world.
00:25I think we've done a fairly good job looking at the faces of all the European leaders
00:30who attended the EU-Western Balkans Summit,
00:34and I think they could enjoy the weather, if nothing.
00:37Well, the weather, you're in a nice weather here.
00:40But I have to ask you, in your conversations that you had at the summit,
00:44and this was a big moment to bring the leaders together and the Western Balkans leaders,
00:48what was the mood in the room?
00:51Did you really feel a momentum beyond Montenegro for the region itself?
00:56Absolutely.
00:57I think the momentum is definitely different from the previous times,
01:01and I think we definitely see that everybody is hopping on a boat called a unification of Europe.
01:09Does that mean the entire region?
01:11Of course, Montenegro, you have a very clear roadmap of where you want to be in less than two years.
01:14This is very tight.
01:16Specifically in your case, you've been doing a lot of reforms very fast.
01:19It is clear you want to hit this deadline.
01:21Is it because it matters for Montenegro or also because you wonder and perhaps fear
01:26some of the elections coming up from the member states next year?
01:30It's not guaranteed that unanimity, let's say in France,
01:32if there's a change in government, will be that clear cut.
01:35But I think primarily because we want the benefits of the membership
01:40as soon as possible to the Montenegro people,
01:42and that's the clear reason number one.
01:45And I think Montenegro has a lot to offer to the European Union.
01:50And it's like oftentimes I say Montenegro is like a little sample,
01:54like a little cookie of Western Balkans.
01:55You can take the cookie, and if you like it, you take more.
01:58And you mean it will be manageable and it will show perhaps that the rest can follow?
02:04Exactly. And Montenegro is also Western Balkans or Balkans in general in a small version
02:10because we have, apart from Montenegrins, we have Serbs, we have Bosniaks,
02:14we have Croats, we have Albanians.
02:16We have all of these ethnicities around us present in Montenegro in significant numbers.
02:20And then we find our path together.
02:25We found a way how to live together in peace and prosperity.
02:30So, you know, I think we can add a lot of value.
02:32And is it important that your neighbors also make progress?
02:36And at this particular summit, France and Germany talked about a sort of structural,
02:40now gradual integration to the bloc.
02:43It's clear you want the full thing. You want membership.
02:45But for your colleagues, is that a path forward?
02:48You know, it's difficult for me to say what is good and what is not good for other countries
02:52and, you know, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to the member states.
02:56That's up to them.
02:57But, you know, I definitely would love to see, and, you know, Montenegro is somebody who has
03:03biggest skin in the game to get the whole Western Balkan towards the West.
03:07Because, as I say, you know, like, apart from Montenegrins, we have 30% Serbs,
03:11we have 20% Bosniaks, we have Croats, we have Albanians,
03:15we have all of these ethnicities who live in Montenegro.
03:18So having the surrounding countries also move along the same path is because of that kind of structure of Montenegro
03:26is also a benefit to us, for sure.
03:28And we're seeing the very tight security that you had in this summit.
03:32On that point of security, I do have to ask you, however, this week it was a successful summit.
03:37But going into the summit, it seemed there was a sort of diplomatic incident, perhaps, with Serbia.
03:44Aleksandr VrÄiÄ, the president of Serbia, said he was unsure whether he should come,
03:48pointed perhaps to a hybrid threat based on the information that you know.
03:51Was there ever a threat? What happened?
03:53So, you know, like, this is Chapter 24 that we are implementing as we speak.
03:57And obviously, security of all the participants is extremely important for us.
04:05And that was the case, like, in the incident that you just mentioned.
04:10So we have absolutely nothing.
04:11There was never any threat.
04:12No, we have nothing against any of the regional states.
04:16We love them all.
04:17We want to see them having fantastic bilateral relations with Montenegro.
04:21So we are pretty certain that, you know, European future awaits all of us.
04:27And that we can be even better friends once we are in the EU.
04:31But just to make this point clear, there was never any concern.
04:34There was never any threats.
04:35Because these were big statements that were made by the Serbian president.
04:39You say this did not happen.
04:41There was an incident with some plane with Serbian nationals that was returned.
04:44All of this, you say, these are separate things.
04:47What I say is that there was a security incident that happened in Montenegro Airport
04:51with the passengers coming out of Serbia.
04:54But, you know, as I say, our security services acted very professional in a great manner.
05:02And I congratulate them for all what they've done.
05:05Our NSA, our police services.
05:08So, you know, to ensure the absolute utmost security to all the participants.
05:13That's why we had the highest level of security being active.
05:17Which was definitely clear also on the streets.
05:20This week, there was also an important breakthrough on Ukraine.
05:23Finally, there's a path forward for both Ukraine and Moldova by extension.
05:27Do you welcome the new dynamics around the Hungarian government?
05:31Obviously, this is an EU context, but you want to be a member.
05:34So is that something that you welcome?
05:35You know, we've obviously we support Ukraine and we want to see Ukraine as well,
05:41like progress on the path towards prosperity and the peace.
05:45And, you know, Montenegro is here to help, if anything.
05:48But again, I cannot speak or nobody from our side can speak as a representative of the EU.
05:55So it's difficult to say anything about it.
05:58But again, we are very happy to see that there are positive signs towards Ukraine as well.
06:05And just finally, the EU membership used to be seen as a political partnership, as an economic.
06:11Certainly, the single market is incredibly important for the economy, for this country.
06:15For many countries, it has been transformational.
06:17But there's now increasingly a defense and security component to this.
06:22How much do you worry about the situation because of the war, potential threats to the Balkans, interference?
06:29How would you define this moment with the drones that we've seen also in Eastern Europe?
06:33How would you define the level of alert now for you?
06:36Absolutely.
06:37You know, everybody, everybody, you know, many people with safety, security and safety for granted.
06:42And, you know, we woke up in the world that we live in now.
06:45And I think it's very important that we invest in defense and we invest in all the security capabilities.
06:50And you're a native country for our viewers, of course.
06:52We are a NATO country and, you know, we are investing significantly now in our defense capabilities.
07:00And, you know, we are working very closely with all of our partners in tackling all the possible threats and
07:07potential threats.
07:08And just finally, we see now that the Europeans are planning direct talks with Russia.
07:12It does not guarantee that there will be a peace deal.
07:14But is that something, again, as a member, you know, you want, you say you want to be at the
07:18table in less than a year.
07:19Is that something that you'd say any effort to end the war?
07:22Direct talks with Russia as Europeans.
07:23If needed, we do it.
07:25Obviously, like, you know, everybody, nobody, nobody can say anything against the beast.
07:31You know, like, you'd love to see the beast as soon as possible.
07:33And we would love to see a just beast or, like, the beast that is...
07:38That's important for you.
07:39...satisfactory, yes, for Ukrainians as well.
07:43So, we have to keep, you know, we have to keep the Europe, again, very, very focused on the security
07:54threats that are, like, they're coming from various sides these days.
07:59You see that we have energy crisis as well.
08:02We have many other issues that we have to tackle as a continent.
08:06So, you know, United Europe is the answer to all of these concerns and issues.
08:11And you have a year of big reforms ahead, but you say you can hit that deadline.
08:15So, we'll be back, potentially, in a year, in the final stretch.
08:19Yes, in 2024, when we first announced that we want to close all the chapters by now 26, nobody believed
08:24us.
08:25Said no way, yes.
08:25Said no way, that's, like, too ambitious, too crazy.
08:28But now, people say, okay, it's becoming more and more realistic.
08:31And I think, you know, everybody's slowly falling in line.
08:35So, I hope that we see the tangible and real progress of Montenegro in the months to follow.
08:40Well, Prime Minister, thank you so much.
08:42And thank you, of course, for hosting us in Montenegro.
08:44Highly appreciate it.
08:45Thank you so much.
08:46And pleasure is all ours.
08:48Thanks very much.
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