TIRANA, August 20 – Vladimír Bilčík, a Slovakian MEP who chairs the European Parliament delegation for Montenegro, said in a comment after the collapse of the government of Dritan Abazovic that Montenegro needs a government that can “prioritize strategic EU reforms over narrow political interests.”
“Montenegro can join the EU when it manages successfully some hard domestic political tasks,” Bilčík tweeted.
In the meantime, the US State Department said that the vote to overthrow the government of Montenegro constituted parliamentary democracy in action, through which the people hold the government accountable through elected representatives.
“The United States expects that Montenegro will follow the legal procedures for the rapid formation of a new government to serve the country, or for the calling of early parliamentary elections,” said the US. The statement highlighted the US will support any democratically formed government that ensures Montenegro’s progress on the Euro-Atlantic path, which includes accelerating EU membership, fighting corruption and organized crime, increasing its role in NATO, an inclusive and citizen-oriented society, and which continues to hold Russia accountable for its brutal war against Ukraine.
Montenegro’s government collapsed after its parliament voted in favor of a no-confidence motion.
The government had been in office since late April, when Dritan Abazović took over as prime minister of a minority administration from Zdravko Krivokapić. The no-confidence motion was approved on Friday night by 50 out of 81 lawmakers.
“We will be remembered as the government that lasted the shortest, but made the most difficult decisions,” Abazović said, according to Montenegrin news agency MINA. He lashed out at the influence of criminal groups over politics, saying that “organized crime continues to use its tentacles.”
/Argumentum.al
