The Minister of European Affairs, Maida Gorčević, met today with Reinhold Lopatka, the shadow rapporteur for Montenegro in the European Parliament.
“We can be proud of what we have achieved over the past year. Our dedicated efforts were recently rewarded with the closure of three negotiation chapters, the first time in over seven years, and the Council of the European Union adopted the decision to begin drafting the Accession Treaty for Montenegro in the coming period,” Gorčević stated.
Reflecting on the recently held Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels and the achievements of the past year, she emphasized that this is just the beginning of the extensive work ahead on Montenegro’s European path.
“The Government has already prepared several chapters for closure during Poland’s Presidency of the EU Council, which begins in January and lasts for six months. The upcoming year will be extremely challenging as it will require the implementation of significant reforms and intense work,” Gorčević noted.
She added that it is essential to involve society as a whole to collectively complete the obligations stemming from the negotiation process and fulfill the generational dream of Montenegro becoming the next member of the European Union.
Lopatka commended Montenegro’s achievements and recognized its leadership role in the EU enlargement policy. He added that Montenegro’s progress could serve as an inspiration for other candidate countries.
Speaking about the continuation of the negotiations, Lopatka stressed the need for synergy among all stakeholders to timely fulfill obligations and implement reforms required by the negotiation process. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of strengthening good neighborly relations.
He stated that, together with the European Parliament rapporteur for Montenegro, Marjan Šarec, he aims to support the Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, in doing everything possible to assist Montenegro on its path to full EU membership.