Ambassador of France to Montenegro Dominique Gazuy in a visit to the Ministry

Minister of Defence Boro Vucinic received today the Ambassador of France to Montenegro Dominique Gazuy. The meeting was attended by French military attaché Lt. Col. Fabrice Duda.

Minister Vucinic acquainted his guests with the activities of the Ministry of Defence, the dynamics of fulfilling the partnership goals within the framework of the NATO Membership Action Plan, the participation of our soldiers in the ISAF peacekeeping mission, UNMIL and ATALANTA , development plans and opportunities for cooperation with the Republic of France, which has an important role in the European Union and NATO.

Minister Vucinic has initiated the possibility that the officers of the Armed Forces of Montenegro participate in the ATALANTA mission on board French ship. Ambassador Gazuy and the military attaché Duda expressed their willingness to welcome such an initiative.

Ambassador Gaza spoke about the possibilities of the Memorandum of multi-year program of French language training. With the support of the International Organization of la Francophonie, during the next three years, 300 representatives of the Montenegrin administration will be able to conduct negotiations in French. Minister Vucinic expressed appreciation for the possibility that within that program officers of the Ministry of Defence will also be given an opportunity to learn French, because this represents a great contribution to the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Montenegro.

During the meeting, the Regional Centre for training helicopter pilots in the Air Force Base Golubovci was also discussed, as well as opportunities to develop this project.

Minister Vucinic informed the Ambassador on the call for participation at the International Workshop on Global Security, which will be organized by the Centre for Strategic Research in Paris from 16 to 18 June.

The symbolic beginning of cooperation between the Defence Ministries of Montenegro and the Republic of France began with a visit of a French ship “Plutin”, in April 2008. It was announced that the French Navy ship "Lyre" will stay in Montenegro in the second half of June. Minister Vucinic has expressed willingness for the cooperation of the two Ministries to be continued in the future, and said that the signing of a Cooperation Agreement would create a legal framework for strengthening of the cooperation, and invited the French Minister of Defence to visit Montenegro.
Attache Duda thanked for the invitation for an officer of the French Republic to be staying at the Ministry of Defence since September, which will significantly contribute to cooperation between the two countries in the area of defence.