PODGORICA – Commissioner Johannes Hahn announced that Western Balkans countries have very clear EU perspective and that these countries were making a good progress toward the EU membership, but this statement is questionable because of the current situation in the Western Balkans region.
„Montenegro tipped to be the next EU member, is a great example of how the enlargement policy is failing,“ writes Politico.
Milo Đukanović won his seventh national election on Sunday. Đukanović is in politics for more than 25 years and Brussels policy has been a very important support for his pro-Western government. Some of the biggest problems are rampant corruption and a string of gangland killings have elicited only the occasional gentle chide, as Politico notes.
According to the Tuesday’s Commision report for Montenegro, there has been some progress in the fight against smuggling of migrants and against drug trafficking issue but the authors of the report have missed to mention the problems in organized crime and fight against mafia clans, especially mob clashing having in thought that 28 out of 35 gang-related murders since 2012 remain unsolved according to the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) and Radio Free Europe.
When it comes to Đukanović’s wealth, his estimates worth is 14.7 million, while the average Montenegrin salary is €511. Montenegro started its accession process to the EU six years ago, but even though some progress in certain areas has been accomplished, there is also a lot of them that remains largely unenforced.
As Politico mentioned there was a scandal in 2013.
”The daily newspaper Dan published transcripts of leaked recordings, with party officials discussing giving out state jobs in exchange for votes. None of the officials suffered,” Brussels has accepted Balkan statistics without a question, which is a big mistake – Politico notes.
According to the Politico, the biggest problem is the fact that Brussels turns a blind eye when it comes to meaningful progress on the membership criteria of the Balkan governments. Politico also notes that when Đukanović takes his country into the EU bloc that would mean an end to his monopoly on money but also for his power as we know it today.