The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, in an exclusive interview with DW, emphasizes that the best way to fight the negative influence, not only from Russia, is to join the European Union as soon as possible.

“The Berlin Process, CEFTA, the “Open Balkans” or any other initiative have as a common message regional cooperation. The name is irrelevant. What do we need? We need more trust, better communication, joint projects, more cooperation between countries and governments. We need these. And from my point of view, everything goes in that direction, it’s the right thing to do. We need less tension, depolarization of the region, and for that we need to trust each other and not see any proposal coming from across the border as something hostile.

We do not see our neighbors as enemies. We see them as our neighbors, as our friends, with great respect and we are trying to bring new energy and new politics to the region. Maybe my thesis is not correct, but I strongly believe in it: that nationalism is deeply linked to corruption. And the political elites who want to promote nationalism, do not do so for patriotism, but to maintain the status quo and to prevent the building of institutions. Because when we build institutions, and here I do not refer only to Montenegro but also to the region, when we build strong institutions then the relations between people will be better, regardless of what state or religious group they represent. So I see a connection between them,: said Abazovic.

/Klara Ruci/