Kalas concerned about regional stability, urged Montenegro to commit to reforms

Montenegro has made progress on its European path, Kaja Kalas, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told a press conference with Prime Minister Milojko Spajic in Podgorica on 7 April.

She stressed that there is still much to be done and that the focus should be on reforms.

“I welcome the commitment because the accession process requires reforms. We know that there are no shortcuts, reforms have to be made. I welcome the agreement with the opposition which allows the Assembly to continue its work”, Kalas said.

One of the issues was security.

“We need to strengthen cooperation in this area, because we are living in turbulent times,” Kalas said.

Kalas: We are concerned about the situation in the region

Kalas said she was concerned about regional stability and announced that this would be discussed tomorrow in Sarajevo.

“Attacks on the unity and constitutional order of BiH cannot be tolerated. Politicians have a great responsibility to work together to ensure that the country moves forward towards the EU. They must overcome divisions, not deepen them, which is very important for the stability of BiH and the region”, Kalas said.

On the events between Belgrade and Pristina, she said that the normalisation of relations was important:

“For us it is important to normalise relations, because without that neither of them can move forward on the road to the EU”.

Asked about the stalled dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Kalas said the EU was “doing an analysis this month” with EU dialogue envoy Peter Sorensen.

“The EU is correcting the mistakes in the Brussels-led dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in order to revive the process of normalisation of relations between the two neighbours”, Kalas said, without specifying which mistakes they were.

She expressed gratitude that Montenegro supports the UN resolution on Ukraine and respects its territorial integrity:

“It is important that we adhere to these values. We know that we can count on Montenegro.”

Prime Minister Spajic said that last year was the most successful year in terms of integration.

“Montenegro has no dilemmas, the European Union (EU) is our strategic path and there is nothing that would deter us from it”, Spajic said.

He underlined that Montenegro is a leader in the process of European integration.

“I hope that this year we will close more negotiating chapters with the EU”, Spajic said.

Commenting on the cooperation agreement between Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kalas said that the EU supports economic development, but it is important that Montenegrin law is respected and that EU companies have the same rights as others.

Spajic said that the UAE has similar agreements with some EU countries.

“We are planning such agreements with at least three EU Member States,” Spajic said.

Kalas’s visit to Podgorica marked the start of an official visit to the Western Balkan countries.

After Podgorica, Kalas had a working lunch with Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic on Montenegro’s negotiations with the EU in Cetinje.

The President’s Office said that Milatovic paid particular attention to the issue of the agreement between the Montenegrin government and the UAE in his talks with Kalas.

“I expect the EU to make a clear determination as to whether the agreement between Montenegro and the UAE is in line with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement”, Milatovic said.

He took the opportunity to reiterate Montenegro’s determination to do everything to be ready for EU membership by 2028:

“We know that this is an ambitious goal, but we believe that we can achieve it together with our European partners.”

It was noted that Kalas expressed full support for Montenegro on its path towards further EU approximation.

Kalas presented a package of support to the Montenegrin army from the European Peace Facility at Podgorica military airport, the European House was informed.

Kalas said that the €6 million package was approved by the EU in February this year to strengthen the Montenegrin army.

“I have seen important military equipment, including chemical, biological and nuclear protective equipment, search and rescue equipment and equipment for extreme weather conditions,” Kalas said in the presence of Montenegrin Defence Minister Dragan Krapovic.

She added that Montenegro’s participation in the Horn of Africa mission contributes to crisis management and geopolitical stability.

Montenegro has been negotiating its accession to the European Union for almost 13 years.

So far, it has closed six chapters out of a total of 33.

A few more chapters are due to be closed at the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels in June.

By the end of the year, the chief EU negotiator, Predrag Zenovic, predicts that as many as nine chapters could be closed./RSE/