Vladan Žugić: What exactly do you have in mind?

Ambassador Garancher: Our first priority is stabilisation. Almost all Western Balkan countries have achieved stability, and it is paradoxical that Serbia, the biggest and the riches country of the region, should be the last one to stabilise. You should therefore understand that the emphasis on Serbia is legitimate.
The second priority is to continue our efforts that began a few months ago in extending the energy and transport community in this part of the Balkans. We want the seven countries of the Western Balkans to be part of these communities, which will make them a step closer to EU.
At the same time, there are other issues such as transport — great European projects linked to projects in Serbia, Croatia... We expect European Investment Banka and the Bank for Reconstruction and Development to invest more resources. These are some practical issues to be attended to.
Should any of the Western Balkan countries apply for membership during the French presidency, it will be a great event.

V.Ž: What do you think of the Montenegrin Government’s intention to apply for EU membership by the end of French presidency?

Amb.G: This is no surprise. Your deputy PM (Gordana Đurović) said immediately after she signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) on the 15 October last year in Brussels: “be ready for our application as soon as possible”.
There were already some plans for this application during Slovenia’s presidency, and then Montenegro did exactly what we expected — it consulted its major European partners. We believe that one result of these consultations was Montenegro’s decision to reconsider and postpone application.
At the same time, the Government always said that quality is of equal importance as the time, although these two factors are not unrelated. Montenegrin government has a clear goal to submit this application before the end of this year.

V.Ž: Do you think this goal is plausible?

Amb.G: We think the consultations will continue. Some progress is obvious, however, the glass is only half full — and half empty. There is always space for improvements and some improvements must be made. On the other hand, we from European embassies admit that nobody will come up to Montenegro and say: come on, you are ready. All initiative must come from here. When it does, we will respect it and react accordingly.
By the end of this year the situation here will be very different from last year’s. Montenegro is making progress, there will be some improvements with regard to visas and the situation in the region is also different: BiH signed the SAA, Serbia has a new government which calls itself pro-European and it could perhaps also become a candidate. This all makes a difference for Montenegro’s application.

V.Ž: What are the advantages for Montenegro from the membership in the Union for Mediterranean whose main initiator is France?

Amb.G: Take the example of transport: so far there were some national initiatives, such as the feasibility study on highways or the initiatives in the sub-regional zones (e.g. Montenegro, Croatia and Albania have a common project). These efforts have been directed exclusively by states. The new idea is that the projects of the Union for Mediterranean will be conducted by a group of interested parties: states, international banks, international investors, associations for environmental protection...
Although very small in itself, and therefore with a small sector of road construction, Montenegro will be able to participate and will have a representative in this process. This is the idea.
What we liked as initiators of this project is the immediate positive reaction we got from Montenegro, already in January.
Your Government consulted us and asked us to support Montenegro’s wish to become a member of the new Union. We said not to rush, and that your case will be ready by the time we open the Union for Mediterranean, and this is what happened. You became members of a broader union, something that offers Montenegro a forum to discuss with the parties you do not often have a chance to meet, such as Egypt.

V.Ž: What is your biggest concern in Montenegro today?

Amb.G: What I really worry about is the lack of ethics in its political life. I speak as an observer, not as somebody who wishes to lecture you. You will never hear me talking about corruption — there is no use talking about it, corruption must be fought. But I do say that I worry about the lack of ethics. It is a fact that the Parliament has been immobilised for reasons I respect, but it still means that this institution is not performing its role. People have elected MPs and they expect them to do their work. This is already lasting two months and it signals trouble.
There is also another thing: in late June, CEDEM published a public opinion poll which shows that 71% of the population wants membership in the European Union and only 12% say they are not interested. We can say that a great majority is in favour of EU membership, but if the political elite, and by that I mean both the Government and the opposition, continues to behave like that in such important issues as the formation of the National Council for Integrations, public opinion will lose interest in the EU.

“Little is needed to move things for the better”
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V.Ž: You mentioned corruption. Do you think that corruption is a big problem in Montenegro?

Amb.G: Corruption knows no borders. French institutions, the police, judiciary, are not strangers to cases of corruption and organised crime, which are with one leg in Montenegro and with another in France.
On the technical level we ought to speak about these cases. On the Montenegrin side there is somebody who gives the right answers and takes the right steps. In practice, when they have to do something, they do it. In theory, you have everything you need: action plans, laws, your civil servants are no worse than ours. In the dialogues between Montenegro and European Commission I can see that you officials know their job. There is probably not enough of them, but in my opinion expanding capacity is not as important as making the right decisions that will change something. For example, the Government announced that 52 persons have been sentenced in corruption cases since 2004 when the new law was adopted. True. Yet, some of them deserved a stricter sentence.
I believe that the courts will soon deal with the bigger fish and that will change something. You need one such sentence to change the overall outlook and habits of the judiciary, politicians, citizens.
Just because Montenegro is small, you need small steps for big changes. In a bigger country it is more difficult. I believe you have a good chance.

“We all have to change our habits”
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V.Ž: Your colleagues, Italian and German ambassadors Gabrielle Meucci and Thomas Schmidt reiterated many times that we ought to change our habits in order to progress in European integrations. You ride you bicycle everyday in the surroundings of Podgorica. Is that your way to show Montenegrins, who prefer their cars, the need to change their habits?

Amb.G: French love cars too. You, me, we all have to change our habits. Take water: we have it today, but who knows whether we will still have it in 20 years. Or the garbage. Yours is an ecological state, but the garbage is everywhere. You should organise a public waste collection. I saw some garbage separation bins in Podgorica for paper, glass... this is just a beginning. This will all change when private companies start recycling garbage and earning a lot of money on it.
I believe, when I was a child, our streets were very dirty. In Paris, for instance, if there is a strike longer than a single day you will see plenty of paper. If the street is already dirty, more people will throwing their garbage around. If it is clean, they too will be more careful. It is like that everywhere, and the same mechanism of behaviour works with tourists. Tourists here will be more careless than in their own countries.