The opposition’s decision not to participate in the parliamentary life had always shown to be a wrong move, estimated Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Representatives of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium Mr Dirk Van der Maelen, during the meeting with his Montenegrin colleague Mr Andrija Nikolić in Brussels.
Mr Van der Maelen also emphasised that it was not wise for MPs to be outside of the Parliament, because, according to him, the Parliament was an arena for confronting political ideas, and a place of dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants Mr Andrija Nikolić informed his host that the Montenegrin opposition’s boycott of the Parliament had nothing to do with objection to the regularity of the elections, but that it was yet another attempt to prepare the ground for the change of power in Montenegro through non-institutional methods.
At the meeting, they also discussed the necessity of keeping focus of the European Union on the Western Balkans region, but also the significance of implementing the Union’s enlargement principle, based on individual performance and track record.
Mr Van der Maelen believes that Montenegro, as a candidate country which has opened 28 negotiation chapters, is knocking on the door of Brussels, with conviction that internal challenges faced by the EU will not disturb the enlargement policy and integration of the country which is a leader of the European integration process.
During his stay in Brussels, Mr Nikolić also met with Chair of the Belgian parliamentary Friendship Group with the Parliament of Montenegro Mr David Geerts.
Mr Geerts has also voiced his position with regard to the current opposition’s boycott of the Montenegrin Parliament:
“As the Chair of the Friendship Group I want to believe that the opposition will return to the Parliament, because the government and the opposition should compete about the political situation in the Parliament and not in the street. We are parliamentarians and our job is in the Parliament and that is the key message which I want to send to the friends in Montenegro as the Chair of the Friendship Group”, concluded Mr Geerts.
During the meeting, Mr Geerts also reminded of the very successful visit to Montenegro undertaken in 2015 by the Friendship Group headed by him, with expectation that a return visit of the Montenegrin Friendship Group would soon be implemented, and that the delegation members would include the representatives of the opposition political parties.
The meetings in Brussels were also attended by Ambassador of Montenegro to the Kingdom of Belgium Mr Vladimir Radulović.
