NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor on an official visit to Montenegro

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today paid his first official visit to Montenegro, where he had a meeting with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović; the two prime ministers also attended a Montenegrin-Slovenian business conference. In a statement to the media following the meeting, Prime Minister Pahor highlighted the good and friendly relations between Slovenia and Montenegro, stressing that it is in the two countries’ common interest to further strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and seek new investment opportunities in this area, while maintaining stability in the region and cooperation in the wider region of the Adriatic Sea.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

Prime Minister Pahor, accompanied by a sizeable delegation of Slovenian businessmen, expressed Slovenia’s support for Montenegro’s efforts to join Euro-Atlantic structures, highlighting the importance of Croatia’s joining the European Union for further enlargement of the EU. He gave assurances that Slovenia would try to play as large a role as possible in convincing its partners in the European Union of the necessity of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

  

Prime Minister Đukanović thanked Prime Minister Pahor for all the support and help offered by Slovenia to Montenegro in its efforts to join the European Union, stressing that joining the European Union and NATO are Montenegro’s two main strategic objectives.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

  

Mr Pahor and Mr Đukanović agreed that the growing economic cooperation between the two countries should be further enhanced. In this connection, Mr Đukanović highlighted, in particular, the importance of Slovenian investment in Montenegro. Montenegro is Slovenia’s important foreign trading partner, and there are still many untapped opportunities for deepening cooperation between the two countries in various economic fields. "The Slovenian Government will help Slovenian and Montenegrin businessmen strengthen their cooperation, since Montenegro is very interesting from the point of view of investment," said Mr Pahor, going on to add that Slovenia and Montenegro will do their utmost to increase the volume of trade between them, which last year stood at $200 million.

 

(Foto: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

  

At the press conference, Mr Đukanović said that Slovenia had also offered development aid to Montenegro and that Montenegro is preparing many development projects to benefit from this aid. Mr Pahor stressed that an agreement on social security between the two countries was being prepared for signing, since Montenegro was the only former Yugoslav republic with which Slovenia had not yet signed the aforementioned agreement.  "Signing an agreement on social security will further improve the already excellent relations between the two countries," said Mr Pahor. The two leaders also exchanged views on tackling the current economic and financial crisis.

 

As part of the visit, Prime Minister Pahor also had a meeting with the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanović, and the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ranko Krivokapić.