At a press conference with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and enlargement negotiations Johannes Hahn, the Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said that the initiative for forming a technical government is an unjustified and politically unacceptable demand.
Markovic said that the government was working in full capacity, that there is no political crisis and the opposition's request for the formation of a technical government was considered legitimate, but not realistic.
"Everybody on the political scene has the right to make political demands in the way they think it is the most appropriate in their interests. For me, this request is unjustified and politically unacceptable. We have more important issues to deal with, Montenegro must realize its goals, accelerate economic growth, and create new jobs," Markovic said.
He believes that this political request is not real and that the government can perform its function as long as it has support in the Parliament. Markovic said that the boycott was legitimate, but not pro-active and that the institutions are the place to resolve the issue. In his words, moving to the streets is legitimate, and this is a model that is applied in the region as well.
"This is obviously a new opposition model, and we have nothing against it, it is important for us that the institutions are operational. The government is working at full capacity," Markovic said and suggested the opposition to choose its way of acting. All this, he says, is monitored by the government.
"To give in to such demands is not realistic," Markovic said, adding that it is better for everyone to return to their jobs in the Working Group, which is supported by the EU as well.
"My invitation is to go in that direction, and I'm not an optimist. Basically, there is no reason for dramatization," Markovic said. "We have political tension, dissatisfaction, demands, but not a crisis," said Markovic.
Hahn said he is aware that the opposition in Montenegro is dealing with all that was happening in northern Macedonia.
"It is up to each country to deal with specific solutions," Hahn said, adding that he did not see the need for the EU to participate.
"Everyone has the right to an individual assessment of the situation. Everyone should be free to make their own assessment," Hahn said.
The European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, said that Montenegro "has a clear perspective towards the EU".
"Boycott of the Parliament is not a European way to solve the problem," Hahn said. He added that the debate must take place in the Parliament.
The commissioner said that the protest organizers contacted him to meet. He explained that this was not possible due to the departure and that he asked the head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro, Aiva Orava, to meet with them on his behalf.
Hahn said that he was monitoring the situation in the area of media freedom.
"I am worried about the pressure on the Public Broadcaster, the attacks on journalists, and the cyber-attacks," Hahn said.
Answering the question of whether there are double criteria in the media attacks, Hahn said that "everyone has responsibility," and that everyone should refrain from the attack.
"I am talking about physical attacks, if we are talking about a political debate, it's something that we all have to accept, and I expect respect among the parties and institutions involved. I think you can exchange views in one way or another. What I want is to establish communication, even if you have different views. More mutual respect is needed," Hahn said.
Text by Total MNE News, Source Vijesti, on February 23rd, 2019
