By Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ANTALYA, Turkiye (AA) – The Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro called on the EU to expedite the membership processes of countries seeking to join the bloc so that similar scenarios such as the one in Ukraine do not occur in other regions in Europe.
Dritan Abazovic told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which concluded last week, that a panel discussion on the inclusion of Western Balkan countries into the EU was interesting, particularly in light of the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
"This moment is very crucial for Europe... maybe and for the world. I hope the Russian war will stop immediately.
“But we need to send a message that the EU should understand that countries, which want to join you and are very far in the process of enlargement should have some, let's say, fast track at this moment if we don't want to have the same problem like in another part of Europe," Abazovic said.
Regarding the meeting of Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers at the forum, he expressed hope that such an event would be very supportive in terms of promoting peace and civilization values.
He was astounded to see the EU and NATO countries united in support of Ukraine. "I didn't expect that we would all work together to promote a single set of policies. I am talking about the last two weeks," he added.
The minister said Montenegro will maintain sanctions on Russia and that the property of Russian oligarchs will be tracked within the country. He emphasized that the country, despite its small size, fully supports NATO and EU partners.
- Turkiye-Montenegro ties
"I think that the role of Turkiye in the Western Balkan region is extremely important. Turkiye is very friendly to many countries in Western Balkan. Relations between our countries are excellent," Abazovic said.
However, he suggested that the two countries' economic efforts should be strengthened.
He said this topic was discussed and that they will achieve a successful outcome after the war in Ukraine is over and the focus switches to something more positive.
"Two sectors are important... tourism and energy. I think that in these two sectors, two countries can do a lot of good things in the future," he added.