Government establishes Council for NATO Membership, appoints National Coordinator for NATO

Podgorica, Montenegro (7 March 2013) -- At today’s session, the Montenegrin Government established the Council for NATO Membership and appointed Prime Minister’s Advisor for foreign policy Nebojša Kaluđerović as National Coordinator for NATO.

The Council will supervise the entire Montenegro’s Euro-Atlantic accession process and coordinate political, legal, military, defence and other activities of the state’s authorities, the National Coordinator for NATO told the press following the Cabinet’s meeting earlier today.

The main objective of the National Coordinator will be more efficient implementation of the requirements in key integration areas with special emphasis on increasing public support for NATO integration, strengthening the rule of law and dealing with security issues. This process will be supervised by the Council for NATO Membership, as the main political body, he said.

Mr Kaluđerović stressed that the Council will be fully committed to the implementation of the required standards and to more open dialogue with all structures of the Montenegrin society, including media, civil society and academies. NATO and EU integration processes are compatible, he added, as both organisations share common values in particular when it comes to the rule of law and democratisation of the society.

National Coordinator for NATO Kaluđerović concluded by saying that raising awareness of the importance of Montenegro’s accession to the NATO and identifying the advantages arising from it are crucial for making progress in achieving the high-ranked Montenegro's foreign policy goal.