The resolution on Jasenovac and the cancellation of Mišel’s visit are inconveniences that may slow down Montenegro’s European path

After recently receiving the Report on the Assessment of the Achievement of the Temporary Benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24 (IBAR) for Chapters 23 and 24, it has made significant progress towards the EU, and then there was the cancellation of the visit of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to Montenegro and the cooling of relations between Podgorica and Zagreb due to the adoption of the resolution on Jasenovac, former Montenegrin Minister for European Integration Gordana Đurović considered that Montenegro has received two “diplomatic inconveniences”, which can affect the country’s European path.

Đurović claims that “one of the diplomatic drawbacks is the adoption of the resolution on genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau and Mauthausen camp system, and the second is the cancellation of the official visit of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who was to go to Podgorica after Montenegro received the IBAR.

According to her, “the adoption of the resolution on Jasenovac contributed to Montenegro not being included in the conclusions of the European Council on the progress of the candidate countries”, which, Đurović recalls, is a key document that speaks about the progress of the previous period.

“And when you are not in the conclusions of the European Council, it is as if the conference never took place. This is a big minus for the promotion of good news coming from the EU,” warns Đurović.

She believes that Montenegro “opens a space to enter the zone of potential blocking of the accession process in one of its later phases.”

“There are known instruments that are available to EU member states, if they have bilateral problems with one of the candidate countries,” explains Đurović.

According to Đurović, the resolution on Jasenovac does not contribute to the culture of memory, but, as he states, “is a necessity of everyday politics in Montenegro and the collapse of the foreign policy positions of Montenegro, which has inherited good neighborly relations for decades.”

Đurović also claims that “Montenegro has been deteriorating its relations with neighbouring Croatia for months” and says that “there is no reasonable basis for this”.

“Instead of reducing the number of open bilateral issues with neighbouring Croatia, Montenegro is increasing their number. In this way, we put ourselves in a more difficult position, which gives us a weaker starting position for negotiations. Croatia can block the closure of a negotiation chapter, postpone the Intergovernmental Conference… Croatia is not the EU, but it is an EU member state with full voting rights, because the enlargement policy is based on consensus,” Đurović emphasizes.

She also said that she did not consider the adoption of the resolution on Jesenovac to be something welcomed by Serbia.

“There was no praise, no sincere congratulations, no even diplomatic protocol congratulations… No one in Serbia congratulated us for adopting the resolution on Jasenovac. We boast that we are the only ones on the planet who do this, and now the question is what did we get out of it. We spoiled relations with Croatia, we did not improve relations with Serbia, and the adoption of this resolution only brought additional internal political turbulence,” Đurović said.

She believes that political actors in Montenegro, after the adoption of the resolution on Jasenovac, find themselves in the same position towards their electorate.

“The messages addressed to the electorate, which had populist and ethno-nationalist connotations, are known to the public. Everyone is in the same position regarding their relationship with their electorate, but the situation is becoming politically radicalized, which can cause a negative domino effect. This can make other ethnic groups feel threatened. We need to reduce these resolutions in our Parliament and approach European integration in the way expected from Montenegro,” says Đurović.

She says that if Montenegro wants to successfully complete the negotiation process, it must preserve good neighbourly relations, create a good negotiating platform and adopt a reform programme.

Regarding Montenegro’s accession to the EU, Đurović says he does not want to take a position on dates.

“In European terminology, the window has opened for us, we will go through the door. The door is not yet open, it is half open,” concluded the former Minister of European Integration of Montenegro.

Spajić: We make decisions independently

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced that “all decisions, including those concerning Srebrenica, Jasenovac, Mathauzen and Dachau, we take as an independent country that has decided on principle and will decide on such issues based on the past.”

Spajić wrote on the X network that “in Kotor, at the summit of Western Balkan leaders, he informed the President of Serbia (Aleksandar Vučić) that Montenegro would condemn all crimes as a matter of principle and that all resolutions that focus on respect for victims, and not on condemnations, historical circumstances, geopolitics, etc. should be supported, and that these other topics should be left to historians to objectively investigate the circumstances.”

“Bilateral relations with all our neighbours are very important to us, and it is important that all potentially open issues are resolved to the end. Partners will respect you more in the long run if you are predictable and if they know that you will stick to the same standard for everyone to the end. Montenegro is one of the few countries that has a principled attitude and will not deviate from it,” Spajić said.

He added, however, that “resolutions and the past are not our priority and should be left in the shadow of our country’s progress in terms of economy, rule of law and European integration,” and said that “instead of embellishing the past, let’s look to a better future.”

EC: Good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation are key elements of the enlargement process

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it was “aware that the Parliament of Montenegro adopted a resolution on Jasenovac on 28 June.”

In response to questions from Voice of America, the head of the media sector of the European Commission for Foreign and Security Policy, Piotr Cichocki, wrote that “overcoming the difficult legacy of the past and promoting sincere reconciliation should be joint efforts.”

“We remind you that good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation are key elements of the enlargement process,” the EC announced.

The European Commission considered that “the recent intergovernmental conference with Montenegro marked a historic step towards the country’s accession to the EU.”

“We encourage the authorities to remain resolutely focused on meeting citizens’ expectations by implementing the reforms necessary to advance on the strategic path of the European Union,” it was announced from Brussels.

Milović: Resolution on Jasenovac is an insignificant act that exclusively harms Montenegro

Montenegrin Justice Minister Andrej Milović said in an interview with Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list that he considered the parliament’s decision on the resolution on Jasenovac to be a “meaningless act only to the detriment of Montenegro” and expressed hope that Croatia would show wisdom, “understanding what it is really about… considering one interest higher than everything else – Montenegro’s accession to the EU.”

“The majority itself – and only one vote decided in a politically difficult and particular moment for the government of Milojko Spajić – by which this resolution was adopted testifies to the fact that people are aware that it is not in our interest, and that Montenegro must be guided by its own interests, and not by those of other countries,” Milović said and stressed that “Croatia is one of the most important allies of Montenegro and a key partner on our path to the EU.”

Plenković: Resolution on Jasenovac is an extremely bad and unnecessary measure

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said, commenting on the adoption of the resolution on genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau and Mauthausen camps in the Montenegrin Parliament, that the Croatian government had made it very clear to the Montenegrin authorities that the adoption of such a resolution was detrimental to bilateral relations.

“We believe that this is an extremely wrong and unnecessary decision, especially since Croatia has been, to the greatest extent, very constructive when it comes to resolving open bilateral issues and when it comes to Montenegro’s European path,” Plenković told reporters in Zagreb, according to the Croatian government website.

The Croatian Prime Minister, as the Croatian government website wrote, also said that with this step towards Croatia, Montenegro is sending a signal that raises the question of trust and intentions.

The intention, as he stated, is connected exclusively with intra-Montenegrin discussions, with the instrumentalization by some of them after the UN resolution on the Srebrenica genocide and recalled that this UN resolution was adopted at the suggestion of Germany and Rwanda, and that it was for it that Montenegro Gora voted.

“If this is some kind of internal whitewashing, in any case, if they intend to do it at the expense and cost of Croatia, this will certainly not be the case,” he stressed, adding that Croatia will know what to do.

On June 28, the Montenegrin Parliament adopted, with the votes of 41 members of the parliamentary majority, a resolution on the Jasenovac genocide initiated by pro-Serb parties, which could affect relations with neighboring Croatia, which had previously sent a note of protest to Podgorica.

Following the adoption of this resolution, the visit of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to Podgorica was cancelled, and Michel subsequently met with Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović in Brussels.

( The Voice of America )