17 November 2018 - The European perspective of the Western Balkans now is much better than it used to be, said the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz. Kurz also emphasized that Montenegro’s frontrunner status in the EU accession process has been unquestionable and if “it keeps progressing so fast”, 2025 might be a feasible accession date.

“From the beginning of this year, we have intensified our cooperation with the region. The EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Sofia, conclusions of the Council for enlargement of July as well as the London Berlin Process Summit in July sent a clear political message – the EU has been the commitment towards the enlargement. I am deeply convinced that the EU can not be complete unless the Western Balkan countries join it,” concluded Kurz, expressing the importance of Montenegro as a frontrunner in the Western Balkans region.

As for the possible delays of the EU enlargement, Kurz pointed out that it is very important for the countries of the region to focus on required reforms and good neighborly relations, that need to be further upgraded.

During the Europe-Forum Wachau which took place in June this year, Chancellor Kurz concluded that Austria will support integration plans of Montenegro, keeping in mind that the Western Balkans are among the priorities of the Austrian presidency. He also added that the Austrian government is encouraging Montenegro to open two new chapters during the following period because they think that such a step is well deserved.

Read more about Montenegro's involvement in Europe-Forum Wachau here.

16 November 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković met with the delegation of the municipality of Pljevlja led by the President of the Municipality Mirko Đačić. At the meeting, it was noted that successful consolidation of public finances and establishment of financial stability in Pljevlja enables the Government of Montenegro and the local leadership to devote more to strengthening the road and energy infrastructure in the municipality. 

The Prime Minister congratulated the upcoming Municipal Day to citizens and local leadership and expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in Pljevlja. He pointed out that additional efforts in the area of public finances have to be made, and he announced new support which can be expected through the new Law on Financing of Local Self-government. 

Đačić praised the stable work of the economy in the municipality. He mentioned projects in the field of road infrastructure that will ensure a better life for citizens of Pljevlja and added that soon they can expect the wastewater treatment plant to be put into trial work.

Expressing personal interest in the city's toplification, Prime Minister Marković emphasized that problems are solved and that the project would go in the right direction. Đačić informed that contracted works for the first phase amounted to 3.56 million euros, while four million are needed for the second phase of toplification. 

Special attention was given to the sector of energy and wood processing through new development chains that will give a new impetus to the economy, where they see a good chance for small and medium enterprises. The area of agriculture is particularly praised, with a strong support from the Ministry of Agriculture. The Prime Minister also noted the fact that in the second quarter there was a growth of 8.8 percent in agricultural production in Montenegro. 

The meeting was also attended by Vice President of the Municipality Anela Krištostorac and the President of the Municipal Assembly Dragiša Sokić, who expressed the intention of the local parliament to adopt regulations that will reduce business barriers for small and medium enterprises.

16 November 2018 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Montenegro Milutin Simović met with Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Šarović. The two officials held a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Ministerial Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in Struga. 

Minister Šarović stressed that Montenegro is a regional leader in the field of agriculture within the European integration process and its experience will be extremely important for Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the meeting, the Agreement on cooperation in the field of agriculture and rural development between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed. 

DPM Simović said that the Agreement is another step in the creation of an additional framework for deepening cooperation and good neighbourly and friendly relations between the two countries.

He said that the Agreement gives the opportunity to develop cooperation not only in the field of agriculture and rural development but also in the fields of forestry and water management.

"I am confident that our experience will be useful to our colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the opening of negotiation chapters, meeting the initial and final benchmarks, as well as the use of pre-accession funds," DPM Simović said, stressing that Montenegro will offer institutional assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The two officials also pointed to the importance of the fact that Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have open issues. 

"We can encourage the businessmen of the two countries that Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to cherish the relationship of openness and respect of the signed free trade agreements," Deputy Prime Minister Simović stressed. 

DPM Simović also met with Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of Macedonia Ljupco Nikolovski, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia Aleksandra Pivec, and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry of Bulgaria Rumen Porodzanov.

15 November 2018 - Representatives of the European Commission recently met with the Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, Pavle Radulović. They expressed their satisfaction with the results achieved in the field of environment and said they were eager to support Montenegro in the forthcoming period in the implementation of adopted regulations and realization of demanding infrastructure projects.

Representatives of the Directorate for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations and Directorate for the Environment, as well as representatives of the European Union delegation to Montenegro, accompanied by representatives of the European Commission paid special attention to waste management and water quality. In that context, they said that provision of financial funds was a challenge along with the improvement of administration capacities in this domain.

Radulović presented the current situation in regarding the environment in Montenegro, current projects, particularly “Industrial waste management and purification”. Four locations with industrial waste will be rehabilitated within this project. The objective of these projects is the improvement of the environment, the life quality of the citizens and the fulfillment of the requirements envisaged by Chapter 27.

Also, the Montenegrin Economy recently received the principles to follow, which say that everybody will have to enforce the Best Available Techniques (BAT) and work more in order to prevent and reduce pollution, by the effective recovery of energy, reduction of waste and implementing measures for preventing car accidents and their consequences. The law on industrial emissions will determine certain obligations for industrial facilities, in order to avoid or reduce pollution by emissions and waste production as well.

This means that energy producers, metal and mineral production and processing, as well as waste management and other areas such as production of cellulose and paper, slaughterhouses and intensive livestock and pig farming will have to follow strict European rules defined by the law on industrial emissions that the government is to adopt by the end of the year. Read more about Montenegrin Economy Following the European Union's standards here.

The recent progression within Chapter 27, which is covered by environmental issues of the country, started the question of Montenegrin willingness to contribute to the Global Environment. During the meeting with the representatives of the United Nation, it has been concluded that Montenegro is striving to protect its available resources but also wants to contribute to overall global environmental protection initiatives. Read more about the whole process here.

Read more about the relationship between Montenegro and European Commission here.

15 November 2018 - The first Consular Forum organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro is being held on November 15 and 16 in Podgorica.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro Srđan Darmanović, who opened the Forum, expressed his satisfaction that Montenegro is the host of the first Forum that brought together representatives of seventeen countries, with the aim of exchanging experiences and views on the current situation in the area of visa policy, the challenges of migratory movements and consular services in the era of globalization, and pointed to the importance of a continuous strengthening cooperation in these areas.

"Thanks to the joint efforts over the past few years, we have made significant progress towards better cohesion in a number of areas, especially in culture, justice, internal affairs, education and science. With this same goal, we have organized the Forum, convinced that the result of this two-day work will contribute to the even better relations of the participating countries," said Darmanović.

Referring to the achievements of Montenegro in terms of foreign policy priorities, he stressed that our European and Euro-Atlantic partnerships guarantee the security of the country and the security of business and investment environment and that consular activities have an important role to play in that. The Minister concluded that Montenegro successfully fulfills all the obligations arising from the visa liberalization, and thanks to such a policy of the Government, Montenegrin citizens can travel today without visas in 100 countries of the world, while citizens from 104 countries can, without visas, stay in Montenegro.

In the context of the Global Pact on Migration and the upcoming meeting in Marrakech and in connection with one of the topics of the Forum, Minister Darmanović also pointed to the need for cooperation and joint action in relations to the more and more frequent migration movements. In this regard, he stressed that Montenegro seeks to maintain regular communication with the countries of the region and other partners, continuously developing mechanisms and strengthening the capacities in order to provide an adequate response to all challenges, with full respect for international standards.

The first Consular Forum in Montenegro lasts for two days, and the list of representatives includes the ministries of foreign affairs of Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Turkey.

14 November 2018 - In the framework of this year's Montenegrin presidency of the A5 Initiative, a meeting of Defence Ministers of the US-Adriatic Charter (A5) member countries was held in Budva on Wednesday, November 14. The meeting was opened by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Duško Marković, Minister of Defence, Predrag Bošković and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the USA, Laura Cooper.

Prime Minister Marković pointed out that the successful fifteen-year operations of the US-Adriatic Charter strongly confirms the quality of the defence cooperation of the Western Balkan countries. He highlighted the significant contribution of the A5 Initiative in achieving the strategic goal of Montenegro to become the 29th member of the North Atlantic Alliance, reminding that this is the third Montenegrin presidency of the Charter, but first as a full-fledged NATO member. Marković also said that the primary objective of the US-Adriatic Charter is to provide support to aspirant countries in the process of approaching and joining the Alliance. He concluded that Montenegro will continue to advocate the rapid and efficient fulfilment of the goals, ie strengthening the comprehensive bilateral cooperation of the countries of South-Eastern Europe.

Minister Bošković emphasized that the US-Adriatic Charter represents an important forum for promoting the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the countries of Southeast Europe, as well as a powerful instrument for strengthening regional cooperation in the field of defence. He said that during the Montenegrin presidency, the Charter confirmed the commitment of member countries to good neighbourly cooperation and joint confrontation with contemporary security challenges, in order to preserve regional stability.

Cooper emphasized the importance of the role of the US-Adriatic Charter in strengthening mutual understanding and trust in the countries of the region. She said that security challenges and issues create a need for defining common resources and projects, which will also contribute to further development of national defence capacities, and that the United States will continue to support the efforts of the countries of the region in this regard.

The participants of the meeting reaffirmed their determination to continue contributing to regional security and stability, through strengthening good neighbourly relations, improving political dialogue and developing military cooperation, in order to ensure lasting peace, stability and prosperity of the region.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Defence of BiH, Marina Pendeš, Defence Minister of Croatia, Damir Krstičević, Defence Minister of Macedonia, Radmila Šekerinska, Defence Minister of Kosovo, Rustem Beriša, Defence Minister of Albania, Olte Džačka, Slovenia’s State Secretary for Defence, Miloš Bizjak, and Serbia’s State Secretary for Defence, Aleksandar Živkovic.

13 November 2018 - The Government of Montenegro has undertaken numerous measures of systemic control of river flows throughout the country, as well as activities aimed at preventing further devastation of river beds due to natural meandering and illegal exploitation of sand and gravel, and in the cases of illegal activities on watercourses, especially in the lower part of Morača and Bolje Sestre zone, said Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović.

When asked whether the Tara River is endangered by the construction of the priority section of the Bar-Boljare motorway, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that regulatory works are being carried on other positions as well, not only in the construction area. All these regulatory works are carried out with a view to regulating the river, saving the property of the citizens, and that this is a regular process and something that will be done in the future. The construction of such major infrastructure projects leaves certain scares on nature, but there are remedial projects implying temporary measures, and after that everything that belongs to natures will be brought back to it, he pointed out.

12 November 2018 - Representatives of the Government of Montenegro, led by Prime Minister Duško Marković recently met with the delegation of the Old Royal Capital Cetinje, led by Mayor Aleksandar Kašćelan. 

It was stated that the good strategic position of Cetinje valued through the strengthening of the overall infrastructure and creation of new jobs will provide a better life for the citizens of the Old Royal Capital. 

Congratulating on 13 November - Day of the Old Royal Capital Cetinje, the Prime Minister emphasised the undisputed support of the Government for the development of the municipality, but also pointed to the need to strengthen fiscal discipline at the local level. Both sides agreed that additional efforts should be made to consolidate local finances and to collect taxes and reduce the gray economy, especially in the field of tourism. The number of unemployed citizens of Cetinje has been reduced by almost 400 in 2018. 

The meeting also discussed the implementation of capital projects. The 2018 Capital Budget foresaw the amount of 5,541,000 EUR for a total of 32 projects in Cetinje. 

Speaking about the budget for the next year, PM Marković pointed out that it will be focused on development by limiting spending to what is really necessary. 

Kašćelan and his associates expressed satisfaction with the support they receive through the Law on the Old Royal Capital, which enabled them to invest in the equipment of local companies and thus achieve savings. Additional support, as Prime Minister Marković said, can also be expected through the new Law on Financing of Local Self-Government which is being drafted. 

PM Marković concluded that the support and partnership between the Government and the Old Royal Capital remain unquestionable, but that the goal is to turn the possibilities into reality. 

12 November 2018 - Montenegro, 140 years after the Berlin Congress and a turning point in its history, is on a safe path to becoming the next full member of the European Union and taking its place among the developed countries. This was underlined at today's ceremony marking the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Congress.

The celebration of the 140th anniversary of the recognition of Montenegro's independence at the Berlin Congress was sponsored by the Office for European Integration and the Rectorate of the University of Montenegro. 

Chief Negotiator Aleksandar Drljević reminded of the most important attainment of the Berlin Congress - an international recognition of the statehood of Montenegro, which was won after a long-standing struggle in this region, pointing out that this event represented a new page of Montenegro's history, which laid the foundations for the creation of a modern European state.

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