Minister Darmanović participates in NATO foreign ministers meeting

Brussels, Belgium (31 March 2017) – Minister of Foreign Affairs Srđan Darmanović participated today, 31 March, in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. Given that Montenegro is an invitee, Minister Darmanović participated in all sessions of the meeting.

NATO foreign ministers discussed the implementation of decisions and achieving objectives of the previous Summit in Warsaw in the field of defence and projecting stability beyond the NATO borders, with a particular focus on the fight against terrorism. All member states reiterated the commitment to achieve NATO standard of 2% of GDP allocations for defence as soon as possible, which will contribute to more balanced and fairer distribution of the burden of European defence costs among member states. Ministers reiterated the commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and underlined the need to respect and implement the Minks agreement.

Minister Darmanović stressed Montenegro’s commitment to the key NATO tasks through contributions to the Alliance’s efforts to deter and defend and project stability. He also informed other officials about the ratification process of Montenegro’s Accession Protocol and expressed strong satisfaction with the outcome of the vote on ratification in the US Senate. Allies welcomed the pace of ratification and strongly supported the upcoming formalisation of Montenegrin membership in the Alliance.

Minister Darmanović had short meetings with the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office Boris Johnson, Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia Miroslav Lajčak and the foreign ministers of Slovenia, Croatia and the Netherlands Karl Erjavec, Davor Ivo Stier and Bert Koenders.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS