President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova was welcomed today in Cetinje with the highest state and military honors by the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, after which a tete-a-tete meeting was held between the presidents, a plenary meeting of the delegations of the two countries and a joint press conference of both presidents.
Below is the integral text of the statement of President Siljanovska Davkova.
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank President Milatovic, his team, the journalists, and everyone present for the extremely warm welcome. It is nice to see the two flags along the road, it is nice to see the beautiful Cetinje, a symbol of the Montenegrin state tradition, decorated with these flags, because sometimes flags say more than words.
Why my first visit is to Montenegro? It was logical to come here first, because Montenegro is currently the leader of the reunification, as I say, or the reintegration of the region where it belongs – in the European Union. Why? – Because geographically, historically and culturally it has always been part of the EU. Therefore, next logical step for me would be meeting of the two governments. Both are strongly economically oriented and it is logical for them to exchange experience.
Third, the next step, since the story has logic, has already been done – our President of the Assembly, Mr. Gashi, has already sent an invitation for a joint meeting, I hope that it will happen soon. There is also logic – I see logic in learning. I know the role of the Montenegrin parliament in the European integration process and I think that the lessons learned should be repeated.
Regarding the constitutional amendments, which are being talked about a lot, I will immediately say that there will be no problem in including Montenegrins in the preamble. No one denied and we all remember that we were together for more than 50 years in good and bad. But I will once again reaffirm what is valid for the constitutional amendments. After many lose-win situations in which we even changed our name – an unknown phenomenon, not only among people, but also among states, we are once again faced with the request of the European Union implement new constitutional amendments.
We see the Solomon solution leading to a win-win situation in the delayed effect of constitutional amendments, or as we professionally deformed lawyers like myself say, vacatio legis with delayed effect. The reason is logical – every time you finish the EU negotiations and when the ratification process starts and ends, constitutional amendments are made or regularly, it is logical that this constitutional amendment should enter into force then, and not now. Since we are the record holders in constitutional amendments, in thirty years as many as 36 constitutional amendments, mostly initiated from the outside, not from the inside.
Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that my legitimacy and the legitimacy of the government comes from the citizens. It does not originate from outside, or even from the European Union. I must say that I cannot guarantee that there will be constitutional changes because I am not an absolute monarch and I cannot suspend parliamentary democracy. According to every constitution, including ours, MPs in the system of division of powers represent the citizens and vote according to their own conviction. Otherwise, the frustration will be huge and I want to warn that what is happening to us will not be a sole precedent. Believe me, the Balkans are not Scandinavia. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia became the fastest members, supported by Finland, Norway and Denmark. It is not like that with us. Similar to Denmark, perhaps Hamlet roams these spaces. So that is why I say that, let us not set precedents because the bilateralization of the negotiations will delay the enlargement of the EU.
We are not a burden on the absorption capacity of the EU, but the EU itself often says that it is an unfinished symphony without us, or that the Balkans, or the Western Balkans, an invented phrase, is its Achilles’ heel. Then, in the world of globalization as pluralization, you should also take into account the Western Balkans, as they call us. At the lecture I will deliver at the university, I will explain why I do not understand what the phrase means, but it is a reality.
I fully agree with the President that the extraordinary political relations based on respect and understanding should continue with economic cooperation, because really it is symbolic in the current scale.
We need to connect in infrastructure, we need to cooperate in all areas, because when I say that the regional interest is the most important to me, I idealistically think that it is very important to emphasize that if we do not protect each other, you cannot expect protection from the outside. If we do not understand each other regionally, you cannot expect understanding from outside. It is high time that if we want to achieve progress in this part of the Balkans through reconciliation, we should develop regional interests. Then, believe me, only by self-respecting and by respecting each other, we will receive and deserve the respect of the European Union. The President laughed, I often say that it is high time that homo Balcanicus turns into Homo Politicus. Emotions are very important in art, in culture, and that is why I admired one of my favorite painters, Petar Lubarda, but emotions are not good in politics. Politics requires ratio, it requires understanding.
Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful welcome. I reminded the President that I also added a stone to the Montenegrin mosaic before the referendum on autonomy and independence, because as a professor, as an expert, I called here that the right to self-determination is guaranteed by the United Nations charter and that what was valid for all states and nations is valid and for the Montenegrin state and the Montenegrin nation. That I am right is shown in your step towards the EU. I look forward to the opening of the four chapters soon. I expect and wish that 2028 will be the year of entry into the European Union, because this is proof that the first big step has been taken, as proof that the European Union now has a strategy for the Western Balkans, because it has not been there since 2003, i.e. since The Thessaloniki Summit. Most importantly, one of the chapters you will close deals with foreign and security policy. We are not a member of the EU, but we have a fully harmonized foreign and security policy. It is very important for the security of the region, in this stormy time, faced with wars. As a woman I have to say something in the end. I also said in the General Assembly that it is high time for deep reforms, and perhaps for a woman Secretary General of the United Nations, because unfortunately wars affect women and children the most. We must put an end to paintings reminiscent of Picasso’s Guernica. The United Nations is predominantly a peace project. I told the President, it won the Nobel Peace Prize, but New York is where problems should be solved. The EU also emerged as a peace project, in general.
Therefore, we must solve the problems in a peaceful way. Otherwise there is no innocent. It is not only the fault of those who act, it is also the fault of those who only observe and do not react.
Thank you.
