Podgorica, (MINA) – Both the government and the opposition have shown willingness to make concessions and compromises, confirming that they are committed to ensuring Montenegro does not miss the historic chance to become the next EU member state, said Bosniak Party (BS) MP Adel Omeragic.

 

In an interview with the MINA News Agency, Omeragic said that European integration was the reason why BS joined the Government.

 

 

“It will be remembered that an ethnic party with an ethnic prefix, a center-right party, was a driving force of European integration and a corrective factor within this government, and it seems to me that, in that respect, we fulfilled the mission of our party’s participation in it”, Omeragic said.

 

Asked how important the Agreement on overcoming the political crisis, signed between the government and part of the opposition, is for the continuation of the country’s European path, he said that it would be strange if the opposition did not support the constitutional amendments, given that they represent the final stage of Montenegro’s path to EU membership.

 

Omeragic said that he understood the opposition’s need to insist on respecting their demands, adding that some of them were justified.

 

“I think we sent a good message from the Montenegrin Parliament. The constitutional amendments were supported by 74 out of 81 MPs, only three were against, while some were absent. It sent a strong message of unity and that the EU is the common denominator for everyone in Montenegro”, Omeragic said.

 

He stated that it is good that the EU Delegation in Montenegro had mediated in the talks, demonstrating the commitment to bringing the Montenegrin political actors together around the common goal.

 

Fulfilling the obligations from the European agenda, Omeragic added, is a shared job of both the government and the opposition.

 

Asked if he believed that the signatories would respect the Agreement, he answered in the affirmative.

 

Omeragic said that he noticed goodwill among all political actors, both in the government and from the opposition. “Both the government and the opposition showed willingness for certain concessions and compromises, which is good”.

 

Speaking about the pace of closing negotiation chapters, Omeragic assessed that it was good and recalled that Montenegro had so far closed 18 chapters, and that another 15 should be closed by the end of the year.

 

Asked about the latest judicial appointments in Parliament, he said that due to the continuation of Montenegro’s European path and strengthening of the rule of law and institutions in Montenegro, it was good that the Constitutional Court had finally been completed.

 

Omeragic recalled that the BS MPs supported the election of judge Jelena Ruzicic, while they abstained when it came to Predrag Krstonijevic.

 

“We considered it fair, just and completely legitimate that one of the seven judges of the Constitutional Court should come from the Bosniak community, because Bosniaks make up a significant share of the Montenegrin population. If we want to talk about equality before the court and in the state, we must have a proportional representation of all peoples in all institutions”, Omeragic said.

 

He said that, unfortunately, this had not happened in case of the Constitutional Court appointments.

 

Asked whether he believed that progress had been made in the previous period regarding the political representation of Bosniaks, but also their economic position, Omeragic stated that five ministers from the BS in the Government of Montenegro indicated that political representation was at a satisfactory level.

 

He said that, in contrast to political representation, Bosniaks, as well as other smaller ethnic communities, were still fighting for adequate representation in the institutions.