Washington: Minister Darmanović participates in conference "Shaping Balkan future in Era of Uncertainty"

Minister of Foreign Affairs Srđan Darmanović participated today in the conference "Shaping a Balkan future in an Era of Uncertainty", organised by the Atlantic Council of the United States.

The conference focused on political, security, economic and other aspects of the integration process of the Western Balkans in order to ensure its permanent and sustainable stabilisation, democratisation and economic prosperity.

During the presentation, at the panel which was opened by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and attended by Rosemary DiCarlo, President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Hedvig Morvai, Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans and Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Minister Darmanović assessed that the region is facing with political, security and economic challenges, and in this context stressed the importance of an active, visible and committed joint engagement of the EU, NATO and the United States.

He underlined Montenegro's commitment, as a responsible NATO member, to contribute to allied activities, especially in the area of preserving security, fighting terrorism and projecting stability beyond the borders of the Alliance.

Minister Darmanović reiterated that Montenegro is dedicated to providing support to regional aspirants and their reform processes, stressing that Montenegro will strive to strengthen cooperation in order to advance their progress on the Euro-Atlantic path.

Recalling that Montenegro will preside over the US-Adriatic Charter (A5) in 2018, Minister Darmanović announced that the focus of the presidency will be on preserving and strengthening the relevance of the Charter as one of the main mechanisms for integration and security cooperation in the region.

He also addressed the security, economic and other benefits of membership for Montenegro, at the same time referring to the positive effects of the membership on the stability of Southeast Europe and promotion of Euro-Atlantic values, which is also in the interests of the Alliance and its members.

High-ranking officials from the United States, regional countries, as well as representatives of international organisations and the academic community took part in the event.