Krivokapić, Reintjes: Government has shown vitality and firmness

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić hosted today the newly appointed, non-resident Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands toMontenegro, H.E. Theodorus Antonius Reintjes.

Prime Minister Krivokapić congratulated Ambassador Reintjes on assuming the office, expressing belief that during his term relations between Montenegro and the Netherlands will be further improved.

The Prime Minister offered his condolences to the Ambassador regarding the recent weather disasters that hit Western Europe, as well as the friendly people of the Netherlands.

Our relations are friendly and partnership, but the plan of the current Government is to improve relations with all members of the Union and intensify political dialogue, because it is the best way for member states to really recognise our readiness and our European, democratic and political capacity and that through intensive cooperation, we truly become part of the European family, said Krivokapić.

The Prime Minister also informed the Ambassador about Montenegro's complex financial and epidemiological situation before the new Government assumed office.

However, today I can proudly point out that with the extraordinary efforts of the new administration, Montenegro is in a "green" epidemiological zone, that we have a sufficient number of vaccines to immunize more than half of the entire population in the foreseeable future and our budget in June records an inflow of funds that is higher than in June 2019, said Krivokapić.

Krivokapić pointed out that Montenegro is facing the challenge of achieving EU standard of living, but in order to achieve that it is necessary to face reforms that cannot be completely painless, which primarily concern the rule of law, social justice and the fight against organised crime and corruption at all levels.

We are using all available resources to organise the institutions so that we can deal with the mentioned plagues. We have started a direct fight against organised crime, but we also need EU's help. We have started a radical fight against cigarette smuggling, which shows the determination and zero tolerance of this Government to any kind of corrupt and criminal activity. We said at the beginning, and we stick to it, we don't want simple replacements, we want substantial changes. This Government wants to preserve the interest of all citizens of Montenegro in every situation, Krivokapić said.

Dutch Ambassador Reintjes said that his plan is to visit Montenegro at least once a week until Montenegro joins the EU, and that the crown of this process will be the opening of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Podgorica.

Many pessimistically predicted that your administration would not be so vital, but you have shown firmness. As for our cooperation, I am very optimistic. The Netherlands is open to the citizens of Montenegro and we highly appreciate the fight that the Government is successfully waging against the COVID-19 pandemic, said Reintjes.

The Ambassador of the Netherlands pointed out that there is a significant interest of Dutch investors to invest directly in Montenegro.

I think that more Dutch companies will be interested in investing in Montenegro, and the intention of the Embassy is to bring as many of our companies to Montenegro as possible, but first of all we have to fight COVID-19, said Ambassador Reintjes.

The Ambassador commended and supported all the efforts of the Government to establish the rule of law, gender equality, protection of the rights of the LGBT community and the fight against organised crime and corruption.