03 December 2018 - Cybersecurity has become an essential component of modern society. Critical societal infrastructure, the financial sector, governmental services, the security sector, schools, and hospitals are increasingly and irreversibly dependent on interconnectivity and the global network. Risks accompany the merits of the open Internet.

Cyberspace is an intrinsic part of the development of any country. Strong information and cyber capacity are crucial for the region to progress and develop in the economic, political and social spheres. Montenegro has advanced fast in the cybersecurity area since 2010 when the umbrella piece of legislation – Law on Information Security - was adopted, along with the Regulation on Information Security Measures. The country has an official university master-level program on cybersecurity policy, developed and delivered by the Donja Gorica University in Podgorica, which gives a unique mix of technical and policy-based knowledge on a variety of cybersecurity issues. The Donja Gorica University is also a partner in the above mentioned EU-funded TEMPUS project.

On December 3, Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro, Suzana Pribilović and UK Ambassador to Montenegro Alison Camp opened a roundtable dedicated to cybersecurity in Podgorica, sponsored by the Ministry of Public Administration and the UK Embassy, in cooperation with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

Minister Pribilović thanked the UK Government for the support provided, hopeful that the project of support in the field of cybersecurity will continue in the time to come. She said that one of the objectives of the Cyber Security Strategy for 2018-2020 is to carry out as many cyber exercises, training and simulations as possible, with the aim of strengthening the capacities for cyber defence. She recalled that the National CIRT (Computer Incident Response Team) successfully participated in resolving numerous incidents in the past period, which in many cases demanded cooperation, information exchange and coordination of activities with other relevant organisations, institutions and CIRT teams. Resolving such incidents resulted in developing contacts and collaboration with partners at regional and international levels, creating CIRT team at the local level and establishing cooperation with the private sector.

The national CIRT is also very active in promoting the culture of being safe in cyberspace. In 2015, it developed the document titled “Guidelines for Security and Protection of Information in Cyberspace”. In cooperation with the ITU, CIRT.me organised a cyber-drill in September 2015 for CIRT/CERTs from Europe. The drill was attended by more than 50 participants from Montenegro and other countries. Also, CIRT.me actively participates in the overarching TEMPUS project related to cybersecurity education in Montenegro.

During the roundtable meeting, Ambassador Camp said that the United Kingdom and its partners share concerns about the scale and complexity of cyber-attacks.

Camp explained that the only effective way to deal with these common threats is joint action. She added that the ability to deliver successful cybersecurity relies on the strength of the partnerships we create: partnerships between the government and its agencies, and between the public and private sectors, including academia and civil society. According to her words, Britain will continue to strengthen the shared vision of an open, peaceful and secure digital world based on the rule of law. Camp also pointed out that cybersecurity is a priority of bilateral relations between Great Britain and Montenegro, as it concerns the security and prosperity of the two countries.

The roundtable aims to increase the awareness of decision-makers and other relevant subjects on the growing threat of cyber-attacks. The national roundtable organized by DCAF is the first of the three annual roundtables where representatives and experts for cybersecurity are participating in the project "Cybersecurity in the Western Balkans."

01 December 2018 - According to the latest data, Montenegro has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region and even beyond its borders, with a 4.8% growth rate in the first half of this year. It has already been recognized as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the Mediterranean and one of the fastest developing tourist destinations in the world. Other areas, such as energy and agriculture, also have high potential. In this sense, we believe Montenegro is on the right track and has many possibilities in future, the ambassador of the UAE to Montenegro, Abdulsalam Hareb Obaid Al Romaithi said.

“This year, the United Arab Emirates and Montenegro mark ten years of establishing diplomatic relations that we traditionally foster through friendship, trust, solidarity, and mutual understanding. Over the past ten years, both countries have learned a lot of each other and found the way for partnerships in many areas. As a result of our cooperation, we’ve signed a vast number of significant agreements with the aim of improving our relations and achieving common goals based on the interests of both nations,” said the Ambassador of UAE, adding that “the UAE strongly support Montenegro, and will be committed to fostering relations with Montenegro even more.”

Montenegro has already reached significant progress in numerous areas since restoring its independence in 2006, according to Abdulsalam Hareb Obaid Al Romaithi.

During the last week, to mark ten years of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Montenegro, the embassy of the United Arab Emirates organized UAE-MNE Cultural Evening on November 27 at the Great Hall of the Cultural and Informational Centre "Budo Tomović".

During this occasion, it was concluded that the audience in Montenegro had the opportunity to enjoy the folklore performances of the cultural, artistic associations from the UAE, in a friendly exchange with the cultural, artistic association from Montenegro for the first time.

Read more information about the cultural exchange of United Arab Emirates and Montenegro here.

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.

30 November 2018 - The Protocol on Cooperation of Tourist Organizations of Herceg Novi and Saint Petersburg, signed in September, will be officially announced on December 1 in this Russian city. Representatives of the Tourist Organization of Herceg Novi, a delegation of the Municipality, as well as a dozen businessmen from Herceg Novi, representatives of local Tourist Organizations from the coast, the Ministry of Transport, the National Tourism Organization and Montenegro Airlines traveled to Saint Petersburg. Representatives of the Embassy of Montenegro in Russia will also be present.

According to the director of the Tourist Organization of Herceg Novi Pavle Obradović, a press conference is planned for December 1, where the main tour operators, travel agencies and the media will be present.

"I think that it is very important to establish cooperation with a popular tourist destination, from where a large number of tourists can come from us. Our city is a very attractive destination for tourists from Russia, and Saint Petersburg, a city of over five million inhabitants is a very emitting market and based on these facts the cooperation of tourist organizations of two cities will be affirmed," said Obradović, adding that they received support from the Ministry of Tourism and National Tourism Organization .

Herceg Novi and Saint Petersburg will cooperate in the field of culture and tourism. According to the Agreement, business cooperation includes cooperation in various fields such as tourist traffic, establishing and implementing the tourism development policy and its promotion, coordinating and organizing cultural, artistic, sports and other events, with the aim of mutual promotion and promotion of tradition, customs and ethnological treasures of tourist areas of two cities.

In May next year, Herceg Novi will host guests from Saint Petersburg for many cultural and entertainment programmes.

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.

28 November 2018 - Executive Director of the Joint-stock Company Airports of Montenegro, Danilo Orlandić, has recently met with the managing directors of the Laudamotion Airline, Andreas Gruber and Colin Casey, in Vienna. Since Laudamotion will establish the Stuttgart-Podgorica-Stuttgart line from April of next year, the details of this line have been considered, but the main topic of the meeting was the potential launching of additional routes from Montenegro.

During the meeting, Orlandić highlighted how it is a great pleasure for the Montenegro Airports to establish a relationship with a company like Laudamotion. He also mentioned the line to Stuttgart, assessing that the route will be hugely successful, given the growing interest in Montenegro from the German market. Significantly, the representatives of the two companies opened the topic of launching additional routes. Orlandić expressed his hope that they will complete these negotiations. “We agreed that we would meet again in Podgorica at the end of the year when I hope, we will deepen our cooperation," Orlandić said.

It is well known that the low-cost airline is looking to develop its destination map. During the meeting, Andreas Gruber explained that with the airline’s concept of prices that are in the service of passengers and an unbeatable price and quality ratio, Laudamotion manages to satisfy the needs of passengers. “We are looking forward to seeing our enhanced presence in Stuttgart during the summer of 2019. We are pleased that from now, on we can offer flights from Montenegro. Establishing a new line between Podgorica and Stuttgart, to be maintained by Laudamotion will significantly improve the connection between Montenegro and the German province Baden-Württemberg," he said.

Laudamotion, the No. 1 low-tariff airline in Austria, was founded in 2004 as a provider of charter flights for executive travel, serving European and international destinations. Years later, the company was taken over by Niki Lauda, former Austrian Formula One driver and a three-time F1 World Drivers' Champion. Europe’s largest budget carrier Ryanair bought 75,1 percent stake in Vienna-based Laudamotion in 2018.

From its headquarters in Vienna, Laudamotion is oriented to the fastest growing base in Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, and Palma. This Austrian airline operates flights to 50 destinations in 18 countries.

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.