Prior to meetings of Heads of diplomacies of the NATO members, Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović spoke in Brussels, in separate encounters, with the EU Special Representative for the Western Balkans and Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák, as well as with Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Republic of Croatia Gordan Grlić Radman.

At the meeting with the EU Special Representative Lajčák, the importance of the EU integration and enlargement process was emphasized as the most successful EU policy, which has transformative character for Western Balkans’ countries. In that context, the Head of Montenegrin diplomacy pointed out that “Montenegro has accepted the new methodology in the EU accession process as a signal of the overall commitment to its European path, which will help us to speed up the negotiation process”.  He added that Montenegro is a credible partner of the EU and that the EU membership support soaring to more than 80% represents a clear indication of our sincere belief in a system of values that the Union is representing.

Lajčák stated that Montenegro represents “an example of responsible stance towards European integration and regional dialogue”, thus expressing the confidence in the continuation of the successful policy implementation with the objective of the EU membership as rapidly as possible. He praised the overall commitment of our country to its Euro Atlantic path, therefore stating that activities in foreign policy course hitherto showed seriousness and responsibility in the implementation of key priorities.

During the conversation with Minister Çavuşoğlu, Minister Radulović pointed out that “relations of two allied countries characterize high-level political contacts, as well as a considerable cooperation”, assessing that there is a substantial room for its further enhancement. Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that the cooperation of two countries should be intensified in areas of common interests such as investments, economy, and tourism. Interlocutors considered the actual health situation, as well as the possibility of vaccine procurement with Turkey support. In addition, they agreed that in the following period additional activities should be taken in course of organizing political consultation, as well as platforms that should strengthen economic cooperation, as a particularly important subject in a post-pandemic period.

During the meeting with Minister Radman, Minister Radulović stressed that one of the key priorities of our foreign policy represents “further developing of good-neighborly relations with everyone, whereas the cooperation with Croatia is of special interest”, while promotion of zero-problem doctrine with its neighbors will be a key feature of Montenegrin foreign policy. On that line, he highlighted the importance of the expert and political support that Croatia is providing to Montenegro in the EU accession process as a clear confirmation of constructive and friendly bilateral relations.  Minister Radman stated that Croatia supports enlargement policy and that Croatia will continue to do so within the EU framework, so as Western Balkans would become part of the European family as quickly as possible. He also emphasized the importance of regional dialogue as the foundation for the stability of our region. During the meeting, the organizing of the official visit of Minister Radman to Montenegro was also discussed.