Montenegro should have been part of the EU, not the Open Balkans

Member of the Presidency of the Social Democrats (SD) and president of the Berana Municipal Board, Onur Babaić referred to the statement of the newly elected President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, that Montenegro should be part of the Open Balkans.
It is very important that Montenegro remains firmly committed to its path towards membership in the European Union, which brings numerous benefits to our country, including economic prosperity, strengthening of institutions and the rule of law, as well as access to development funds - said Babaić.
He believes that joining a project like the Open Balkans would suspend Montenegro's previous efforts aimed at membership and set back our commitment to the achievement of Montenegro's most important foreign policy priority, ie membership in the EU.
For Montenegro, the open Balkans means moving away from the European Union and its fundamental values. Instead, the Social Democrats advocate strengthening ties with the EU and intensifying reforms that will finalize membership in the Union, as well as respecting the Berlin process, which aims to establish standards in line with the EU acquis. We mustn't forget about the EU's achievements and the fact that Montenegro essentially belongs to the family of European states, and that almost 80 percent of citizens declare that they support Montenegro's path to EU membership - concluded the SD official.
M. J.