Minister of Foreign Affairs Srđan Darmanović paying official visit to Albania

Minister of foreign affairs of Montenegro Srđan Darmanović paid an official visit to Albania on 10 January 2017. On that occasion, he met with the Albanian Minister of foreign affairs Ditmir Bushati, President of the Republic of Albania Bujar Nishani, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament Ilir Meta and Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama.

During the meeting with the Minister Bushati, it was jointly concluded that the bilateral relations are excellent, strengthened by an intensive political dialogue at the highest level and with no open issues. The interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in numerous areas; they exchanged their views on new forms of cooperation, projects and activities, as well as agreed that a strong link in relations is represented by the Montenegrin community in Albania and the Albanian community in Montenegro. It was announced that the issue of representation of the Montenegrin minority in Albania’s State Council will be resolved; the negotiations on demarcation of the two countries will be ended, and the question of the status of Tuzi will be solved.

A special attention was devoted to the realisation of the joint infrastructure and environmental projects, cooperation in the fields of energy and tourism, and strengthening of transport links. It was noted that the maintenance and regulation of Skadar Lake waters and cooperation in the cross-border programmes should be highly ranked in bilateral agenda in the future. The complementary of strategic foreign policy objectives was evaluated as an added value in their relations, which is why the dynamic cooperation in the field of the European integration, as well as within the regional framework, will continue to be an important instrument of intergovernmental cooperation.

In addition to the improvement of economic cooperation and preservation of common natural resources, issues of minority rights and the situation of minorities were the topics of conversation between Minister Darmanović and other interlocutors. It was emphasised that minorities will remain an important part of the dialogue strengthening and cooperation between the two countries, whose position will be treated by both parties in the future with dedication and in the spirit of friendship and good neighborliness.

They as well exchanged their views on the geopolitical challenges, open issues and current developments in the region.