May 15, 2018 - Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro, Zoran Pazin, met officials of the European External Action Service and representatives from the European Commission on the 15th of May. At this meeting, Mister Pazin expressed the level of Montenegrin commitment to contribute to the joint fight of the countries gathered around the European Union against organized crime, violent extremism, and terrorism. Also, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that Montenegro is expecting the European Union’s assistance in protecting both the national and international country’s security if some of the risks of these fights are reflected on Montenegro.
European External Action Service Deputy Secretary General, Mister Pedro Serrano, explained in this conference that strengthening European security should be a common goal and task of all countries across the European Union, including Montenegro as well. He also expressed gratitude towards the efforts of Montenegro and for what Montenegro is doing at the moment and stated that the European Union’s commitment to providing all the necessary equipment, support, and assistance in combating terrorism is at a very high level. Mister Serrano also added that the primary challenge for maintaining overall European security is precisely these fights – against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime.
Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Pazin also spoke about the importance of coordinated actions of Montenegro, as well as both neighbor countries and countries of the European Union. He pointed out Montenegro’s determination to decisively suppress all manifestations that are carriages of potential terrorism risk, and all due to fighting against international security risks. Also, Pazin stated that Montenegro is doing a hard job in suppressing reckless and dangerous conflicts between criminal gangs.
The Deputy Prime Minister added: “For this reason, we have raised the level of coordination of the competent services, especially the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Police, to the highest level, and established joint investigation teams for these cases. We expect concrete results in identifying and punishing the perpetrators of these serious crimes.”
In the end, Mister Pazin concluded that Montenegro has already introduced the criminal offense of “participation in foreign armed formations” into the country’s criminal legislation, which is supposed to strengthen its contribution to global efforts in fighting terrorism and suppressing international conflicts.
