President of European Parliament: Montenegro stands good chance of becoming role model for region

Brussels, Belgium (22 March 2012) – Montenegro has an “enormous chance to become one of the real models for the whole region”, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz told the press following his meeting with Prime Minister Igor Lukšić in Brussels earlier today.

He added that the European Parliament will continue to provide full support to Montenegro's EU bid, expressing belief that the Montenegrin Government is “strongly committed to endorse necessary measures and to fulfil criteria“.

The European Parliament's President in particular commended Montenegro for including civil society in the accession negotiation structure, discribing it as a „unique step“.

PM Lukšić said that the forthcoming meeting of the Montenegrin and European parliamentarians, in charge of the Westen Balkans, is very significant.

“I hope it will be another step forward in terms of parliamentary cooperation because we see parliament as an important house in supervising the process of integration, but also the process of reforms“, PM Lukšić told the press.

PM said that he informed Mr Schulz about the measures Montenegro has undertaken in order to strenghten the Parliament's role and to fulfil the EU agenda, with special attention to constitutional amendments, dialogue with opposion parties, implementation of adopted legislation and judiciary system reform.

“I believe we are clearly passing the message that EU integration, along with Euro-Atlantic integration, is the first and foremost priority for Montenegro“, PM Lukšić concluded.