The European Council has formally awarded the status of an EU candidate country to Montenegro, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy told a press conference in Brussels.

The decision came after the European Commission’s positive Opinion on Montenegro’s EU membership application on November 9.

Commenting on the news, Foreign Minister Milan Rocen said: “This is a great success and a big day for our small country. This is credit to the Executive, the Parliament, the government and the opposition, the civil society and, above all, to the people of Montenegro, who see their future inside the European Union,” said Rocen.
He went on to say that the move is not only an encouragement to Montenegro but to the region as a whole.
The Foreign Minister underlined that Montenegro has cause to celebrate, but it doesn’t have much time to do so.

“The candidate status is only a qualifier for the European race. The launch of EU accession talks will mark the start of the race. We need to work round the clock and mobilize the entire Montenegrin intelligentsia for the European front,” said Rocen.

 

 

 

Other Sources: RAPID, different news channels, other media.