By mid-June, we will know whether or not we have received a positive IBAR, said Bojan Božović, State Secretary in the Ministry of European Affairs and negotiator for Cluster 1, on RTV Nikšić’s show “Contact.” He notes that a lot of effort has been put in to make the results visible, which has been recognized by international partners.
“In a few days, an important meeting in Brussels awaits, namely the Coela – a discussion involving all EU member state representatives. This Coela will discuss what we have achieved. After that, there will likely be more meetings of a similar format. I hope that by June 15, we will know for sure whether we have received the IBAR – the Report on the Fulfillment of Interim Benchmarks, and whether we will announce the closure of some chapters at a potential Intergovernmental Conference, which could be held at the end of June,” Božović stated.
If we pass the laws just to get the IBAR, it will easily be detected in the final benchmarks and through the possibility of fulfilling the obligations from those benchmarks, Božović believes.
“I expect the laws to be adopted in the Parliament of Montenegro. We have suggested several times, and it would be good for those proposed laws to be adopted in the form in which they passed the Government. Not because we think it’s impossible to write better ones, but because in that form they have been communicated with the European Commission. No one has the right to take away the MPs’ right to amendments. However, we have always emphasized that every amendment should be aligned with EU standards. Therefore, if comments come, the Ministry of European Affairs will forward the proposals to the European Commission. Even after adopting these proposed laws, there will be room to improve the solutions,” Božović explained.
There is no time to wait, Božović notes.
“If we do not seize this opportunity now, where many sources tell us – you alone can enter the EU, I fear that by missing this chance, we will inevitably have to join the group of other countries that are behind us in this European integration process. And then we might have to wait for a principle of joint entry for several countries. I think this would not suit us at all and would mean losing more time, as well as clear and concrete benefits,” Božović concluded.
You can watch the interview at this link.
