President of the MPEU Đurović: Opening of Chapter 8 confirms that EU’s doors are open to Montenegro

President of the MPEU Đurović: Opening of Chapter 8 confirms that EU’s doors are open to Montenegro

PODGORICA – President of the Montenegrin Pan-European Union (CPEU) and professor at the Faculty of Economics Gordana Đurović said in the morning program of Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) that the opening of Chapter 8, which refers to competition, is a symbolic confirmation that the door to European integration and Montenegro is open, and that Montenegro is not blocked in the accession process.

Đurović announced that after a longer period of 18 months, Montenegro has an Intergovernmental conference, and that there is no clause on the balance in an important period for Montenegro.

“To get a new energy for the integration process and to open a chapter that is very important for the EU internal market because it regulates anti-monopoly legislation,” said Đurović.

Speaking about the chapters that are the most sensitive, Đurović pointed out that “we are constantly returning to the chapter that refers to the rule of law”.

When it comes to the question of how realistic 2025 is now, as the year of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union, Đurović says that she is a born optimist and a fighter for the EU perspective of Montenegro.

“I will always defend that Montenegro is a successful European story and that it is achievable until that period. It depends on us. Montenegro has proven many times that, when well organized, it can be a very pleasant surprise, to much bigger and stronger systems,” said Đurović.

She adds that “we are a small system that, with good prioritization, can achieve goals that sometimes seem complex”.

“I think they are all achievable, I think that 2025 is not something Montenegro could not achieve, if we decide to achieve it,” said Đurović.

MPEU is implementing a project “Towards the negotiation in the area of competition policy: challenges for North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro”, related to Chapter 8 and supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy of The German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.

Article is published in the Portal “European Western Balkans”. Available at: https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2020/06/29/durovic-opening-of-chapter-8-confirms-that-eus-doors-are-open-to-montenegro/?fbclid=IwAR3rd-h1aX0RnfzZGZbmhKpKk1PRHZ8m3odkwG65CTnhPer8x5xqInSVZ2s