The President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, has said that the "Open Balkans" project is "very controversial", because according to him, it is an alternative scenario for the future of the Western Balkans outside the EU.

"We don't need this, we need membership in the EU", Djukanovic is quoted as saying during an interview for the Vojvodina portal "Autonomija", Al Jazeera writes, Telegrafi follows.

"Those who do not see our region in Europe, do not see multi-ethnic democracy in the Balkans either.

They like the idea of ​​changing borders, ethnic and religious homogenization within enlarged states.

As usual, everything traditionally starts from the Serbian side, this time in the 'Serbian world'.

And this continues automatically with the same oppressors of the big state", Djukanovic is quoted as saying further.

He even estimated that the goal of the authors of the "Open Balkan" idea is the disappearance of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia and added that it would certainly end with "war and some genocide".

During his interview, the Montenegrin President emphasized that Prime Minister Dritan Abazović "will be judged by the voters, the courts and history" if he follows a policy which, according to him, is against the interests of Montenegro.

Djukanovic has said that Montenegro has been given the opportunity to advance in the process of negotiations with the European Union and added that this chance is also a path to EU membership, Al Jazeera writes, Telegrafi follows.

"It is logical that Montenegro will be the first future member of the EU, because in the current course of negotiations it is much ahead of all the candidate countries.

In addition, there are no geopolitical doubts, because it has harmonized the foreign and security policy with the EU for several years", Djukanović is quoted as saying.

He added that the answer to the question of whether Montenegro will benefit from this chance depends first of all on the performance of the government and other state bodies of Montenegro.

According to him, in Montenegro and in the neighborhood there are many who do not want to see Montenegro as a stable, civil, prosperous country and a member of the EU.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on the statement of the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, who after his visit to Belgrade declared that with that "historic visit" he managed to "restore" relations between the two countries, Djukanović asked the question "if a , whatever that visit may be, it could restore relations contaminated for nearly two centuries."

According to him, Serbia has had a "hegemonic role" in the Western Balkans for two centuries, which "is transparently wrapped in official Belgrade's concern about the threat of Serbs in the region".

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Telegraph

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