madam president i visited montenegro twice during the past eighteen months with my colleague anna ibrisagic from the ppe as shadow rapporteur to form my own assessment of the country's progress towards first candidate status and now the prospect of eu membership
i have been extremely impressed by the diligence and commitment of the entire montenegrin government
no matter how small it may be it is certainly one that works extremely hard
i would pay very special tribute to the former prime minister milo <unk> and his recent successor igor <unk> who have both been pragmatic and at the same time single-minded in their approach and in their quest to lead their country towards eu accession and nato accession
the onus is now on montenegro to meet the eu's expectations
in particular the montenegrin government needs to address the seven key priorities identified by commissioner füle in the commission's opinion
i particularly emphasise the issue of corruption and organised crime on which there are clear and well-defined benchmarks for measuring progress
i am pleased that last month the government adopted a very well formulated action plan aimed at responding to these priorities and demands
in my view montenegro is now ready to start negotiating eu membership as an official candidate and it is curious that the commission should be insisting on a significant time-lapse between the granting of official candidate status and the opening of negotiations
this delay has no real justification or apparent basis according to my reading of the treaties
more importantly it is hardly the most positive signal to send to podgorica or indeed to countries elsewhere in the region such as macedonia working hard to obtain candidate status
i only hope that this enforced wait which now is inevitable and is frustrating to montenegro will not result in a weakening of the country's commitment to an engagement with the european union
montenegro should be judged solely on merit facts and achievements
its case should not be tied to the progress in other neighbouring states in the western balkans
montenegro is a small country but a beautiful country which has enjoyed remarkable stability and economic growth since its peaceful divorce from serbia
it has few if any internal ethnic or religious problems unlike some of its larger neighbours
it has a minor border dispute with croatia which it will resolve peacefully before the international court of justice
it has recently negotiated and ratified extradition treaties with both serbia and croatia in the fight against organised crime
it is euro-based it has the euro without being in the eurozone believe it or not
its economy remains undiversified sadly relying mainly on tourism and one aluminium smelter
it needs to create more jobs in hydroelectric power for export and financial services may well be another solution
personally i remain optimistic for what is essentially a very good news story in the western balkans
