Montenegro sees EU accession talks as boost for Balkans
(POGORICA) - Montenegro's President Filip Vujanovic on Tuesday hailed an EU foreign ministers' decision to open accession talks saying it would boost the whole Balkan region in its quest to join the European Union.
"The significance of this decision is that the EU indicated that the accession negotiations for the western Balkan countries are being continued," Vujanovic said.
Foreign Minister Milan Rocen said the decision, which is to be endorsed by the leaders of the 27-nation bloc at a summit in Brussels later this week, was "a stimulus for Montenegro to continue reforms".
"The new approach in the negotiation process is an additional motive for Montenegro to work even better and break some of the stereotypes inflicted on our country," he added.
"We have taken over the European relay from Croatia," which is set to become the EU's newest member next year.
Earlier Montenegro's speaker of parliament Ranko Krivokapic warned that the negotiations would be "strewn with difficult tests" and would take "several years, maybe even a decade".
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