Press release: Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic met with Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic met today in Podgorica with Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte, who is making an official visit to Montenegro. The visit represents part of the top-level communication between Montenegrin officials and institutions and The Hague Tribunal in the context of implementing the mandate entrusted to the Tribunal by the United Nations Security Council.

During the talks, reference was made to the cooperation the Government and relevant state authorities had so far had with The Hague Tribunal and prospects for its further development.

The Chief Prosecutor gave credit to the Montenegrin Government and relevant state authorities for their cooperativeness in the past and commended Montenegrin officials for publicly advocating fulfillment of international obligations.

The two parties emphasized the necessity of full cooperation of all countries of the former SFRY with the Tribunal, in order to bring to justice and punish perpetrators and individualize the crime. This would create conditions for the implementation of the reconciliation process between the nationals and countries, which is necessary for creating the atmosphere of trust, further development and progress of the region.

The Prime Minister informed the Chief Prosecutor that the Governments priorities included the strengthening of political and macroeconomic stability and the furtherance of the activities aimed at resolving the statehood status. As far as international relations are concerned, the Government focuses on European and transatlantic integration, i.e. a favorable Feasibility Study for the opening of the process of stabilization and association with European Union and membership in NATOs Partnership for Peace Program. Since the main prerequisite for each of these goals is full cooperation with The Hague Tribunal, the Montenegrin Government and competent authorities are clearly committed to cooperation with the Tribunal, which has been proved by the cooperativeness the state authorities have demonstrated so far, confirming the unambiguous commitment to the rule of law and respect for the principles of responsibility.

All relevant authorities, notably, bodies of the Interior Ministry and judiciary and prosecution authorities are ready to provide the required support to the Tribunals representatives on the territory of Montenegro.

Emphasizing that the persons indicted by the Tribunal could not reside in Montenegro without being arrested, the Prime Minister expressed the readiness of local authorities to cooperate with institutions of other countries in tracking down and bringing those persons to justice.

He stressed that Montenegro insisted on full cooperation of the other member of the State Union with the Tribunal, since lack of cooperation would led to backwardness and isolation.