Speech by Commissioner Kos delivered in the Parliament of Montenegro

Address in the Parliament of Montenegro

Address in the Parliament of Montenegro

16 January 2025

Poštovani predsjedniče Mandiću,

Uvaženi poslanici,

Poštovani predsjedniče Crne Gore, predsjedniče Vlade,

Uvaženi čelnici sudstva i tužilaštva,

Ova godina započela je velikom tragedijom na Cetinju. Dozvolite da na početku izrazim svoje najdublje saučešće porodicama i prijateljima poginulih. Takođe, želim brz oporavak ranjenima. Moje misli su bile uz vas tokom prvih dana ove godine.

SJUTRA ću otići na Cetinje kako bih odala počast žrtvama.

Nadam se da će prvi dan januara ostati najmračniji trenutak 2025. godine, i želim svim građanima Crne Gore mnogo svjetliji i bolji ostatak godine.

Dear friends,

My main purpose today here is to speak about the future, about hope, and about opportunities.

I do believe that we are living through a historic moment. A moment that brings us back to the fundamentals of the European idea.

In 1979, Simone Veil, one of Europe's great parliamentarians and the first female president of the European Parliament, captured the essence of European idea by declaring that Europe faced three fundamental challenges: peace, freedom, and prosperity, that could “only be met through the European dimension.”

What was True in her time is even more True in today's geopolitical context, where size and power are used for blackmail, and where military solutions seem to gain once again ground against the principle of peaceful resolution of conflicts, as evidenced in Ukraine. We see a world arise in which many would like to see Europe fail. And they are investing considerable resources to achieve that.

Yes, peace, freedom, and prosperity on our continent depend on the unity of all Europeans. This is why there is unity in Brussels and among EU Member States around building a bigger and stronger Union.

A window of opportunity has opened. For the first time in 10 years, we have the realistic chance to see our Union grow during this mandate of the Commission.

Montenegro has the historic opportunity to become the next Member State of the European Union.

This is why I have come here today: to acknowledge your achievements and to promise that, together with my team, I will dedicate all my experience and energy to advancing the accession negotiations as quickly as possible to help you join the European Union.

For me, this is a deeply personal mission. My life has been shaped by enlargement. EU membership was the aspiration of my generation. When we in Slovenia achieved it on 1 May 2004, it was one of my life's happiest moments. Hope, opportunities and a vision of a peaceful and prosperous future were driving all of us. Belonging to the EU was what we wanted.

Over these past decades, I have seen this become reality: I've seen the disappearance of borders that once divided Europeans. First, between Austria and Germany, which made it much easier for me to drive to Bonn, where in late 80-is I used to work as a journalist.

Later, Slovenia's borders with Italy, Austria, Hungary, disappeared. And finally also those with Croatia. And everywhere we could see that with the physical barriers, many historical tensions also faded away and were replaced by European future – dialogue and cooperation replaced exchanges of diplomatic notes and peace and prosperity of all Europeans became our main driving principles. Yes, the European Union is still a peace project.

Unfortunately, this region took the opposite direction. When I was a member of the Yugoslav national swimming team there were no borders – just like now in the Schengen area. But the wars of the 1990s unfortunately created new borders and left behind resentment and distrust.

I am convinced that this will not last forever. Naturally, my dream is to have all of the Western Balkans integrated in European Union, and see borders and bilateral conflicts disappear, just like they did in so many other parts of our continent. I dream of all of us being reunited in the European family where all our cultural diversity contributes to the common European identity and where nobody contests the cultural or historical experience of its neighbours.

I know this dream is also shared by the people of Montenegro. Let me tell you one thing: you all play the crucial role in making it come True.

EU Enlargement can be successful. And Montenegro is a success story. You are fully aligned with the European common foreign and security policy. You have started closing chapters, you have a plan to close them all by 2026. You can show to the whole region that with hard work and determination it can be done, especially now that many want to demonstrate that it is impossible.

In this process, I want to be part of your efforts, I want to be part of your team. I see it as my responsibility to be the best advocate for our future EU members. The process is merit-based. Democracy and the rule of law are its backbone. But if you deliver, I will match your efforts.

Yes, Montenegro is a success story. Thanks to you, my tenure as Commissioner for Enlargement started with the closing of three chapters.

To put this in context, in the last 10 years, only 8 chapters have been closed by countries seeking to join the EU. Six of those by you, by Montenegro. Congratulations.

This is your achievement — the result of the government, of you parliamentarians, of the many civil servants who are working ever day on the enlargement process, and of your civil society and media who are scrutinising every step.

It is the manifestation of your reforms and an investment in our common future.

On my way here, I told my team that once Montenegro closes all the chapter, I will celebrate by climbing one of your highest peaks — the Bobotov Kuk. Who is ready to join me?

But before we conquer Bobotov Kuk, there's another mountain we must climb together — a metaphorical one. The path to EU membership is steep and challenging, with cliffs to scale and gaps to bridge. It will take determination, shared vision and teamwork, to reach the top.

This shared vision and teamwork is what I hope to see here in this house. And I hope to also see all the opposition. They are not here. I respect his. But the Parliament needs to be the place of compromise.

If you want to move swiftly through the remaining chapters, it will be necessary that you work together in passing the proposed reforms and legislative initiatives of the European reform agenda after they have been consulted with the European Commission.

In Slovenia, when we negotiated membership, we had an agreement among all political parties not to argue over the EU affairs. A similar consensus was also later reached in Croatia. In both cases, this unity was instrumental in speeding up the path to EU membership and in overcoming bilateral disputes with neighbours.

Take this as inspiration. I know I can count on you to show the same collective effort. The Parliament must be the place where divergent views are channelled into common solutions. Different parties, different politics, yes, but with one shared vision for a common future inside the EU.

But don't stop there. Take the accession process beyond the Parliament and out of Podgorica.

In Slovenia, during our EU journey, we launched the campaign "Slovenia: at home in Europe." It was a collective effort to explain to every citizen — students, workers, entrepreneurs, farmers — how EU membership would improve their daily lives.

Engaging all sectors of society, from civil society organisations to local communities, is essential to ensure that everyone understands and owns this transformative journey. This will also be my message tomorrow when I meet with influential women in politics and civil society.

It is important that we explain the benefits of stronger institutions, better infrastructure, and more opportunities for young people. Only when every citizen feels they have a stake in this project will Montenegro's path to Europe be truly unstoppable.

And I have one more ask from you: help me do the same inside the EU.

One of my main tasks is to explain EU enlargement inside the EU. We will need to work together in demonstrating to EU citizens that a bigger Union is also a stronger Union.

Please travel to EU Member States and make the case for your country. Meet your counterparts in the European Parliament and in national parliaments. Speak about the reforms you are implementing, in particular those to strengthen the rule of law. And work closely with your ambassadors within the EU.

Tell your counterparts what you already do to make our continent safer and more secure — through your 100% alignment with our foreign policy, your cooperation with Europol and Eurojust to fight organized crime, or how you keep maritime routes save. I will go and see that myself tomorrow at the Maritime Safety Centre close to Bar.

Seize the opportunities of the Growth Plan, for Montenegrin and European companies alike. Your membership in the Single Euro Payment Area will reduce the cost of doing business in Montenegro and how much more potential full membership would bring. Especially now, as geopolitics is making European investors look for opportunities closer to home.

And let me also praise your culture, and eventful history at the crossroads of European empires, your spectacular natural beauty, your sports, and the potential of your wonderful people. Those are the things that truly bind all Europeans together. Those are also your valuable contributions to a stronger Europe.

Dragi prijatelji,

Dozvolite da zaključim. Iskoristite ovu istorijsku priliku sada. Nemojte se zadovoljiti do sada ostvarenim uspjesima. Šanse se ukazuju, ali ne traju vječno. Crna Gora nema vremena za gubljenje.

Proces proširenja je projekat cijelog društva, a posebno vi, predstavnici građana, imate istorijsku priliku, ali i istorijsku odgovornost, da ostvarite dugogodišnju težnju svojih građana – pridruživanje EU porodici.

Zasučimo rukave i radimo zajedno kako bismo ostvarili san o ujedinjenoj Evropi. Pravo ponovno ujedinjenje našeg kontinenta.

Crna Gora može biti primjer, inspiracija za cijeli region, i ispunjenje želja svojih građana. Ovdje sam da vas podržim na tom putu i računam na vas da zajedno stignemo do cilja.

Crna Gora više nikada neće biti, kako je to vaš slavni pjesnik Njegoš rekao, “jedna slamka među vihorove“. Evropska unija je uz vas — vi ste naši!