21 June 2019 - The U.S. State Department's 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report states that Montenegro is continuously making significant efforts to meet the standards for the elimination of human trafficking fully.

The U.S. State Department, led by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, has recently published the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report. The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking. It is also the world’s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. Government’s commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue.

Within the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, it was concluded that Montenegro is a country whose Government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. "The government demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period by undertaking awareness-raising efforts and reaffirming its commitment to enact anti-trafficking legislation. However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. The government did not show evidence of overall progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders and identifying victims of trafficking," it is stated within the Report.

The U.S. State Department recognized the efforts of Montenegro in regards to the establishment of a multi-disciplinary task force to proactively investigate trafficking and changed case referral procedures to decrease the chances of trafficking cases prosecuted under other offenses and thus praised the country for drafting and adopting a national anti-trafficking strategy for 2019-2024 and a national action plan for 2019.

Prioritized recommendations for Montenegro in relations to the prevention of trafficking include the focus on vigorous investigation, prosecution, and conviction of traffickers under Article 444 of the criminal code, increasing proactive screening of potential victims, especially for women in prostitution, migrants, seasonal workers, and children engaged in begging, providing advanced training to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement on trafficking investigations and prosecutions and incentivizing and encouraging victim participation in investigations and prosecutions in a victim-centered manner.

The U.S State Department also highlighted the great need for Montenegro to create and finance an accessible compensation fund and inform victims of their right to compensation during legal proceedings and to ensure the Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons has adequate independence, capacity, and impact on implementing anti-trafficking efforts.

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21 June 2019 - President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, at the invitation of the Romanian ambassador, the EU presiding country, Ferdinand Nagy, was guest at the working lunch with the ambassadors of the EU member states accredited in Montenegro.

President Đukanović thanked Ambassador Nagy for the initiative for the meeting and Romania on the dedicated relationship to bilateral cooperation and the European perspective of the region during a successful presidency. At the same time, he thanked the Head of the EU Delegation and all ambassadors of the EU countries for their unambiguous contribution to the adoption of European standards and value systems in Montenegro on its path of integration. The President emphasized the significance of the timing of this meeting in the context of the yesterday's conclusions of the General Affairs Council, the recent elections for the European Parliament and the published report on the progress of the countries of the WB, as well as the discussion on the EU's strategic movements and its attitude towards the WB.

The President assessed that the Council's conclusions were below what the WB's expectations were, pointing out that a better level of compromise would have been achieved for the stability of the region and Europe and economic and democratic development.

"The balance may be a real expression of how the state sees the EU, but it is not in agreement with what we see from the region," Đukanović said, especially in the context of postponing the decision to open negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania, and added that this region will never be stable without integration and can not experience the required pace of economic and democratic development. Therefore, according to the President, the future competitiveness of European politics is extremely important, to find a balance between the expectations of the Balkans and Europe as a global player.

According to the official statement of the President of Montenegro Cabinet, Đukanović said that in the past few years Montenegro has made evident progress and a clear strategy and continuously growing capacities that guarantee that this strategy will be implemented.

"With the awareness of the inability to overcome all the overnight deficits, the President stressed that Montenegro has managed to preserve the multiethnic harmony and emancipate the country from its dependence to the region, and today, as a NATO member, on a protracted road to the EU proves that it is able to cope with all the challenges. Montenegro will continue to uncompromising advancement of the rule of law and preserve a good pace of economic development," Đukanović said among other things.

The host of a working lunch on behalf of the Romanian presidency said that the country would continue to support the enlargement policy in line with individual progress and share the Commission's assessment of the need for the EU to be a credible partner that respects its promises to candidate countries that have fulfilled their obligations. I am very proud that I witnessed the exceptional progress of Montenegro during my diplomatic mandate, Nagy said.

The head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Aivo Orav, spoke about the successful presidency of Romania and the conclusions of the Council, which, he said, was the best compromise and the best possible result.

"What is important is that strong commitment to the expansion has been confirmed," Orav said.

He stressed that further efforts are needed in order to improve the rule of law, fight against corruption and organized crime, freedom of speech and media freedom, and that the EU recognizes positive progress in economic development, and cordially welcomes the active role of Montenegro in the region and in relation to its neighbors and one hundred percent compliance with the common foreign and security policy.

"The Union is ready to help Montenegro, including financially, to become part of the EU as soon as possible," concluded Orav.

The ambassadors expressed interest in the position of the President on the current issues of internal and regional policy. Among other things, Montenegro's contribution to strengthening regional stability and a constructive view of Montenegro on EC assessments and Council conclusions has been recognized.

During the working lunch, the interest in the process of passing a new law on religious freedom was especially expressed.

President Đukanović stressed that Montenegro is determined to solve the very delicate issue of the church, and will not resort to provocation, refraining from further straining the situation, but will uncompromisingly defend its interests. In response to the interest in applying ODIHR recommendations, the President expressed optimism about the further work of the Interim Parliamentary Committee, carefully developing a two-thirds consensus.

"In this regard, we will initiate the renewal of the dialogue with the opposition, which we discussed earlier with the EU delegation, and our offer is fully in place," said Đukanović.

Regarding the protection of freedom of speech, Đukanović emphasized that there is no dilemma in the state political course as far as this is an important issue and the importance of the media for the democratic development of society. The aim is to create the conditions for full freedom and independence of the media and maximum professionalization, which can only be a contribution to the democratization of the society by the legislative and institutional framework.

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20 June 2019 - At its latest session, the Government of Montenegro passed the Smart Specialisation Strategy for 2019-2024, which is the first time that a non-EU country approves a strategy of this kind.

"This strategy is not a strategy of the Ministry of Science, but of the State of Montenegro, which recognises the priority areas that have the greatest potential for economic development, for which research and innovation are key factors that can significantly increase competitiveness. In fact, it is a recipe for the European Union to trace the modern development of an economy based on domestic potentials, but with openness to the international market, and to advance technologically the traditional sectors, especially through digitisation," Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović said in press conference for Ministry of Science of Montenegro.

In this way, investments focus on domains and areas for which the strategy has shown that Montenegro can be competitive on a wider scale. In that regard, Montenegro has identified the following priority areas: sustainable agriculture and food value chain, sustainable and health tourism, energy and sustainable environment, with the technological support of information and communication technologies.

The Smart Specialisation Strategy is one of the conditions for using EU funds, as well as a strict prerequisite for the use of structural funds once they are available to Montenegro. 

It took two years to draft the strategy according to the methodology developed by the EU, which closely followed and evaluated each stage of the process. The Ministry of Science coordinated this process with the support of the Ministry of Economy, but in fact, more than 300 people from the academic, economic, public and civil sectors worked on this strategy, more than half of which were from the business sector. 

"An important benefit from this strategy is to access European thematic platforms for smart specialisation, which will be available to us from today. Thematic platforms are created by the countries of the European Union that have similar strategic priorities within their S3 strategies. In this way, they implement joint projects and enter the international market. Our country is striving to join such platforms," Minister Damjanović explained. 

The Science Minister said that the next step is to define the national structure that will be in charge of both the management and the implementation of the S3 strategy. 

The Smart Specialisation Strategy is adopted for the period 2019-2024. The Strategy will form the basis for priority investment in research, innovation and development. During this period, investments worth about 174 million EUR are planned. Out of the total planned investments, 116.5 million EUR will be provided from the budget, while investments from the private sector are projected at 21.7 million EUR. A total of 33.5 million EUR will be provided through the EU funds and 2,5 million EUR from other international organisations and programmes.

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20 June 2019 - For the first time ever, the Government of Montenegro has agreed that the Malaysian owners of the company Kolašin Resort & Spa which is to build a condo-hotel in Kolašin, can obtain Montenegrin citizenship based on this investment.

At the 126th session of the Government of Montenegro, chaired by Prime Minister Duško Marković, the Government established the List of Development Projects in the Field of Tourism. This Development Projects List includes the construction of the condo hotel Kolašin Resort & Spa, Kolašin, delivered by the Stock Company Kolašin Resort & Spa from Podgorica.

“The first project submitted under the Governmental Decision on the criteria, method and procedure for the election of a person who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission for the implementation of a special investment program of special importance for the economic interest of Montenegro implies the construction of a four star hotel in Kolašin, with a capacity of 93 accommodation units or 380 beds and an estimated investment value of 11.360.959,00 EUR, and that the investment implies the opening of 66 new jobs,” says the official report of the Government from the session.

The Government agreed that the owners of the company "Kolašin Resort & Spa", "hiding" behind an offshore company from Malaysia, which is to build a condo-hotel in Kolašin, can obtain citizenship of Montenegro based on this investment.

In the Government's proposal, this condo hotel is included in the "list of development projects in the field of tourism", which is the basis for obtaining "Montenegrin citizenship by the reception to realize a special investment program of special importance for economic and economic interest".

In the decision of the Government, the names of the new Montenegrin citizens from this company are not listed, but they will be determined in continuation of the procedure before the Government Agent for Economic Citizenship Affairs, reports Vijesti daily.

According to data from the Central Registry, the founder of the company "Kolašin Resort & Spa" is the offshore company "Oriental Management INC" from Malaysia. Representatives in the Board of Directors and potential new Montenegrin citizens are Rowshan Ara Chowdhury, Mohammed Abdul Alim Chowdhury and Salim Chowdhury Nirjhor.

Damir Davidović, Secretary of State at the office of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, explained that “the investor for economic citizenship is expected to meet strict criteria, primarily related to the size of the investment, the number of jobs the investment would create and the financial ability to realize the project, so the business plan for such projects requires serious and extensive preparation”, reports Vijesti daily.

“Investment projects aimed at economic citizenship in the field of tourism can be hotels with at least five stars, 60 accommodation units and at least 80 new jobs in the coastal region and Podgorica. In the north, it is necessary that the hotel has at least four stars, 35 accommodation units, and 25 new employees. The minimum value of the project on the coast and in Podgorica is 15 million euros, and in the north five million euros,” highlighted Davidović.

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19 June 2019 - Minister of the Interior Mevludin Nuhodžić and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović noted in Belgrade the high-quality cooperation between the Montenegrin and Serbian police in the fight against organized crime, adding that criminals will not be safe either in Montenegro or in Serbia, as reported by the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.

Minister Nuhodžić praised the cooperation of criminal police, as well as joint operational teams, which resulted in locating internationally wanted persons, the intersection of the narcotics smuggling channels and the solving of serious crimes.

"We are witnessing that criminal groups operate not knowing the boundaries, not only in our region, but also around the world. That is why our best answer is an open, efficient and honest cooperation that clearly states that criminals are not and will not be safe either in Serbia or Montenegro and that our countries will strongly oppose and fight against the organized crime," Minister Nuhodžić said.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Nebojša Stefanović said that cooperation in the field of fighting organized crime is effective and that members of the criminal police quickly exchange information that is important for detecting criminal offenses.

"We have exceptional cooperation that will continue in the future because we want to send a clear message to the criminals that the police will come out as winners in the fight against organized crime," Stefanović stressed.

Speaking about the cooperation between the border police of the two countries, the two ministers discussed expanding the capacity of border crossings in order to facilitate the transit of citizens, not only during the summer season, but throughout the year.

"Our aim is also to stop the smuggling of narcotics, goods, as well as the transfer of persons who belong to a criminal milieu," said Stefanović, who thanked Minister Nuhodžić and members of the Montenegrin police for exceptional cooperation.

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17 June 2019 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Srđan Darmanović opened the Consulate of Montenegro in Trieste, Italy, headed by Honorary Consul Sven Bichler.

On that occasion, Minister Darmanović pointed out that the opening of the Consulate in Trieste, in the year when Montenegro and Italy celebrate 140 years of diplomatic relations, represents an important step towards the expansion of the diplomatic network and confirmation of the commitment to continuously develop cooperation between the counties. According to the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, he also expressed confidence that the activities of Honorary Consul Bichler will contribute to the further strengthening of bilateral ties and the promotion of economic, tourist, scientific and cultural potentials of Montenegro. 

Minister Darmanović reminded that Montenegro and Italy have very good political relations and high-quality cooperation, especially in the domain of economy, tourism and energy, which is confirmed by the growing presence of the Italian economy on the Montenegrin market. "Our diplomacy significantly contributes to the diversification of the Montenegrin economy and high growth rates through dedicated and comprehensive work on connecting business communities and attracting foreign direct investments," Minister Darmanović concluded. 

Honorary Consul Bichler emphasised that cooperation between the two countries can be further improved, and that it is necessary to inform the Italian public in a timely and targeted manner about the characteristics of Montenegrin society and market. He presented plans to organise a presentation on Montenegro in Trieste, stressing that there is room for deepening of connections, especially in the wood, food and textile industry. 

Prefect of Trieste Valerio Valenti, Mayor of Trieste Roberto Dipiazza and CEI Secretary-General Roberto Antonione also attended the ceremony.

The recent meeting that took place in Trieste between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Central European Initiative adopted the Trieste Declaration, which confirmed that Montenegro will take over the presidency of the Initiative from 1 January 2020

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