Amb. Vesko Garčević
Vesko Garčević, Director of the Center for the Study of Europe and Professor of the Practice of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, shared his views on Montenegro’s path to European Union membership. His analysis appeared in a Courthouse News Service article by Caine Burdeau, “In small Montenegro lies the future of Europe,” part of a three-part series about Montenegro’s past and its potential EU membership.
Garčević, a former Montenegro ambassador in Brussels, calls Montenegro “almost an ideal candidate” for EU membership. He cites the country’s small population as a factor in its potential integration. “Even if the whole of Montenegro moves out of the country” for countries like France and Germany, “they will not notice it,” he says.
The professor believes Montenegro’s potential membership could influence other prospective EU members. “It’s an inspiration [and] incentive for other countries … to speed up their reforms to be able to join the European Union,” Garčević states. He suggests Montenegro’s accession would show that “enlargement is still alive, [and] you can be the next one.”
Garčević discusses benefits of Montenegro’s EU membership. For Montenegro, he says joining the EU would bring “a range of benefits, incorporating the small country into a common market and making its government more democratic, liberal and law-abiding.” For the EU, Garčević suggests Montenegro’s membership would increase the bloc’s presence in the Balkans. “It would cement its orientation towards the West,” he says, adding that EU membership “would have a profound impact on society in the long run.”
Garčević mentions challenges Montenegro faces for EU membership. He notes pro-Russian and pro-Serbian factions in Montenegro’s political establishment, saying some parties “actually don’t give a damn” about joining the EU.
The complete article, with context on Montenegro’s history and current politics, is on the Courthouse News Service website here.
Vesko Garčević Comments on Montenegro’s EU Aspirations
in In the Media