Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic met with European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels on Tuesday, rather than in Montenegro as originally planned. The reason for the change, according to the Montenegrin president, was the adoption of a resolution on Jasenovac by the Montenegrin parliament.
In a statement from Milatovic’s office, the President of Montenegro said in a friendly and cordial conversation that “Montenegro must not miss the opportunity to soon become a full member of the European Union (EU) due to narrow partisan actions, and emphasized that EU membership is the country’s top foreign policy priority.”
Milatovic reiterated his commitment to the European agenda to make Montenegro the 28th member of the EU by 2028.
He also highlighted that Montenegrin society almost entirely supports the country’s entry into the EU, which obligates decision-makers to diligently work towards this goal.
The press release added that during the meeting, Charles Michel said that Montenegro must stay on the European path and thanked Milatovic for his efforts to make Montenegro the next EU member.
Earlier, Milatovic posted on social media X, expressing his belief that the adoption of the resolution on Jasenovac in the Montenegrin parliament was the reason Charles Michel canceled his visit to the country.
He criticized the adoption of the resolution and stated that Montenegrin political actors holding the most important positions in the country must approach state interests more responsibly instead of relativizing and distorting reality.
To recall, the Montenegrin parliament on Friday adopted a resolution on genocide in the camps of Jasenovac, Dachau, and Mauthausen, initiated by the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian right wing.
The resolution was supported by 41 members of the ruling coalition, while the opposition and some members of the ruling coalition left the chamber, resulting in nearly half of the 81 delegates not attending the vote.
In a sharp response, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stated that the adoption of the resolution would slow down Montenegro’s EU integration and called on Podgorica to prosecute war crimes committed during the siege of Dubrovnik, according to media reports.
