Prime Minister's Questions: We are satisfied with results of Summit in Sofia, Govt is working on abolition of border insurance with Kosovo

PHOTO: Prime Minister's Questions

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Prime Minister Duško Marković said that the EU – Western Balkans Summit, held in Sofia on 17 May, confirmed that the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union is of mutual interest, that it was not questioned and it is very important that, as far as Montenegro is concerned, the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian transport corridor was included in the Declaration of the Summit.

"I am sure that strong support to the development needs of the Region is as important as the political messages of the Summit, today I want to look at the other side of this Summit, that is, the perspective of Montenegro's economic development within the European process. Insufficient economic and infrastructural development is present in the Region, and therefore we should not wait for accession date in order to work with our European partners on infrastructure and connectivity issues. The good border tolerance, economic and trade cooperation, exchange of people and goods is of the great importance for the future of our countries and their development. We need to reduce congestion at border crossings, reduce and eliminate barriers in trade, increase mobility of young people, scientists and professionals. It is up to us to start working on these issues, through initiatives and projects, with the strong and concrete support of the European Union and the Member States. In this context, what is especially important for Montenegro, which I repeated several times, and it is also an integral part of the Sofia Declaration - is the issue, or consent for the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian corridor, better known as the Blue Corridor," the Prime Minister responded to the question of the head of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) caucus Miodrag Radunović.

The Prime Minister said that he met with the highest officials of the EU member states at the Summit: "I have talked about all these topics with Chancellors of Germany, Austria and the Prime Ministers of Finland and the Netherlands, as well as the results and plans that we have regarding the integration process. We agreed that a complex phase of negotiations is expecting Montenegro, and defined the key areas to be addressed: from the rule of law to further strengthening economic stability. I want to share with you the perception that Montenegro has a reputation of a constructive factor in the Region, and that is our quality that each partner welcomes. The strengthening economic cooperation was also discussed during the meetings at the highest level. The results of the talks are particularly important when it comes to strengthening bilateral cooperation with Finland in the field of energy," PM Marković said, adding that the Ministry of Economy will soon provide more details on the latter.

The Prime Minister concluded that the outcome of the EU – Western Balkans Summit, as well as its conclusions, give multiple reasons for optimism and that Montenegro is guided by its priorities and it is progressing at the planned pace in every respect.

"For that reason, we are convinced that the EU member states will respect these facts in accordance with the principle of merit based progress, but also on the basis of many years of partnership with Montenegro in this process, and beyond," PM Marković said.

Montenegro and Kosovo agree to overcome the problem of vehicle insurance at the border

Responding to the question of MP Ervin Ibrahimović from the Caucus of the Bosniak Party, the coalition "Shqiptaret te vendosur - Albanians Decisively" - Forca, Democratic Union of Albanians (DUA), Albanian Alternative (AA) and the Croatian Civic Initiative about the Government's actions in order to abolish the obligation of border insurance for motor vehicles for citizens of Montenegro and Kosovo, the Prime Minister said that the Republic of Kosovo is not a member of the Green Card System and that it does not recognise the green card as proof of the existence of insurance and therefore citizens pay the insurance at the border.

"As for the concrete answer to your question, I take the opportunity to inform you and the citizens that we recognise the importance of this issue, and with the full readiness to find a solution, on a number of occasions we talked with the representatives of the Kosovo authorities on this topic. The last time, two days ago - specifically on 28 May, during the visit of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs Osman Nurković to the Republic of Kosovo. According to information provided to me, on that occasion, agreement was reached with the Minister of Infrastructure of the Republic of Kosovo to overcome the problem of border vehicle insurance. In this regard, the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs, yesterday, with my consent, sent an initiative to the Ministry of Finance – which regulates issues in this field through the Insurance Supervision Agency – to find a model for overcoming this problem. At the same time, I asked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be involved in resolving this issue, and in the appropriate time, in cooperation with the relevant institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, an appropriate model will be proposed," Prime Minister Marković said.

Government is working on environment protection

Andrija Popović, on behalf of the Caucus of the Social Democrats of Montenegro and the Liberal Party of Montenegro, asked the Prime Minister what the Government is doing so that Montenegro, which according to the Constitution is the first ecological state in the world, justifies its ecological status and when ecological "black spots" will be eliminated. The Prime Minister said that the Government is working on the construction of modern wastewater and waste management plants, as well as the construction of a modern water supply and sewage network in every Montenegrin city.

"In the previous period, activities on the construction of waste management infrastructure were also very dynamic. Therefore, after ten years, the network of the built infrastructure includes: two regional landfills of non-hazardous waste (Podgorica and Bar), two recycling centres (Podgorica and Herceg Novi), four plants for vehicle waste treatment (2 in Podgorica, one in Nikšić and Cetinje), two transfer stations (Kotor and Žabljak), bio-waste treatment plant (Kotor), 9 recycling yards (6 in Podgorica, and one in Herceg Novi, Kotor and Žabljak), two facilities for treatment of medical waste (Berane and Podgorica) and a plant for leachate water treatment at "Livade" landfill in Podgorica", PM Marković said.

The Prime Minister added that restoration works of several additional landfills will be completed by the end of the year.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO