Meeting of the Minister of Defence Professor Milica Pejanović-Đurišić with the U.S. Senator Christofer Murphy

Minister of Defence Professor Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, PhD, during the return from the Halifax Security Forum, has met with the Senator Christofer Murphy in Washington, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Europe, and on this occasion talked about Montenegro’s results achieved on the way towards NATO and the USA context-support. The Minister referred to the decision of the NATO Summit in Wales to start intensified and focused dialogue with Montenegro, which she assessed as a sort of confirmation of the reforms’ success in the relevant areas obtained by partners and expressed expectation this support to be more pronounced in the forthcoming period.

Senator Murphy has indicated that Montenegro realized significant progress that brought it closer to NATO membership as confirmed in Wales.  Also, he has pointed out his attitude that Montenegro was ready to receive an invitation for membership at the Summit as well as the belief that the invitation will follow soon as a result of successful implementation of the reform process. He has highlighted that the membership of Montenegro in NATO would be important not only from the aspect of Montenegro, but also the region as a whole, having his unequivocal support.

The Minister has also met Emily Farkash, the American Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Euro-Asia. Information on the current intensified and focused dialogue course were exchanged in conversation as well as ideas for the better implementation of the process. They also discussed actual plans of the MoD of Montenegro regarding the follow-up modernization process of the Armed Forces of Montenegro and further support in advancing the capacities of the Military Intelligence and Security Affairs Department. The Minister has thanked the strong and continuous support of the Pentagon and expressed the expectation that this cooperation trend will continue in the future. In this regard, the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro will be focused on preparations for the upcoming Bilateral Consultations that are planned for the first half of 2015.