Rehn: Crime biggest obstacle for Montenegro

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday that corruption and organized crime were the main obstacles on Montenegro’s EU path. Rehn said that Montenegro would decide on its own when to apply for EU membership, adding that the EU Council of Ministers would have more important things to discuss at its December session, such as the financial crisis and the challenges facing the EU. Rehn: Crime biggest obstacle for Montenegro Rehn told Podgorica’s TV Vijesti that Montenegro was “progressing generally” on its EU path, especially in the fields of the judiciary and the rule of law, adding that issues such as “tackling corruption and organized crime” still remained the country’s main challenge. The EU expects Montenegro to go to greater lengths in tackling these issues, Rehn said . "The harder Montenegro clamps down on corruption and organized crime, the bigger its chances of making more progress,” Rehn said, adding that membership could not be achieved “before the country conducts major reforms. "This means that the ball is in Montenegro’s court, in a certain respect,” he said, adding that there was a right time for everything in life. "The European Union is currently preoccupied with the impact of the financial crisis, as well as with the Lisbon Treaty ratification. Therefore, I believe that Montenegro was wise not to rush into EU candidacy, especially bearing in mind that Montenegro has a European perspective and its final objective is EU membership,” the commissioner said. Meanwhile, Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has said that Europe should “capitalize on the chance and establish unity throughout the entire continent by accepting all the West Balkan countries.” Djukanovic told a summit of the Central European Initiative that Montenegro was firmly committed to building the best possible relations with all its neighbors and countries in the region that it did not have open issues with. Olli Rehn (FoNet, archive)

Rehn: Crime biggest obstacle for Montenegro

Rehn told Podgorica’s TV Vijesti that Montenegro was “progressing generally” on its EU path, especially in the fields of the judiciary and the rule of law, adding that issues such as “tackling corruption and organized crime” still remained the country’s main challenge.

The EU expects Montenegro to go to greater lengths in tackling these issues, Rehn said .

"The harder Montenegro clamps down on corruption and organized crime, the bigger its chances of making more progress,” Rehn said, adding that membership could not be achieved “before the country conducts major reforms.

"This means that the ball is in Montenegro’s court, in a certain respect,” he said, adding that there was a right time for everything in life.

"The European Union is currently preoccupied with the impact of the financial crisis, as well as with the Lisbon Treaty ratification. Therefore, I believe that Montenegro was wise not to rush into EU candidacy, especially bearing in mind that Montenegro has a European perspective and its final objective is EU membership,” the commissioner said.

Meanwhile, Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo Đukanović has said that Europe should “capitalize on the chance and establish unity throughout the entire continent by accepting all the West Balkan countries.”

Đukanović told a summit of the Central European Initiative that Montenegro was firmly committed to building the best possible relations with all its neighbors and countries in the region that it did not have open issues with.