Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2017-03-15-Speech-3-596-000"
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"en.20170315.30.3-596-000"2
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"Madam President, this June will mark five years since Montenegro began accession negotiations. Having now opened 26 of the 33 chapters, with two of these provisionally closed already, the country’s strong progress as an EU candidate is clear to all. In the key areas of chapters 23 and 24 concerning justice and home affairs, genuine reform by the government of Montenegro in these areas is evident. Of course tackling organised crime and corruption remains a priority, but it is important we recognise that at the political level reforms have been implemented, and so it is now the time to give the support that is needed for these changes to take root.
Last year was an important one for Montenegro. Parliamentary elections took place in October. There has been a change of prime minister – I was delighted to meet the new prime minister Marković earlier this year in Brussels – and the accession protocol to join NATO was signed. The elections were held under a new regulatory framework with individual voter registration and an electronic identification system in place. A government of electoral trust was formed in the few months preceding the election, which saw opposition parties in charge of over a dozen state organisations and several ministries, to ensure a level playing field before the election.
This followed concerns from some members of the opposition parties about the possibility of undue influence from the governing parties who could abuse or use administrative resources of the state. I believe that the solution was a pragmatic one, a fair one, and welcomed by all, and I was particularly pleased to see this resolved internally within Montenegro. International observers of the elections reported them to be free and fair, with fundamental freedoms generally respected by all. I am aware that there were some concerns about the closure of certain social media platforms on the day of the election, but this must be seen in the wider context of the allegations of a coup and assassination attempt against the then prime minister Đukanović and a backdrop of attempts to influence events by external parties. Indeed the closures in question were implemented by the Agency for Electronic Communication and lasted for a mere hour and a half.
With regard to the planned coup and assassination, judicial investigations continue, but there is a growing consensus amongst both the Montenegrin authorities and EU governments that the planned attack on the then prime minister was a real and credible threat. I remain deeply concerned about the situation and I believe that it is illustrative of the growing presence that Russia is seeking on the ground to exert on Montenegro, and other countries for that matter in the Western Balkans region. Intelligence linking Eduard Shishmakov, a Russian national and a known GRU agent, to the plot, supports claims of Russian participation. It is clear that there is an attempt now to prevent Montenegrin accession to NATO in May, and also to disrupt its EU trajectory.
It is for this reason that it is more important than ever for all the political parties to engage fully and properly in the parliamentary democratic process. The continued boycott of the parliament by the opposition is therefore very disappointing to friends of Montenegro, and extremely damaging to the long-term credibility of Montenegro’s democratic processes and institutions. I am increasingly concerned by the motives of some regarding the parliamentary boycott, and I now call from this House on all of those taking part in the boycott to consider the effects of their actions and the forces that they are helping to legitimise by their continued participation in not going to parliament.
As Montenegro now seeks to join NATO later this year, I think it is key that we in this House demonstrate our support for that decision. NATO and the EU are of course two very separate institutions, but from the perspective of Montenegro the two together represent a Euro-Atlanticist pivot. For reasons discussed earlier in my speech it is an important time now to support that agenda and I hope that when we all vote tomorrow we will all feel minded to support the text as it is currently present in the resolution.
I have always described Montenegro, for the last seven years as the standing rapporteur, as a good news story of the Western Balkans, and I believe that this is still the case today. At the moment, however, we are hearing less and less good news stories from other countries in the region. I therefore welcome the recent visit of the High Representative Federica Mogherini to the region and wholeheartedly support her message that the door remains open to all countries of the Western Balkans towards EU membership. It is vital that we ensure this message gets across. Montenegro has shown how this can work, and I hope this will continue to be so for itself and all its neighbours."@en1
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