Podgorica, (MINA) – By joining the EU, Montenegro wants to be in the company of allied European countries that cherish and protect human dignity as their highest value, Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pazin said.
Speaking at the opening of the plenary session of the Club of Venice, which took place in Bar, he said that modern Montenegro was built on this value.
“That is why we see our membership in the EU as a natural continuation of the historical process of affirmation and preservation of the civil and European identity of our country”, said Pazin.
He stressed that current and future EU members must be aware of the shared responsibility for the success of the United Europe project.
“We have no ambition to join the EU before we are fully prepared to meet all our obligations and enjoy full benefits of the full-fledged membership. However, we must all be aware that, as Europeans, we share a common destiny with Europe”, said Pazin.
According to him, future of European countries, competitiveness of the economies and way of life defend significantly on the success of European project, towards which we all have shared responsibility.
Pazin assessed as very important for the citizens to understand the significance of this historic mission of the EU, as well as to understand the alleged alternatives to the European democratic values which are being offered to them.
He added that today the generations of the EU citizens, born and raised in the period of peace and prosperity, unprecedented in the history of the old continent, challenge the very purpose and the key values of the united Europe.
He reminded that there are also generations of Europeans who, not so long ago, grew up in significantly different and unfavorable circumstances, in which some of the basic human needs were considered luxury.
”This could be part of the reason why people in the Southeast of Europe generally support the EU more”, said Pazin, adding that the support that the European Union enjoys in the Southeast Europe region is not only a matter of ideals, values or a common identity, but also a very specific progress in improving the quality of life and the standard of living.
The Club of Venice is a European professional network that gathers senior public communications professionals from the EU member states and institutions, and more recently the EU membership candidate countries.
Montenegro is the first country outside the EU to host the plenary session of the Club of Venice in 33 years of its existence.Longer version of article is available on a link MINA ENGLISH SERVIS