INTERVIEW
Interview with the President of Montenegro for Diplomacy&Commerce
My goal is a democratic, wealthy and European Montenegro
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he President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, inaugurated at the dawn of Independence Day, believes his presidential performance will be rewarded by a democratic, wealthy and European Montenegro. In his interview for Diplomacy&Commerce, the President, economist by vocation, emphasizes that in the forthcoming period we need to work more attentively towards creation of a sustainable economic model, with an emphasis on implementation of capital infrastructure projects and aim to ensure new and higher-paying jobs. Speaking of appointment of ambassadors, as the power conferred on him, Milatović points out that as they are meant to personify our country abroad, diplomatic agents of Montenegro must be the very best this country has to offer. He serves as an example of how knowledge and hard work always pay off, thus urging that these values need to find their way back to our system and act as core success factors. At the dawn of Independence Day, at the solemn inauguration ceremony held at the Parliament of Montenegro you became the President of the State. Your narrative from that position echoes in cosmopolitanism. Your thoughtful rhetoric makes you stand out on the public stage. Will your actions speak the same? On the inauguration day I conveyed a message to the public that already on the first day of assuming the position of president I would be thinking about the last day of my term of office and expressed a hope for ensuring a democratic, wealthy and European Montenegro. All my actions since that moment up
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a better standard of living, the rule of love and the place the young people want to feel part of. Over the past few days, at various meetings with the European and regional officials, I have been strongly advocating the idea that the European Union needs a success story of enlargement and that it is Montenegro that can and should become such a story.
to date have proved these were not empty words but rather a genuine will for our country to change for the better. I made a promise to the citizens that I would be a “president of all”, never to divide them into those who voted for me and those of different opinions and regardless of their political, national,
the Montenegrin citizens be considered as a guiding light and a path to be followed by every institution in the country with the Head of the State at the helm? In making promises to the citizens, public officials called for Monaco, Sen Trope and the likes as a benchmark. What about you?
I MADE A PROMISE TO THE CITIZENS THAT I WOULD BE A “PRESIDENT OF ALL” religious or any other affiliation. As a man of principle, I intend to remain steadfast in this commitment and I firmly believe that my actions already speak and will continue to speak of my good faith. Where do you see Montenegro in 2028 with a view to the public opinion polls that showed a record-setting support to the accession to the European Union of 76%? Can this eager wish of
Let me remind you that the destination of my first official visit as a newly elected president was Brussels, featuring meetings with the highest-ranked officials of the European Union, as an indicator that Montenegro’s EU membership and acceleration of reforms towards this goal represent our foreign policy priority. In 2028 I see Montenegro as a 28th member country of the European Union, a prosperous country offering
Never before has your educational background and professional integrity been imminent to the officials, not only regionally but far beyond. Do you think the fact that yourself being an Oxford-educated student who has pursued career throughout Europe instills hope in your fellow countrymen that having roots in Podgorica, Rozaje, Kotor, Zabljak, Cetinje, Herceg Novi…cannot prevent them from making brilliant achievements anywhere across the globe? My professional biography and upskilling in the countries of Western Europe and America stemmed from a desire of a young economist from Montenegro to prove that knowledge and hard work always pay off and we need to claim back these values to our system to act as core success factors. Unfortunately, over the past decades, far too many with creditworthy biographies were not given a chance to prove themselves. Nevertheless, I believe those days are over and it is the recent political changes in Montenegro that have sent such practice into the past. As a president of Montenegro I shall endeavor to promote young, successful and educated persons from all over our country, thus encouraging the others as well to dare to take action and follow their dreams. www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs