Post by radovic on May 9, 2008 8:19:37 GMT -5
Montenegro Opposition Doubts EU Timetable
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09 May 2008 Podgorica _ Montenegrin opposition parties expressed skepticism about the government’s plan for the country to join the European Union in the next few years.
Dragan Soc, leader of the opposition People’s Party, NS, asked Gordana Djurovic, deputy prime minister in charge of EU integration, whether she “really believes Montenegro will be ready for full EU membership in five years”.
Djurovic replied to parliamentarians in a debate on Thursday on the government’s draft National Programme for Integration: “Fear is a normal feeling, but I believe in what I do.”
Soc’s colleagues insisted that it was not enough to adopt EU regulations – what was needed was also to implement them.
Predrag Bulatovic, leader of the opposition Socialist People’s Party, SNP, said the National Programme was an exclusively government document and the opposition had been not invited to take part in its creation. That made “any discussion senseless”.
Montenegro signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, with Brussels last October.
After the EU signed an SAA with Serbia on April 29, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now the only former Yugoslav republic not to have signed such an agreement. It is expected to sign later this month. Read more: balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9772
Djurovic said she could not specify the exact date when Montenegro would seek membership. “Whether we apply tomorrow or in a year makes no difference,” she said. “We have a clear plan of what we have to do and why – because of reforms that will essentially change the system in Montenegro.”
The final text of the National Programme is due for release by the end of May.
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09 May 2008 Podgorica _ Montenegrin opposition parties expressed skepticism about the government’s plan for the country to join the European Union in the next few years.
Dragan Soc, leader of the opposition People’s Party, NS, asked Gordana Djurovic, deputy prime minister in charge of EU integration, whether she “really believes Montenegro will be ready for full EU membership in five years”.
Djurovic replied to parliamentarians in a debate on Thursday on the government’s draft National Programme for Integration: “Fear is a normal feeling, but I believe in what I do.”
Soc’s colleagues insisted that it was not enough to adopt EU regulations – what was needed was also to implement them.
Predrag Bulatovic, leader of the opposition Socialist People’s Party, SNP, said the National Programme was an exclusively government document and the opposition had been not invited to take part in its creation. That made “any discussion senseless”.
Montenegro signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, with Brussels last October.
After the EU signed an SAA with Serbia on April 29, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now the only former Yugoslav republic not to have signed such an agreement. It is expected to sign later this month. Read more: balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9772
Djurovic said she could not specify the exact date when Montenegro would seek membership. “Whether we apply tomorrow or in a year makes no difference,” she said. “We have a clear plan of what we have to do and why – because of reforms that will essentially change the system in Montenegro.”
The final text of the National Programme is due for release by the end of May.