Podgorica, (MINA) – Montenegro – EU Intergovernmental conferences will be held in May and June, at which Montenegro is expected to close several negotiation chapters, said head of the Europe Now Movement (PES) parliamentary group Vasilije Carapic.

Speaking at the press conference of the PES parliamentary group, he said that Montenegro has closed two negotiation chapters since the beginning of the year.

“During the Cypriot presidency, which lasts until the mid-year, we will have two more Intergovernmental Conferences, in May and June, at which we will close additional chapters”, said Carapic.

He added that so far no government has managed to close such a large number of chapters within a single mandate.

When asked how many chapters will be closed in May and June, Carapic replied that they will close several, but that he cannot specify the exact number.

He said that closing all negotiation chapters by the end of the year is a realistic goal.

Asked how many laws with a “blue flag” are awaiting the opinion of the European Commission (EC), Carapic said that hundreds of laws need to be adopted in the parliament in order for Montenegro to close all chapters by the end of the year.

“We have not received final opinions for all those laws, but what is important is that every law that is in the procedure is aligned with the EC. The final opinion means confirmation that the content meets the standards and that it would receive a positive evaluation”, said Carapic.

He stated that at the Parliament’s Collegium they had offered to colleagues from the opposition to discuss all the laws that are in the process, which have been agreed with the EC, and to vote on them once final opinions are received.

“Colleagues didn’t accept that. Don’t be surprised if we again end up in a situation where we need to vote on 20 laws in one day, and shorten the debate. We will always be guided by deadlines in order not fall behind or slow down the European path”, Carapic added.

When asked whether PES would respond to the invitation of President Jakov Milatovic for a meeting to resolve the institutional crisis, he replied that they have not yet considered it yet, nor do they know what the topic of the meeting was.

When asked to comment on Milatovic’s statement that the European path has slowed down, he said that there is only one way for Montenegro to join the EU, and that is to close the negotiation chapters.

Carapic confirmed that Parliament session will resume on Thursday and that the laws that Milatovic returned to the parliament will be put to a vote again, as well as that PES will vote for them.