Bulgaria to share with Montenegro practical experience in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration
22 January 2014 News
I confirm Bulgaria's full support for the integration of Montenegro in the EU and NATO. Our support is not only of political nature, because we can share our experience and expertise and we have very good prospects for concrete cooperation in various fields. This was said by Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin at the joint press conference in Podgorica with his Montenegrin counterpart Igor Lukšić.
We highly value Bulgaria's experience because the country belongs to the new generation of member states. For me there is no other country more suitable for exchanging experiences, said Igor Lukšić, expressing satisfaction that the Bulgarian top diplomat is the first Foreign Minister to visit Montenegro in 2014.
Kristian Vigenin and Igor Lukšićshared the view that the European and Euro- Atlantic integration is a key issue in the relations between Bulgaria and Montenegro. As an affirmation for this serves the Memorandum of cooperation in these areas between the two governments, signed today by the foreign ministers. They also decided to renew the political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Montenegro at Directors-General level on issues related to the EU integration, NATO and economic diplomacy.
During their meeting, Kristian Vigenin and Igor Lukšićdiscussed also other issues of the bilateral relations and prospects for achieving a more pragmatic direction in their development. As priority areas of cooperation, they identified economy, energy, transport infrastructure, as well as enhancing the contacts between the business and the NGO sector.
Among the topics of conversation of the two foreign ministers was also the regional cooperation. For Bulgaria, which assumed the rotating presidency of the BSEC in January, keypriority is the development of synergies between different regional formats and the implementation of project-oriented partnership, Kristian Vigenin said.
During his visit to Montenegro, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister also held meetings with the President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovićand the President of the Parliament, Ranko Krivokapić.
The President of Montenegro expressed his gratitude for the support of Bulgaria in the process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, emphasizing that the memorandum signed today will contribute to expanding cooperation. Minister Vigenin pointed out that Montenegro is a good example for the whole region and expressed the belief that it will continue progressing towards the EU and NATO, by being a constructive partner on important issues for regional cooperation.
Kristian Vigenin and Filip Vujanovićexpressed satisfaction that the bilateral political contacts are at exceptionally high level, which is excellent precondition for the development of pragmatic cooperation in the field of economy with its still unexplored options.
During his conversation with the President of the Parliament, Ranko Krivokapić, Minister Vigenin said that our country recognizes the need for more active cooperation between different parliamentary committees. "We believe that the experience of Bulgarian parliamentarians in the field of European and Euro-Atlantic integration will be useful to Montenegro," he added.
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