22 October 2019 - President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović and his wife Lidija were guests at the enthronement ceremony Kyoen-no-gi which was hosted by Emperor Naruhito with Empress Masako for the highest officials at the Palace Reception.

The President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović also attended the ceremony of the enthronement of His Imperial Majesty Naruhito at the Seiden State Hall later, reported the Office of the President of Montenegro.

President Đukanović will be a guest at the Palace Reception after the Kyoen-no-gi ceremony, which is organized by Emperor Naruhito with Empress Masako for the highest officials.

The President will also attend a dinner with more than 170 delegations, led by Crowned Persons, numerous Heads of State and Government, United Nations and European Union representatives.

On the second day of his visit, President Đukanović will have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Read more news about politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

21 October 2019 - The most beautiful girls from more than 50 countries, including Montenegro, are competing tonight for the Miss Globe title in the southernmost city of Montenegro, Ulcinj.

The Miss Globe is an Annual International Beauty Pageant run and produced by Deliart Association & owned by the Canadian based The Miss Globe Beauty Pageant. It is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants, as well as the women’s personality traits, intelligence, talent, and a contestant's ability to answer judges' questions on various subjects as judged criteria. The pageant is organised every year, and the International Final is open to the public and broadcasted by the national TV channels.

During their stay in Montenegro, representatives of the participating countries visited Podgorica, Tivat, Bar, Kotor and Cetinje, all with the aim of promoting Montenegro as a tourist destination.

In an interview for RTCG Portal, a representative of Montenegro, 21-year-old Martina Božinović told that the girls were most delighted with Tivat and Porto Montenegro, but also with Cetinje.

"I feel a kind of responsibility for the role of the host. For this reason, it was easier for me last year at the Miss Tourism World competition in China," Martina said with a smile, stating that she is not currently as focused on winning, as much as she aims to represent Montenegro in the best way possible.

Watch the Miss Globe pageant live at the Official Miss Globe Website.

20 October 2019 - The Public Works Administration of Montenegro is currently implementing projects worth about 15 million EUR aimed at improving sports infrastructure. If investments completed over the past three years are included, the Government of Montenegro invested over 22 million EUR in sports, the Ministry of Sports and Youth and the Public Works Administration told CdM.

Recognizing the fact that individuals and sports teams need a quality working environment, and that children and youth require conditions for a healthy lifestyle, the Government demonstrated full commitment to the construction of adequate sporting infrastructure, which is today visible in whole Montenegro.

“One of the biggest sports projects is the new football stadium in Cetinje, which has been under construction. The Government of Montenegro, the Old Royal Capital Cetinje and the Football Federation of Montenegro are implementing this extremely important project that Cetinje and the whole Montenegro will be proud of. The value of the investment is 8.8 million EUR, while the Government will allocate around 4.4 million EUR for it through the Capital Budget,” the Public Works Administration and the Ministry of Sports and Youth announced.

Reconstruction of the indoor swimming pool in Kotor is also one of their priorities.

Moreover, these two state bodies announced the construction of sports facilities in Rožaje-based Gymnasium and the Secondary Vocational School in the total value of 1.63 million EUR. The plan is to demolish the existing sports facility and upgrade it by constructing a new facility at an area of 1,500 square meters.

In addition, the public procurement procedure is underway for the reconstruction of the West Stand at the ‘Sutjeska’ stadium in Nikšić. This city will also get a new sports facility at the Faculty for Sport and Physical Education worth a total of 1 million EUR.

Other essential and already implemented projects are a new sports hall in Berane (opened at the end of last year), construction of a sports ground in Andrijevica, as well as the supporting football stadium with artificial turf in Žabljak.

Simultaneously, the Public Works Administration will continue with the opening of new sports construction sites following the Capital Budget of the Government of Montenegro.

The representatives of the Ministry of Sports and Youth of Montenegro have announced that the Ministry successfully implemented 27 out of 37 projects aimed at the improvement of sports infrastructure, while the remaining ten projects are in their final phase. Nearly 1.1 million EUR has been allocated for these projects.

Read more sport-related news at TMN's dedicated page.

19 October 2019 - President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović received Archil Talakvadze, the speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, who is visiting Montenegro.

President Đukanović welcomed the visit by the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, who continued the practice of continuous political communication between the two countries, which contributes to the strengthening of relations and the achievement of common goals. In addition to congratulations on his recent election at the position of the Parliament Speaker and the election of a new government, the President said that his visit to Tbilisi at the invitation of the President of Georgia, as well as the opening of consulates in Tbilisi and Bar, headed by honorary consuls, would be an incentive.

He emphasized that Montenegro appreciates Georgia's contribution to NATO's mission, and reaffirmed Montenegro's support for an open door policy.

President Đukanović also reminded that in addition to parliamentary cooperation, the two countries have good communication in the field of defense, and especially emphasized the importance of strengthening economic ties and promoting tourism cooperation.

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament thanked the President for his exceptional hospitality and stressed that he was impressed with Montenegro's achievements and strong leadership, which are an inspiration and encouragement for his country, government, and people. He reaffirmed his country's full commitment to partnering with the Alliance.

He stressed that President Đukanović's visit to Georgia would be a confirmation of political support for the country and an opportunity to discuss with the businessmen in the delegation the ways of strengthening economic co-operation and sharing of resources, reports Office of the President of Montenegro.

President of the Parliament of Montenegro Ivan Brajović also hosted a delegation of the Parliament of Georgia, headed by president Archil Talakvadze. On this occasion, Brajović pointed out in the meeting with the delegation that the visit was an additional impulse for strengthening ties and enhancing political dialogue at high and the highest level.

Read more news about Politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

18 October 2019 - The art exhibition New Realities - Réalités Nouvelles, which will open on Saturday, October 19 in Paris, will feature artworks from four artists from Montenegro, reports CdM. This collaboration was mediated through an artist living and working in Paris, Milija Belić, who suggested that Montenegro presents itself at such a prestigious cultural event.

Réalités Nouvelles exhibition has an international character and brings together the most eminent artists from all over the world. Founded in 1946, it represented the ideas of artists such as Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich and Lissitzky, extending the views of the groups that preceded and were active in the first half of the 20th century; most notably “Cercle et Carré” and “Création-Abstraction”, in time grew into an association that today bears the name Réalités Nouvelles. The group gathers over four hundred artists, oriented to abstraction in the field of painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, engraving, and digital media. Today, the Salon is open to all artists who deal with abstraction in any form of fine art. It represents a "stepping stone" for artists for further success and progress in the field of abstraction, as well as an inexhaustible source of ideas and possibilities.

As TMN reported earlier, the exhibition New Realities - Réalités Nouvelles from Paris was recently presented at the Modern Gallery Jovo Ivanović in Budva, Montenegro, from July 20 to August 20. The exhibition, organized by Public institution Museums and Galleries of Budva in cooperation with The Salon des Réalités Nouvelles from Paris, was one of the most important in this year's exhibition season of the Institution and represented important cultural cooperation between France and Montenegro. At the exhibition, whose curator was Senka Subotić, 50 artists who have dedicated their work exclusively to abstraction presented their artwork.  

This year, the President of the New Realities Salon paid tribute to the director of the PI Museums and Galleries of Budva, Ms. Lucija Đurašković, and invited her to select four artists to present at this year's prestigious exhibition of the Réalités Nouvelles Salon. Four abstract artists who were selected by Ms. Đurašković and who will present their artwork in Paris are Montenegrin artists Dragan Karadžić, Nataša Đurović, Biljana Keković and Vaso Nikčević.

The artists’ participation in the exhibition in Paris is realized under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, the Municipality of Budva and the support of the Embassy of Montenegro in France.

17 October 2019 - Starting from 20 October, Delta City shopping mall will not be charging for parking on Sundays. Delta City representatives said that the mall would be working according to the established schedule when the new provisions start to apply, except that boutiques will be closed.

"Facilities that will be working on Sunday are the cinema, hospitality facilities, mobile operators, playground, flower shop, banks, dry-cleaning service, beauty salon, pharmacy, and other services. On Sunday, parking will be free of charge," the statement said, writes Cafe del Montenegro.

Parking tickets started in August and it was necessary due to scores of cars and the boost of settlements near the shopping mall.

"The decision to charge for parking is aimed at providing enough space for parking. On weekends, the area around Delta is jammed with buses from the coast and Albania. Settlements nearby spread at a great speed," said Delta City representatives earlier.

The first 30 minutes are free of charge whereas one hour of parking costs 0,40 EUR. For parking services, shopping mall employees pay 30 EUR per month.

Read more news about lifestyle in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

17 October 2019 - Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović took part in the main panel discussion of the INNOVEIT conference in Budapest, which the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) organises every year and also gave its annual award for innovation in one of the categories.

EIT innovation model is designed to efficiently transform the European innovation environment in a way that solves market and system deficiencies by linking all the actors in the field of innovation, regardless of which disciplines and sectors they are related to, to work together. Through the next EU programme (Horizon Europe 2021 – 2027), this institute will have an increased budget and one of its focus will be the expansion of the regional impact, including the Western Balkans countries.

"It is exciting to see how advances in robotics, chemistry and food science, energy and ICT, data science and artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering contribute to the significant innovations the nominated innovators have developed in the EIT Venture Award category," Minister Damjanovic noted, writes Ministry, emphasising that she comes from a small country in the Western Balkans, which has just started implementing innovation policies and developing and linking its innovation ecosystem, and that Montenegro finds great inspiration in seeing how society functions and changes for the better. 

The EIT Venture award was given to the finalists whose team has been developing a unique technology that converts wave energy efficiently and sustainably. Minister Damjanović also congratulated the innovators in other categories and the EIT communities, who, by supporting such innovators, make Europe, a true innovation union.

Read more news about business in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

17 October 2019 - Montenegro is fast becoming a major world-known luxurious tourist destination, and being the Adriatic gem, it isn't difficult to understand why. Forbes Magazine has published a guide to picking the best destination to visit in 2020, with Montenegro in the top 20, highlighting the beauties of Kotor.

One of the most reliable and outstanding business magazines in the world, Forbes Magazine recently published an article on best places to visit in 2020, which is a destination guide by Ovation Travel Group's agents created to help the travellers pinpoint the best travel locations worldwide. “It confirms a few favorite places, but also has a surprise or two,” says the article. The top 20 destination list highlights Kotor, Montenegro, as one of the most unique natural attractions of the Mediterranean.

The Ovation Travel Group travel agency and Forbes have both recognized the beauty of Kotor, placing the gorgeous coastal city on the 13^th place on the list of “Top 20 Best Places To Visit In 2020”. Kotor is an excellent combination of natural, cultural and historical beauties, which makes the town worth visiting, and the article offers information on why travellers should visit Montenegro and Kotor, who is a “top candidate” to fall in love with the city and what they definitely shouldn’t miss.

“Montenegro, the Adriatic’s hidden treasure, is emerging as a desirable Mediterranean destination, state the OTG’s agents, adding that "it's the Adriatic’s hidden treasure".

“Today, Montenegro is emerging as a go-to luxury haven. Aman Sveti Stefan, Montenegro’s most luxurious hotel, raised the bar for hospitality in the country, and Marriott International just announced that it will bring the Ritz-Carlton brand to Montenegro in 2023,” highlights the article, introducing the readers to the continuously upgraded tourism offer of the country.

Forbes recommends the dreamy city of Kotor and Montenegro for all active travelers looking for hiking and adventure as well as for couples seeking relaxation and privacy. The OTG’s agents also highly recommend numerous landmarks in Kotor: Old Town Kotor, Perast, Our Lady of the Rocks, St. Ivan Fortress and more. “Kotor, another walled Dalmatian city, offers travelers an impressive and more natural experience. It's one of the best-preserved old towns on the Adriatic coast and is home to many churches and museums,” states the article.

16 October 2019 - A consortium of the German company WPD AG and the company Vjetroelektrana Budva (Budva Wind Power Plant) is the only bidder for the construction of the Wind Farm Brajići, reports Vijesti daily.

Tender documentation for the construction of wind farms on state-owned land in the municipalities of Budva and Bar was purchased by five companies, including a consortium that applied for the public call, which closed on Friday, two companies from Finland and one each from Belgium and China.

According to the data gathered by Vijesti daily, the German-Montenegrin consortium has offered an investment of 100 million EUR for the construction of wind a farm with the potential of producing 100.8 megawatts (MW). For the lease of 220.77 thousand square meters of state land, the company offered 2.5 EUR per square meter.

The tender required a minimum price of an annual lease of five cents per square meter. The government issues the state land for 30 years. Data on planned electricity production are expected. The offer also envisages the participation of domestic companies with 21.6 million EUR.

The Tender Commission has a deadline of 45 days, i.e., until the end of November, to verify whether the bidder meets all the requirements.

The representatives of the Montenegrin Ministry of Economy recently explained that this project would be implemented according to market principles, which means that there are no financial incentives for the state for the guaranteed purchase price.

German WPD AG has experience in the implementation of projects of this type in many countries, with a portfolio of installed capacity of 4.4 thousand MW.

WPD AG is a developer and operator of wind farms both onshore and offshore, acting worldwide. Since 1996, WPD has installed 2,200 wind turbines with a total of 4,450 MW. Currently, more than 1,500 MW are held as assets. Internationally, WPD is planning projects in the scope of 8,725 MW onshore and 7,250 MW offshore. For years, WPD has been awarded the first-class “A” rating by the Euler Hermes agency (Allianz Group).

15 October 2019 - Montenegro has made serious progress on its path to the European Union and will be its next member, said new European Parliament rapporteur for Montenegro Tonino Picula, reports Fena News Agency.

According to Picula, Montenegro will be the first in line as a new EU member state, but there’s still a lot to do until then. The EU has been facing numerous issues and it seems that the enlargement policy is not its top priority. Some EU member states clearly state that now is not the time to speak about the enlargement, which calls the whole story about the expected 2025 enlargement into question.

In an interview for CdM, the newly-elected European Parliament Rapporteur on Montenegro Mr Tonino Picula claimed the enlargement policy hadn’t been the EU’s topmost priority anymore. He said that some EU member states categorically refuse further EU enlargement until the Union consolidates.

“No one will state loud and clear to be against the enlargement, it’s a part of a political game, but there’s a strong resistance within the EU member states, that is, they do not want the enlargement to happen until the rearrangement of power relations takes place, and some new models are adopted,” Mr Picula explained.

"In any case, the next enlargement of the Union, when it happens, will not occur without Montenegro. Whether Montenegro will enter alone or with another country is an open question. Still, if it continues this kind of work as it has done for ten years, then the next expansion will not be possible without Montenegro, "Picula said in an interview with Nova M. He said that the work that Montenegro has done so far must be noted, but it must also continue with reforms and next projects, because if there is no further progress, it can lead to serious frustration for both sides.

He also added that the enlargement policy reached a peak in 2004 when ten new states joined the EU and in 2007 – when Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession took place.

Mr Picula continued: “Currently, the enlargement policy is not one of the EU’s top priorities as the Union needs to consolidate itself first.”

"Montenegro has procedures in place, mechanisms to move forward with the conclusion of the negotiations, but what has not been done so far will have to be done in circumstances that will not always be easy. At the moment, the political scene in Montenegro is polarized; there are serious disagreements between the authorities and the opposition on how to proceed. However, I will try to overcome this gap with my experience in order to reach a common goal - Montenegro's membership in the EU, "Picula concluded.

Read more about politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.