BELGRADE – President of the European Council António Costa stated during today’s press conference with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić that he has full confidence in the authorities of Montenegro to ensure the safety of all participants during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat on 5 June. Vučić confirmed his participation in the Summit.
This comment was made upon a question of a journalist in the context of the security warning that the Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) issued last night, assessing that Vučić’s travel to Montenegro would be unsafe due to the alleged presence of Radoje Zvicer, head of the Kavač criminal clan, in the country.
The warnings about Vučić’s safety in Montenegro followed an event earlier on Wednesday, when a charter flight from Belgrade carrying 87 passengers was returned from Tivat to Serbia after being assessed as a security risk by the Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency.
Montenegrin portal Vijesti reported that citizens of Serbia who were returned “largely have criminal records” and have been mentioned for years in the Serbian media as persons tasked with “special assignments by the SNS regime”. Their intentions in the country remain unclear.
Last night, members of the ruling party publicly urged Vučić not to go to Montenegro. However, during today’s press conference, Vučić confirmed that he would participate and that he would “say everything he has to say to their face”, referring to Montenegrin authorities.
In his opening remarks at the conference, António Costa stated that now, more than ever, EU enlargement is not just an opportunity.
“Yet, enlargement is based on building trust. The road ahead is demanding, but the path is clear. We must focus on 3 main priorities,” the President of the European Council said. These are fostering good neighbourhood relations and regional cooperation, aligning with the European Union’s policies and values, in particular our Common Foreign and Security Policy and delivering the ongoing reforms.
When it comes to the reforms, Costa singled out the full implementation of the recommendations by the Venice Commission on the laws governing the judiciary and prosecution, establishing a new Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media in a transparent and inclusive way and reforming the Electoral Framework in line with the ODIHR recommendations.
