Greek defence minister Avramopoulos: Montenegro makes good progress towards NATO membership

Athens, Greece (11 March 2014) – During her official visit to Greece, Montenegro’s Defence Minister Milica Pejanović Đurišić met Monday in Athens with her Greek counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos.

Minister Avramopoulos commended the track record Montenegro has developed on its path towards the NATO and EU, and underlined that Greece will continue to support the achievement of Montenegro’s top foreign policy objectives. He also praised Montenegro’s highly constructive role in the region, adding it has been acknowledged as a powerful force for peace and stability in the Western Balkan.

He expressed belief that the results Montenegro has achieved in the reform of its defence sector and in the entire society will be adequately recognised in the international community, which will result in a recent invitation for the NATO membership.

Minister Pejanović Đurišić said that Greece’s support in that regard will be of great importance, given that Greece has a long-standing membership of NATO and had previously been Montenegro’s contact country.

The two defence ministers exchanged views on high quality defence cooperation between Montenegro and Greece, and agreed to make efforts towards further intensification of that cooperation, especially in the fields of education and training programmes for cadets and members of the Montenegrin Armed Forces, as well as in navy cooperation, joint participation in international missions and operations, and cooperation within regional initiatives.