Podgorica, Montenegro (9 July 2014) — Prime Minister Milo Đukanović was the guest of honour at the working lunch organised by Italian Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco, on the occasion of the beginning of the Italian six-month rotating presidency over the EU.
In his address, PM Đukanović highlighted that Montenegro is committed to the EU integration process and welcomed the fact that Italy took the presidency over the EU, having in mind that this country strongly supports the EU enlargement policy.
“Montenegro’s commitment to the accession process means even more now, having in mind that Italy is our neighbour which cherishes a wide-range of political, cultural and economic ties with the Western Balkans. We hope that during its presidency, Italy will continue to work on the opening of the new chapters with Montenegro. In that regard, let me remind you that Montenegro has opened five chapters in the previous half-year period, which means that our country has significantly enhanced its European path,” PM Đukanović emphasised.
Ambassador del Monaco commended Montenegro’s government for its commitment to pursuing the European agenda, adding that Italy highly appreciates PM Đukanović’s role in consolidating the pre-accession process requiring a lot of reforms for meeting EU standards and criteria.
He underlined the main EU goals during Italy’s presidency, with a particular emphasis on the enlargement policy which represents a strategic priority and major mechanism for promoting democracy, peace and security in Europe. He announced that new negotiating chapters are likely to be opened by the end of 2014.
The meeting also discussed other issues relevant for Montenegro’s progress towards EU accession, namely the rule of law, freedom of the media and economic development.
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