Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović says the country knows “who it is and where it is going,” as Montenegro marks 20 years since restoring independence and continues its push toward European Union membership.
Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatović has said that the country’s path toward the European Union represents the next major chapter in its modern statehood, 20 years after citizens voted to restore independence in a 2006 referendum.
Speaking in an interview ahead of Montenegro’s Independence Day, Milatović recalled the days surrounding the May 21, 2006 referendum, describing them as a dynamic and deeply personal period. At the time, he was a first year economics student and, as he revealed, had gone through surgery shortly before casting his vote. He said he voted in favor of independence because he believed Montenegrin citizens should take their future into their own hands.
Milatović stressed that people who voted differently in 2006 should not be viewed as having voted against Montenegro. According to him, citizens made their choices based on what they believed was best for the country and its future. Looking back, he said the decision to restore independence had proven to be the right one.
The Montenegrin president said the country is now at the final stage of its European path, calling EU membership Montenegro’s most important priority and a historic opportunity. Montenegro received EU candidate status in 2010 and opened accession negotiations in 2012, while recent progress has brought renewed expectations that the country could become the bloc’s next member. Milatović said he believes Montenegro could join the European Union in 2028 or 2029.
He linked Montenegro’s European ambitions with the need to build stronger institutions, the rule of law, social justice, human rights protection and a better quality of life for citizens. In his view, EU membership should not be seen only as a foreign policy goal, but as a process that transforms society from within.
Milatović also referred to the political changes that took place in 2020, when the Democratic Party of Socialists lost power after almost three decades. He argued that those changes opened the door to faster democratization and stronger institutions. In 2023, Milatović defeated longtime leader Milo Đukanović in Montenegro’s presidential election.
In a separate Independence Day message, Milatović said the meaning of statehood is that laws apply equally to everyone, regardless of wealth, political position or party affiliation. He said Montenegro must become a country where children receive quality education, patients are not forced to wait for treatment because they lack connections, and young people do not have to leave the country in order to find opportunity.
The president said Montenegro’s task, two decades after independence, is to turn sovereignty into a better life, freedom into justice, and the European opportunity into concrete results.
“Montenegro will be a member of the European Union,” Milatović said, adding that the country had clearly set its direction in 2006: “We know who we are, we know where we are going, Europe is our destination.”
