03 April 2019 -Montenegro is due to sign the regional roaming agreement with the countries of the Western Balkans in Belgrade, on April 4, which stipulates that the roaming charges in the region will be considerably reduced. By July 1, 2021, the price of a call in the area should cost as much as the price of a local call.

Montenegrin Minister of Economy, Dragica Sekulić, which will sign this agreement on behalf of the country, explains that the agreement, concluded under the auspices of the Western Balkans Digital Agenda, makes it mandatory for the signees not to exceed the upper limit of retail and wholesale prices of roaming services.

As explained within the agreement on roaming charges, mobile telephony operators in the region should reduce the prices of roaming to enable consumers to use electronic communications services outside the reach of their network, without paying steep fees.

The Ministry of Economy announced that the agreement would be signed by the representatives of the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Kosovo, the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia.

The Second Digital Summit will be opened by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, and Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, Houlin Zhao.

During the Digital Summit, Government of Montenegro and the Government of the Republic of Serbia will also sign an Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Electronic Identification and Authentication provided in Montenegro and Mutual Recognition of Qualified Trust Services provided in the Republic of Serbia.

This year’s summit will gather about 3,000 participants from 30 countries from Western Balkans, Europe, and the world.

03 April 2019 - The conclusion of the Panel discussion “Employ Local” is that recruiting domestic labour is beneficial to everyone - workers, employers and the state. This public campaign launched just before the tourist season, was organized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Employment Service of Montenegro. The assembly, whose aim is to hire unemployed people from Montenegro during the summer, was opened by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Kemal Purišić.

During the panel discussion, it was estimated that all individuals should be socially responsible and give their contribution to the community and the country they live in. Labour and Social Welfare Minister Kemal Purišić said that one of the key priorities in the work of the Government of Montenegro was to achieve more dynamic economic growth and development as a prerequisite for raising the standard of living of citizens.

“In the previous period, the Government has worked hard in order to create the conditions for job creation and efficient functioning of the labour market, with the increase of the workforce and overall employment, especially in the private sector. Reduction of unemployment was one of the main priorities, with the aim of achieving better economic growth and strengthening the competitiveness of domestic economy,” Purišić said.

The Minister highlighted that workforce should be made more competitive before Montenegro joins the European Union, because later on, by the liberalization of the labour market, human resources will try to go to EU countries, where income and working conditions are at a higher level.

According to the conclusions of the panel discussion, Montenegro reduces the number of unemployed persons year after year. To meet the summer tourist season, the demand for seasonal workers has already begun.

Director of Employment Service, Suljo Mustafić, said that according to estimates of the Employment Bureau, this summer will require about 20,000 seasonal workers on the coast.

“That's an opportunity for appeal to both the unemployed and employers. We appeal to the unemployed to take this chance and apply for seasonal work and we ask the employers to have faith in domestic workers, because there are really many reasons for that. Greater job engagement of the domestic labour force in the season contributes to the inflow of funds into the budget, which we all consider to be very important, "Mustafić said.

Through the Bureau, until now, nearly 10,000 people have been employed during the summer. The ambition of this institution is that this number gets to about 11,000 this year.

"I believe that we will respond to this challenge despite the scarcity of offerings of tourism and hospitality services professionals. In order to be more successful in dealing with this problem, Montenegro should introduce the category of permanent seas, following the practice of developed countries. That kind of support for seasonal workers would make it possible for them to be tied to employers throughout the year, which would be a powerful stimulus to remain in Montenegro,” the director of the Bureau said.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dragan Pejanović, who also spoke during the panel discussion, believes that it is important to raise the level of employers' confidence in the skills and knowledge of the domestic workforce and that interest in seasonal work will also be increased.

"What makes a destination on the world travel map special - is the service. In that sense, our goal is to hire high quality workforce each year. However, our vision is to increase the number of domestic workers in this area from year to year,” said Brajović, Director General of the Directorate for Development of Tourism Competitiveness.

During the panel conference, a constructive dialogue was attended by representatives of the Montenegrin Chamber of Economy, the Union of Employers, the Tax Administration, the Inspection Directorate, the Centre for Professional Education, the Montenegrin Tourist Association, the Association of Tourism and Hospitality Board, UCG Student Union and representatives of employers from coastal municipalities in Montenegro.

March 31, 2019 - The Social Democratic Party initiated the dismissal of the President of the Kotor Municipality, Vladimir Jokić, supported by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Social Democrats (SD) and the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI). SDP, among other things, claims that the Municipal President abused his authority and usurped the ingeniousness of the Kotor Municipal Assembly. About the political crisis in Kotor and the initiative for his dismissal, and about the Port of Kotor, the status of Kotor on the UNESCO list and the issuance of the key document for the area – Spatial Urban Plan of Kotor municipality, we spoke with Mayor Vladimir Jokić.

• Your dismissal petitioners claim that you are abusing your powers and usurping the inherencies of the Municipality Assembly.  They accuse you of partitioning and making decisions that will cause long-term damage to Kotor. How do you comment?

• The SDP calls that you, embezzling the ingeniousness of the Assembly, made up to 14 illegal decisions.

• The SDP argues that decisions are affecting the city's long-term damage. In a statement from 25 March, asking for your dismissal, the municipal committee of the party stressed that "it must stop self-determination in making vital decisions for the city that is damaging the durable goods of citizens and introducing the city into lawlessness." What are the decisions?

• The fact is that one of the issues raised by the Kotor crisis is the question of the Port of Kotor. The first stumbling block was the election of the board of directors of this company in May last year.

• On the occasion of the Concession Agreement, the Government of Montenegro concluded with the Port of Kotor, and they are discussing the investment plans for port infrastructure publicly, which critics claim will further jeopardise the natural and cultural heritage of Boka Bay. The business plan is an integral part of the concession agreement, which you have supported at the extraordinary assembly of shareholders of the Port of Kotor, convened on this occasion for performing a single act without consultation with coalition partners.

• Political disagreements over the concession over the Operational Coast of Kotor in the public space have opened discussions on topics such as the carrying capacity of the destination, the ecological effects of capacity building of the Port of Kotor, but also the orientation of tourism development of the city, today the primary target for excursions. Are citizens scared because the development plan of Port of Kotor will further increase the pressure on the city and the way of life of citizens?

• Kotor is on the move to finally get the Urban Spatial Plan, whose overturning backdrop for years has been an argument for numerous devastations of the cultural landscape of the protected area of Kotor. The Urban Spatial Plan is undoubtedly a primary development document, but it should also be a guarantee of preserving the natural and cultural values of the space that has been significantly compromised in recent decades. Will this document incorporate in detail the requirements set out in the UNESCO / ICOMOS Joint Reactive Mission Report?

March 30, 2019 - The seventh in a series of peaceful civic protests under the slogan Odupri Se - 97000, where a significant step towards achieving the goals expressed in the Prohibition of Free Citizens, was held in Podgorica, at the Independence Square, where the opposition delegates and protest organizers signed the Agreement on the Future.

March 29, 2019 - The new protest under the slogan "Odupri Se- 97,000" will be held on Saturday, 30 March 30 at 6 pm at the Independence Square in Podgorica. Organizers urged citizens to join with as many as possible, "because it is the only way to meet our demands for the release of captive institutions and to root the changes in the system that for decades serves only the survival of octopus in power."

28 March 2019 - Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković recently met with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The meeting discussed the international efforts aimed at strengthening global peace and security given that the topic of the upcoming UN Ministerial Conference on Friday is peacekeeping operations. 

Minister Bošković stressed that participation in peacekeeping operations should focus on conflict prevention, bearing in mind that local political problems often go beyond the national borders by taking on the regional and even global dimensions. 

He stressed that the United Nations peacekeeping missions are a unique and dynamic instrument for helping countries affected by conflict, as well as an important factor in building and preserving lasting peace. 

Bošković expressed Montenegro's willingness to provide an active and constructive contribution to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, emphasising the importance of the participation of the Armed Forces of Montenegro in the UN Mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to strengthen the interoperability of the capabilities of its forces.

Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković also met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Bošković emphasised that Montenegro is based on the principles on which the UN is based and pointed to a strong commitment to multilateralism and thus to the United Nations system as an organisation that seeks to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous world.

He pointed out that the Government of Montenegro or the Ministry of Defence has a constructive role when the region is in question, and that the primary interest of Montenegro is to maintain stability in the area and to continue further progress, especially concerning European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Bošković informed Secretary-General Guterres about Montenegro's defence system reform, with a focus on historical NATO membership. 

He assessed that in these challenging times, concerted action is necessary. Therefore, the Minister pointed out that Montenegro, as one of the youngest members of the United Nations, strongly supports the organisation's reform process, with the belief that it represents an indispensable platform in promoting stability, cooperation and further economic development of the region, which is a significant support to the Western Balkan countries on their path to further reform and democratization.

Bošković emphasised that there is no alternative to multilateralism, stressing that Montenegro will continue to proactively play a role in strengthening peace and preventing conflicts on the global level, with the emphasis on the need for more determined and unified coordination and more active part of all UN members. 

Guterres thanked for supporting UN reforms, and welcomed Montenegro's policy, with particular emphasis on the cooperation affirmation policy in the Western Balkans region. He expressed support for Montenegro's European integration and stressed that Montenegro was recognised as a reliable partner in establishing cooperation at the level of the wider international community.

The UN Secretary-General emphasised that Montenegro confirms its commitment to continuously contribute to world peace and conflict prevention by participating in international missions and that it is the right moment to consider new modalities of building trust and conflict management to contribute to the building of more stable and peaceful societies. He expressed the belief that Montenegro will remain committed to an open policy of good neighbourly relations to contribute to the stability of the region constructively.

26 March 2019 - Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković paid an official visit to the State of Maine, where he met with Governor Janet Millsand National Guard Commander Major General Douglas Farnham. 

At the meeting with Governor Mills, Minister Bošković emphasised the importance of Montenegro's full membership in the Alliance, and outlined the role that Montenegro has in ensuring lasting peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

He pointed to the importance of comprehensive bilateral relations between Montenegro and the United States, with the view that one of the crowns of these relations is precisely the State Partnership Program – SPP between Montenegro and the State of Maine, which is based on many compatibilities of Montenegro with this US federal state.

Boškovic also stressed that the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Montenegro are particularly satisfied with the intensity of defence cooperation that should be strengthened alongside the development of relations in other areas of the state partnership. 

Governor Mills praised the overall progress of Montenegro that resulted in NATO membership and expressed satisfaction with the high-quality the State Partnership Program. She pointed out that the State of Maine is open to establishing more significant cooperation with Montenegro, especially in areas such as tourism, economy and education.

At the meeting with Commander Farnham, Minister Bošković stressed the high-quality bilateral defence cooperation, emphasizing that the United States represents the main ally and strategic partner to Montenegro in the area of development of defence capabilities. 

He said that the long-standing partnership between the Armed Forces of Montenegro and the National Guard of Maine within the mentioned State Partnership Program not only actively links these two structures but also gives particularly evident results in terms of improving the existing capacities of the Montenegrin armed forces.

The Minister expressed the gratitude for the support of the National Guard of Maine in strengthening the interoperability and readiness of the Armed Forces of Montenegro for participation in international peacekeeping missions, as well as helping to fulfill the conditions for full membership in NATO. Furthermore, Bošković pointed to the continuous improvement of bilateral defence cooperation, especially in the areas of cyber defense, human resources development, and joint exercises and training. 

General Farnem pointed out that the National Guard of the State of Maine will continue to strongly support the Armed Forces of Montenegro in fulfilling capability goals, and expressed the expectation that the defence cooperation of the two countries will be continued for mutual benefit. He said he was pleased that the SPP has directly influenced the development of the armed forces of both countries.