President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović, together with vice presidents of the Parliament Mr Branimir Gvozdenović and Mr Genci Nimanbegu, today spoke with European Parliament's Rapporteur for Montenegro Mr Tonino Picula.
President Brajović expressed his pleasure with the election of Mr Picula as rapporteur, given his valuable political experience and excellent knowledge of the situation in our country and region. The President also stressed the importance of Croatia's current presidency of the Council of the Union, which has included enlargement policy in its priorities with the aim of introducing new dynamics and clearly defining this process. He stressed in particular that the Parliament of Montenegro recognises and acknowledges the active involvement of the European Parliament, which calls on the European institutions and Member States not to slow down the enlargement process. This is supported by the initiative of the President of the European Parliament Mr Sassoli, to organise a Summit with the Speakers of the Western Balkans Parliaments in Brussels next Sunday.
Rapporteur Tonino Picula added that European Parliament and President Sasoli were strong partners to Montenegro and the countries of the region, whereby the EP’s President insists that the enlargement process of the Union continue as the most effective instrument of its foreign policy, respecting the individual progress of each country. MP Picula is optimistic that Montenegro will not be discriminated against in the new circumstances, since it has progressed a lot in the reform process. He added that the European Parliament also expected that the new approach in the negotiation process would be stable, predictable and credible, and would not depend on the internal issues of the Member States.
