11 November 2018 - Negotiator for Chapters 23 and 24, Marijana Laković, said she has expected the European Commission would recognize the stable progress the Montenegrin institutions have achieved on the road to the European Union. Laković emphasized the rule of law has been an area requiring continuous results, there are some challenges but Montenegrin institutions have been decisive in an attempt to use all the available resources to achieve the best results possible.
“The European Commission regularly submits the interim reports on their perception when it comes to the progress in the area of the rule of law, i.e. chapters 23 and 24. We expect that the European Commission would recognize stable progress in numerous significant aspects of the rule of law, evaluating concrete results achieved by our institutions,” emphasized Laković.
When asked whether Montenegro reached the results the European Commission requested, she said Montenegro has been completely committed to the new approach in negotiations, much more demanding compared with the previous enlargements.
“The fact clearly denoting our progress in the area of rule of law is that so far Montenegro has started talks in 31 chapters, negotiations in 3 negotiation chapters have been temporarily closed, while we expect to open the 2 remaining chapters soon. Also, we expect the European Commission to recognize the latest activities of the National Police and state prosecutor’s office in fighting organized crime, high-level corruption, money laundering, temporarily seized assets and confiscated drugs,” concluded Laković.
Laković also added that by implementing thorough reform activities in the judiciary and setting up of a modern legislative framework, Montenegro has proved its full democratic capacity to enforce the most contemporary European standards in this area.
Source: Cafe del Montenegro/Pobjeda
