Pažin, Kuburović agree on establishment of joint body for strengthening judicial cooperation between Montenegro and Serbia

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin met today with Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia Nela Kuburović, on the sidelines of the Forum of Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs of the EU – Western Balkans.

DPM Pažin said that Montenegro appreciates the current cooperation with the Republic of Serbia in the field of justice and that the Ministry of Justice is committed to its further strengthening. In this context, the establishment of the Commission for Monitoring the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two ministries was proposed as a qualitative basis for identifying new opportunities for strengthening partnership, trust and joint action in relation to agreements that Montenegro has signed with the Republic of Serbia. The task of the Commission would be to review existing solutions from the two countries' judicial cooperation agreements and analyse their effects in order to more effectively implement them in practice. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised the importance of the joint struggle of the two countries against organised crime, in which the Montenegrin and Serbian ministries of justice play one of the leading roles, especially in the part of the mutual extradition of their own citizens.

Minister Kuburović stated that Serbia remains open to strengthening judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters with Montenegro, and that she agrees with the statement that there is always room for further improvement of the partnership and good relations between the two countries. She said that the fight against organised crime is Serbia's priority, and that the Ministry remains open to jointly identify concrete steps to counter Montenegro and Serbia's organised criminal groups through further talks. The Minister expressed full readiness to establish Commission to monitor the implementation of the Memorandum.

The two officials expressed their readiness to recognise new models for further improvement of judicial cooperation through open and partnership communication. In order to further concretise the initiated talks on cooperation, DPM Pažin invited Minister Kuburović to pay official visit to Montenegro.