Montenegro was part of Europe long before it began negotiations with the European Union. Therefore, the question of our membership is not a matter of geography, nor is it merely about greater funding, more open borders, and better business opportunities. These are all significant benefits, but they are not the essence of the matter.
Montenegro needs the European Union because we have shown that we ourselves have been putting off for too long the changes we have long needed.
We need a country where the law does not depend on a person’s last name, party membership, connections, or a phone call. A country where institutions are not merely an extension of the person currently in charge, nor is a job in the public sector a reward for obedience.
A country where the court will not weigh the power of the accused before weighing the strength of the evidence. Where capable people will not have to choose between leaving and accepting a system that humiliates them. A country where citizens will not have to seek connections to obtain what is already rightfully theirs under the law.
The European Union will not solve all our problems. It will not turn the irresponsible into the responsible, nor will it change overnight the habits we have built up over decades. But it can help ensure that rules take precedence over individuals, that decisions must be justified, that public funds are harder to hide, and that those in power finally understand they are not the owners of the state but its temporary stewards.
That is the true significance of membership. It does not mean better people live there, only that systems have been built that depend less on who will sit in a particular chair tomorrow.
But Montenegro faces no easy task.
The easy part is passing a law, opening a chapter, and pointing to technical progress. The hard part is changing how the state actually works. That means giving up privileges, breaking up networks of interest, and accepting that the rules apply even when they affect our own people.
Some will lose power they never should have had. Some will lose privileges they didn’t deserve. Some will lose the ability to treat the state as their private fiefdom.
That is why there will be resistance.
Change will require stronger institutions, a more accountable government, a more capable administration, and citizens who do not expect European values only from others. It will require that we stop justifying our weaknesses by citing our small size, political circumstances, and the belief that nothing can be changed here.
The European path, therefore, should not be merely a foreign policy goal. It must be a process of our internal maturation. It requires accepting that competence must take precedence over affiliation, responsibility over position, and the state over any party or individual who temporarily governs it.
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