Montenegro’s ex-PM wants ‘productive’ EU with less ‘soft politics’ after elections

5 months ago 30

The European Commission must be more productive, get more results, and move away from “soft politics”, with hopes of a ‘refresh’ after the June European elections, the former prime minister and current opposition leader of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, said in an interview.

Abazovic, who leads the United Reform Action Party, affiliated with the European Greens Party, held the post of prime minister between 2022 and 2023 before losing a no-confidence vote at the end of summer 2023.

Speaking about the upcoming EU elections, he said he hopes they will bring progress and change to Europe.

“I think some aspects can be more concrete, with more results. I wish the best to everybody, but I think Europe can be more productive than it is now,” he said.

While Montenegro, an EU candidate since December 2010, will not take part in the election of 720 representatives to the European Parliament, it will watch the results closely as what happens in Brussels has a knock-on effect in the Western Balkans.

Asked if he is worried about the election outcome and what it could mean for Montenegro’s EU accession, Abazovic said: “It is extremely important that parties which support enlargement get more support. If we come to a situation where far-right parties will have a lot of support, this will be a bad message- we don’t want to go backwards.”

“We need a vision for the future, more solidarity around Europe,” he added.

The right-wing ECR and far-right ID political groups are enjoying a surge across Europe and although the biggest group, the centre-right EPP, is hesitant about partnering with them, they could still block key votes on files like migration and enlargement.

The path to enlargement

On enlargement, Abazovic said Western Balkan integration is key as “it’s not something that is a favour for us; it is investing in the security and future of Europe and of everyone who wants to see Europe like a superpower—one united Europe with all our countries.”

The former prime minister believes Montenegro is the “perfect country to revive the enlargement process of the EU, something that is in both the interests of the European Union and member states.”

Montenegro’s accession talks began in 2015 and while all negotiating chapters are open, as of February 2024, only three chapters have been closed, meaning the path to membership is long.

It is one of the region’s most pro-EU countries, with over 81% of the population supporting membership.

Time for the Commission to ‘refresh’

But the EU elections will also see a change in leadership for the EU executive, which can also impact enlargement.

Asked if he supports the incumbent President Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term, Abazovic said: “We have good cooperation with Madam von der Leyen but I think it will be good for the European Commission to have some refreshing.”

As for the EU approach to the stagnant dialogue between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, whose 2008 independence Belgrade does not recognise, Abazovic said Brussels should up its game.

“The EU should be more concrete…If we always have this kind of very soft politics, we will still be talking about the same thing in 10 or 20 years. This is a disaster because we have already lost 20 years,” he said.

Talks have been ongoing since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, following the 1998-1999 war. While agreements have been made, very few provisions have been implemented, and five EU countries still do not recognise Kosovo’s independence.

Abazovic believes Kosovo and Serbia “both want to see some final agreement and show that we are no longer a region of conflict but one of understanding, but this will not be easy.”

CoE vote

However, the Kosovo-Serbia question becomes even more complicated following Montenegro’s vote against Pristina joining the Council of Europe (CoE)

On Wednesday (27 March), the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy voted to recommend Kosovo join the organisation. Thirty-one states voted in favour, Greece abstained, and four voted against, including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

While Montenegro declared independence from the state union with Serbia in 2006, it retains strong ties with Belgrade. It is also home to an Albanian population of over 30,000, which is fiercely pro-Kosovo’s independence and rejects the stance of Belgrade and its allies.

Asked about the new government’s actions, Abazovic, himself an ethnic Albanian, said he fully supported Kosovo during his mandate and that this development is “the new reality.”

The new prime minister, Milojko Spajic, previously held Serbian citizenship and wants closer relations between the two countries – a sensitive issue that splits Montenegro right down the middle, between “independentists” and those who see themselves as Serbs.

However, he has stated that he has no plans to withdraw the recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

Abazovic said the CoE vote against Kosovo would have been “impossible under my mandate, we were very clear on our foreign policy. Our foreign policy was 100% aligned with the foreign policy of the European Union,” he said, in an apparent dig at Serbia.

Serbia, also an EU candidate country, has not aligned itself with sanctions against Russia. Instead, the government has mocked the West and actively strengthened ties with Moscow.

“Some in Brussels think that this way can be functional…maybe they will be more smart next time,” he said.