Foreign Minister Tuomioja: Finland strong promoter of EU enlargement policy

Helsinki, Finland (7 March 2013) – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Igor Lukšić met Wednesday with Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Minister Tuomioja highlighted that Finland strongly supports the open door policy referring to the EU accession process, along with the consistent respect for the prescribed membership requirements. He underlined that Montenegro has achieved positive results in the accession process so far, adding that Finland is willing to provide professional assistance to Montenegro in fulfilling requirements from the European agenda.

DPM Lukšić informed Minister Tuomioja about the current situation in the accession process, in particular about the dynamics of establishing the negotiation structure, bilateral and explanatory analytical reviews and drafting the action plans for chapters 23 and 24. He pointed out that Montenegro is interested in strengthening collaboration with Finland through twinning projects and commended the engagement of the Finnish experts through TAIEX support for the negotiation process.

The meeting pointed out that the cooperation between the two states is very good and that there is space for further improvement, in particular in the fields of economy, tourism and education, stressing that the opening of the negotiation chapters 23 and 24 will make Montenegro a favourable environment for attracting investments from Finland. Nordic model of cooperation could have a strong impact on fostering the neighbourhood policy and good relations among the Western Balkan’s states, the two officials concluded.