New York: Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic meets Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey and Croatian President Stjepan Mesic

Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic met with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey yesterday in New York.

The Prime Minister acquainted President Calmy-Rey with Montenegros foreign policy priorities, its commitment to European and Euro-Atlantic integration, strong regional cooperation and good neighborly relations. He noted that, in terms of economy, politics and security, Montenegro was a stable country with a clear European perspective.

Referring to bilateral cooperation, the Prime Minister observed that there were concrete opportunities for its promotion, notably in the field of agriculture, as one of Montenegros strategic development goals, and expressed satisfaction with the inflow of investment from Switzerland.

President Calmy-Rey expressed her confidence both in the opportunities and readiness to strengthen overall bilateral relations between the two countries, pointing out that considerable progress could be made in that respect through joint efforts. She emphasized that Switzerland had a two-year framework strategy for cooperation with Montenegro.

During the talks, the two parties also exchanged views on topical regional issues.

Prime Minister Sturanovic also met with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic. During an open discussion, views were exchanged on the ways to further reinforce and promote bilateral relations, which are already very well developed.

Both parties agreed that the two countries should be constructive partners in their joint efforts towards EU and NATO membership, to which both Montenegro and Croatia were seriously committed, adding that this would help strengthen their mutual understanding and good neighborly relations throughout the region.

Last night, the Montenegrin Prime Minister was a guest at a reception hosted by US President George Bush for heads of government and state, participants of 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly.