05 December 2018 - Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System Milutin Simović hosted the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, headed by Committee Chairman Volkan Bozkir.

DPM Simović said that, as co-chairmen of the Mixed Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of Turkey, he always looks forward to meeting partners and friends from Turkey. He recalled the very successful 4th session of the Mixed Commission, which took place in Ankara in November 2017, the agreements that were signed on that occasion, as well as numerous meetings at a high level that took place in a spirit of friendship and sincere cooperation.

He also pointed out that the harmonisation of the new free trade agreement testifies to the friendship between the two countries. This agreement will represent a new momentum in the economic and trade relations between Montenegro and Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Simović said, adding that business people have long recognised the key sectors and directions of cooperation and that the two governments need to make efforts to revive the agreements they have signed.

By the same token, DPM Simović called on the parliaments of both countries to ratify the agreements that have been signed.

After thanking DPM Simović on warm reception, Mr. Bozkir emphasised that Turkey attaches great importance to Montenegro, which can set a good example to many countries for the multi-ethnic and multireligious harmony and coexistence.

"We see Montenegro as an honest ally in NATO, but also as a friend with whom it has built solid bridges of friendship," Mr Bozkir stressed. This is confirmed by the visit of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, in full composition and with the representatives of all parliamentary parties, said Mr. Bozkir.

DPM Simović and Chairman of the Committee Bozkir agreed that the current level of economic and trade relations between Montenegro and Turkey, which is at a satisfactory level, with very positive trends, does not show real opportunities. Tourism, industry, agriculture, wood processing, and direct investment have been highlighted as fields in which it is necessary to maximise potentials. Bearing this in mind, Bozkir suggested that the next session of the Mixed Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of Turkey will take place in Turkey as quickly as possible and invited Deputy Prime Minister Simović to be the guest of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on that occasion.

December 4, 2018 - The continuation of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th regular session of the Municipal Assembly of Kotor, which was supposed to, among other things, decide the confirmation of the 14 decisions that had been taken by the mayor Vladimir Jokic (Democrats) was not held yesterday because the president of the local parliament Dragica Perovic DSS) canceled it due to "the impossibility of attending sessions at the scheduled term by certain members of the ruling coalition."

According to our findings, the collegium of the president of the SO will be held on Wednesday when it would be necessary to finally determine whether the local parliament will be scheduled again by December 29th. Then, the half-year term expires in which, according to the law, if there is no Session, the Government introduces forced administration to the municipality as an introduction to extraordinary local elections.

"On our side, once again in spite of the difficult words heard in the past days, we will talk to our partners and we will try to reasonably overcome the problem and preserve the local government. However, the other side is needed by for achieving the agreement," said the source from the top of Kotor local government.

The ruling coalition (Democrats, DF, URA and SDP) in SO Kotor, with parliamentary support from SNP, has 17 votes of councilors, while the opposition made by DPS and its close parties has 16 councilors.

The last parliamentary session of the Kotor parliament was held on June 29^th, when the meeting was interrupted because they did not vote on the purchase of Jugopetrol real estate in Škaljari and the industrial zone because Nova and SDP were against it. Since the end of June, the parliament has been virtually blocked by disagreements among local government actors, predominantly Democrats and URAs on one hand and SDP on the other. The Party of Ranko Krivokapic withdrew support for the purchase of Jugopetrol's real estate, on which its staff has been working since the beginning of this project rated as very important for the further development of Kotor.

Vladimir Jokić – photo Boka News

Mayor Vladimir Jokic (Democrats) SDP objected that "it would usurp the basic Constitutional and legal right of Municipal Assembly members to decide, without calling them" and that in the meantime he has allegedly issued a number of illegal decisions, to which Jokic replied that he had, according to the law, the right and duty in a situation where the work of the local parliament is blocked. SDP also accuses Jokic that "as a tool of the waste from SNP Snezana Jonica", in the local public enterprise employees are being dismissed from SNP personnel and appointing them to Jonica or her associates with whom she allegedly makes a new party. The SDP felt threatened because a possible replacement of Krivokapić's party Mladen Lučić from the position of director of the Utility company that is, Safet Luković from the position of director of the company Water and Sewage was announced from the circles close to Jonica. SDP had to let the staff of DF and Jonica's SNP wing, which controls all SNPs in the Kotor parliament, several vital places in the municipal company Luka Kotor, which in no way beneficial to that party.

DPS has not yet announced whether they will formally submit an initiative to vote for Jokic's distrust, because they do not have a decisive, 17th vote among the party councilors at the state level, officially a "heavy" opposition to the DPS.

SDP holds the key to the survival of the coalition

From OO SDP Kotor, they confirmed that they would attend the Collegium of the President of the SO on Wednesday "in order to re-request the return of legality in the work of the local self-government and finally to hold a session of the SO that would decide on the decisions they made on its behalf".

"For us, the primary interest is the respect of the law and the will of the voters who have made it clear that the government must work in the interests of the citizens."

Text by S.L. on December 4th, 2018, read more at Boka news

03 December 2018 - By putting the knowledge and technological innovation in the service of sustainable development, we want to transform the overall development of Montenegro, as ecological country, according to the requests of the agenda 2030, said the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, at the Summit of Leaders of 24th Conference of the Contracting States of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that is taking place in Katowice, Poland.

This conference represents one of the most important assemblies of the representatives of the states, science institutions, and organizations of civil society, three years after the adoption of history agreement in Paris.

Đukanović pointed out the dedication Montenegro shows in searching for optimal responses to climate change, as one of the most complex challenges today, while especially pointing out Paris Agreement.

Montenegro has defined a very ambitious objective of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. By 2030, Đukanović expects considerable investments with the aim of achieving 33% share of renewable energy resources.

During the Summit, as usual, Đukanović had several informal encounters during which he made his interlocutors familiar with the current situation in Montenegro, which is dynamically moving forward, towards the EU. He also presented the results of economic growth that Montenegro achieved aiming to reach the European life standard.

He discussed about the current situation in the WB region, emphasizing the need for cooperation with the aim of overcoming the challenges that overwhelm the region.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands pointed out an important role of Montenegro in the region, presenting it as a bright spot, stable country with a great European perspective.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

02 December 2018 - On November 30, Montenegrin Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Pavle Radulović, announced that Montenegro would open Chapter 27 at an intergovernmental conference to be held in Brussels on December 10 this year.

"All EU members gave the green light to the negotiating position of the Government of Montenegro for Chapter 27, which has created the conditions for the Chapter to be opened on December 10," Radulović said at a press conference. He pointed out that this step represents a great success of the whole country, and highlighted his gratitude to his associates and diplomats.

"This is a very significant step for Montenegro, and I publicly congratulate and thank my associates. Also, I thank our diplomatic network as well as the diplomats of the countries of the European Union in Montenegro and the Government's negotiating structure. I particularly thank the EU Delegation in Podgorica. This is a big step forward in the negotiation process, and it is my pleasure to open Chapter 27 in the 27th year since Montenegro was declared an ecological state," said Radulović.

“We are working hard to comply with the EU acquis and attain European standards in the areas such as waste disposal, water management or better air quality because our goal is to ensure a healthy environment for the citizens and new generations,” Montenegro’s Chief EU Negotiator Aleksandar Drljevic stated on September 1st.

To achieve gradual and complete transposition of the entire EU acquis for Chapter 27-Environment and Climate Change into the legal system of Montenegro, the country adopted The National Strategy with Action Plan for transposition, implementation, and enforcement of the EU acquis on Environment and Climate Change (the Strategy with AP) 2016-2020.

Montenegro submitted its Draft on January 22^nd, after which the Montenegrin Negotiating team representatives subsequently had a video conference with the European Commission’s representatives from the Directorate-general for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Directorate-general for the Environment and Directorate-general for Climate Change. During the Montenegrin Parliament’s public forum Montenegro and EU, Chapter 27: Environment and climate change, Radulovic said that the Draft was “generally praised” by the European Commission.

30 November 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković noted on the occasion of the second anniversary of the 41st Government of Montenegro that the Government started its mandate in an extremely challenging environment, in 2016 - the most challenging year for Montenegro in its recent history, but thanks to the dedicated work of the entire Government an excellent result has been achieved. Nowadays Montenegro is a large construction site, it is more stable than ever and it has started accelerated economic development and improvement of the living standards, he added.

"The entire 2016 was the most challenging year for Montenegro, primarily in political and security terms. We had also challenging years in previous decades, but in that year we had the most brutal, most direct attack on the State, its institutions, its political system. It was the year in which the political will of the citizens of Montenegro was threatened to be changed in an undemocratic way in order to halt its European and Euro-Atlantic perspective. I would say that the ultimate goal was the loss and the disappearance of Montenegro as a state. At that very moment, the Government took over the mandate. You recall that the dissatisfied opposition that organised the boycott was on the streets, encouraging social and other dissatisfaction. The Government faced a serious challenge to ensure not only political but also security stability of the country, to enable its functioning. That was the political environment in which we started the mandate," Prime Minister Duško Marković said.

29 November 2018 - At the meeting of the Energy Community's Ministerial Council, which took place in Skopje on November 29, under the auspices of the Energy Community, a delegation of Montenegro was led by Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev chaired the meeting of the Council. Macedonia gathered ministers of energy, environmental protection, and climate change, bearing in mind the importance of functioning of energy systems by renewable energy sources, as well as energy efficiency, to reduce emissions with the greenhouse effect.

The meeting presented the Annual Report on the Implementation of the 2018 Agreement, drafted by the Energy Community Secretariat. This year's report, as well as the last year's one, reads that Montenegro has achieved the best grade when it comes to meeting the obligations under the Agreement. It was noted that Montenegro is the only Contracting Party which has not had an open case to date in line with Articles 91 and 92 of the Treaty defining the initiation of proceedings against a member who does not respect the obligations provided for in the agreement.

About energy infrastructure, the PECI (Project of Energy Community Interest) list includes the project Trans Balkan Corridor - 400kV - Montenegro OHL Lastva - Pljevlja, while the PMI (Project of mutual interest) list consists of the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP).

Finally, the Council of Ministers made decisions on the transfer of the Regulation EU 2017/1369 concerning the energy efficiency labeling of products, as well as the Regulation 1227/2011 on the integrity of the energy market and transparency in the national legislation of the Contracting Parties.

28 November 2018 - Minister of Science of Montenegro Sanja Damjanović participates at the Ministerial Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Nuclear Science and Technology: "Response to Current and Future Development Challenges" in Vienna on 28 and 29 November 2018. 

As part of the plenary session, the Minister of Science addressed the delegates of the Conference from the member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and presented the system of science and research in Montenegro with a focus on current ongoing and development projects implemented by the Ministry of Science, and in particular the regional project Initiative to establish the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), whose 4th Steering Committee meeting was held on 27 November 2018 at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. 

"Montenegro has significantly benefited from the fruitful cooperation with the IAEA. We approach this cooperation from the standpoint of ensuring safety and security and facilitating sustainable economic and environmental development for the benefit of our citizens. Close collaboration with the IAEA has an added value for Montenegro since it helps us to fulfill requirements stemming from the ongoing EU accession process. I will concentrate on the following only on matters of particular interest to Montenegro," said Damjanović.

The Minister particularly emphasised the cooperation of Montenegro with the International Atomic Energy Agency, both in the area of technical cooperation and implementation of projects in which valuable equipment is purchased.

"I would like to express my deep gratitude to the IAEA for having provided already its support for Capacity Building, and to the European Commission for providing first direct financial support to start the Design Study Phase of the project. I also owe great thanks to the international research institutions CERN and FAIR-GSI for their readiness to host the Working Groups associated with the Design Study Phase until the site of the project is selected. With this project, I have addressed you today also in my capacity as the Chairperson of the SEEIIST Intergovernmental Steering Committee," concluded Damjanović.

The International Atomic Energy Agency Ministerial Conference is a forum with over 1,000 registered participants. Addresses were delivered by the heads of delegations from 64 countries, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of France, Switzerland, Germany, and others. The conference was followed by panels, and the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration is also foreseen. 

28 November 2018 - Montenegro sees European integration as an opportunity to secure the safety and quality of life of its citizens through an active contribution to a major project of peace and prosperity on the entire European continent, Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin said at a meeting with President of the National Council of Austria Wolfgang Sobotka in Podgorica on November 28.

The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that an adequate evaluation of the reform results of Montenegro is an opportunity for both the European Union and the member states to affirm, on the example of Montenegro, the concrete effects of European policy in the Western Balkans.

In that regard, he thanked Sobotka on the continued political support of the top Austrian officials for Montenegro's EU bid, hopeful that during the Austrian presidency of the EU Council, negotiations in Chapter 27 on environmental protection will be opened.

He also said he is hopeful that the evident progress that Montenegro will achieve in the field of the rule of law will soon result in the obtaining of concrete conditions, the so-called benchmarks, to close the negotiations in chapters 23 and 24, as well as a more dynamic process of closing negotiations in other chapters.

President Sobotka congratulated Montenegro on its success in the process of European Integration, adding that Austria is interested in the entire region of the Western Balkans to start moving in the same way.

He said he is optimistic about negotiations in Chapter 27 to be opened during the Austrian presidency of the EU Council.

Emphasising the importance of economic cooperation with Montenegro, the Austrian official said that the value of Austrian investments per capita in Montenegro is higher than in other countries of the region.

27 November 2018 - According to preliminary data, total tourism revenue will exceed 1 billion euros, Prime Minister Duško Marković said in the Parliament of Montenegro, adding that Montenegro has been setting tourism records one after the other.

"This means that our tourism industry develops, acquires new knowledge and competencies and becomes competitive in the region and beyond. Furthermore, this year we have witnessed that the postseason lasted considerably longer than previous years, i.e., that it lasted practically until the beginning of November, which is just another step towards achieving our goal of Montenegro becoming a year-round tourist destination," said the Prime Minister.

Speaking about tourism, PM Marković also stressed that in the past two years of the Government's mandate, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism had issued more than 60 building permits for 4 or 5-hotels. 

"I have to express my satisfaction with the dynamics of major projects in tourism: Porto Montenegro, Luštica Bay, Porto Novi, but also a series of smaller, equally high-quality initiatives, namely Iberostar hotels in Njivice and Perast, hotels Lazure in Meljine, as well as those in Ulcinj, such as the Karizma Hotels Group's projects on the Great Beach. However, the Government also invests in tourist capacities in the north of our country, and an investment in the large ski resort in Bjelasica continues. By the end of 2020, about EUR 70 million will be invested there. I expect that the "Kolašin 1600" sky centre will accept the first tourists in the coming days," Prime Minister Duško Marković noted. He concluded by saying that he is satisfied with the tourist season and the derived economic benefits, adding that he believes that we can do more and do better.