Luxembourg: Ivanović at the meeting of NATO political directors

Yesterday, and today in Luxembourg, a meeting of Political Directors of the Ministries of Defense of NATO countries was held, which was chaired by the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller. As a representative of the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, the meeting was attended by Director General for Defense Policy, Mr. Ivica Ivanović, with the delegation.

At the meeting in Luxembourg, the views on topical issues of the current agenda of the Alliance were exchanged, with special emphasis on collective defence, the importance of preserving the transatlantic values and the need for greater investment in defence purposes, in the light of the upcoming NATO Summit, on 25 May in Brussels.

Analyzing the dynamics of implementation of decisions taken at the Summit in Warsaw, the political directors expressed their satisfaction with the achieved level of adaptation of the Alliance to modern security challenges and threats. They agreed that solidarity and joint efforts of the member states is crucial to preserve the credibility of the Alliance and that, given the complexity of the security environment, it is necessary to ensure complementarity of actions with other international actors, primarily the European Union. The participants of the meeting positively assessed the growth of the defence budget at the level of the Alliance, and in this context reaffirmed readiness for full fulfillment of obligations from Wales.

Noting that Montenegro, as a future full-fledged member, actively monitors developments in the Alliance's collective defence, but also the projection of stability, Ivanović reiterated full readiness of our country to contribute with maximum dedication to meet all of the key NATO tasks. He stressed that Montenegro, with the implementation of comprehensive reforms, is a positive example for other countries in the Western Balkans, as well as the fact that European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes have no alternative in this part of Europe.

Ivanović has expressed the satisfaction with the pace of the process of ratification of the Protocol on the Accession of Montenegro to NATO, pointing out that at the next meeting in this format, Montenegro will be in the capacity of a full-fledged member.

Political directors of NATO countries welcomed the participation of Montenegrin delegation and stressed that the success of the reform process in Montenegro and clearly demonstrated political will are the best indicators of how to become a contributor to security.