LJUBLJANA Fri Oct 8, 2010 1:39pm BST
LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Montenegro expects to get European Union candidate status in November and sees its economy returning to growth this year after a fall of 5.7 percent in 2009, the prime minister said on Friday.
"I expect Montenegro will get a (EU) recommendation for candidacy status in November. I think we deserve that after what we did so far with economic and democratic reforms," Milo Djukanovic told a news conference during a visit to Slovenia.
He said he hoped Montenegro will also get a recommendation to start EU membership talks, adding the case of Macedonia showed that getting candidate status "was not enough."
Macedonia was granted candidate status in 2005 but has since not started membership talks due to a dispute with Greece over the country's name.
Balkan neighbour Croatia began entry talks in 2005 and is still hopeful of joining the bloc in two years time despite having further work to do reforming its legal system.
Serbia, with whom Montenegro was part of the former Yugoslavia, faces a tougher task, with disputes about the status of Kosovo and U.N. war crimes investigations hampering its progress.
Djukanovic said the latest economic indicators show that Montenegro's economy will expand in 2010 but gave no figures. He added tourism is expected to grow by about 5 this year after it kept unchanged in 2009 compared to 2008.
"Industry and manufacturing are in a similar position therefore I think that it is realistic to project that at the end of the year we will be in the positive zone," said Djukanovic.
When asked, he declined to say when he planned to step down as prime minister as he has previously suggested he would do. He added he was devoting all his attention to his present job although he was also considering "what I could do in my life in the future."
Djukanovic has for two decades dominated the politics of the least-populated Balkan country with 670,000 people.
He also urged the EU to continue with enlargement: "It is truly in the interest of Europe to continue with its unification. That is a strategic vision. If Europe fails to establish that vision I fear that it will lose in competitiveness compared to other world players."
(Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by Adam Tanner and Toby Chopra)
LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Montenegro expects to get European Union candidate status in November and sees its economy returning to growth this year after a fall of 5.7 percent in 2009, the prime minister said on Friday.
"I expect Montenegro will get a (EU) recommendation for candidacy status in November. I think we deserve that after what we did so far with economic and democratic reforms," Milo Djukanovic told a news conference during a visit to Slovenia.
He said he hoped Montenegro will also get a recommendation to start EU membership talks, adding the case of Macedonia showed that getting candidate status "was not enough."
Macedonia was granted candidate status in 2005 but has since not started membership talks due to a dispute with Greece over the country's name.
Balkan neighbour Croatia began entry talks in 2005 and is still hopeful of joining the bloc in two years time despite having further work to do reforming its legal system.
Serbia, with whom Montenegro was part of the former Yugoslavia, faces a tougher task, with disputes about the status of Kosovo and U.N. war crimes investigations hampering its progress.
Djukanovic said the latest economic indicators show that Montenegro's economy will expand in 2010 but gave no figures. He added tourism is expected to grow by about 5 this year after it kept unchanged in 2009 compared to 2008.
"Industry and manufacturing are in a similar position therefore I think that it is realistic to project that at the end of the year we will be in the positive zone," said Djukanovic.
When asked, he declined to say when he planned to step down as prime minister as he has previously suggested he would do. He added he was devoting all his attention to his present job although he was also considering "what I could do in my life in the future."
Djukanovic has for two decades dominated the politics of the least-populated Balkan country with 670,000 people.
He also urged the EU to continue with enlargement: "It is truly in the interest of Europe to continue with its unification. That is a strategic vision. If Europe fails to establish that vision I fear that it will lose in competitiveness compared to other world players."
(Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by Adam Tanner and Toby Chopra)
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