PM Abazović opens Podgorica Youth Summit

It is very important for Montenegro to keep the EU enlargement process alive and to motivate and promote the arrival of as many investors from the West to Montenegro, said Prime Minister Dritan Abazović at a meeting with President and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Damon Wilson ahead of the opening ceremony of the Podgorica Youth Summit at the Montenegrin Music Center.

Damon Wilson, President and CEO of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, said the NED wants to support the strengthening of democracy and the development of the Western Balkan countries. Wilson congratulated Abazović on his appointment, emphasising that he is happy that a reformist leader has been elected Prime Minister of Montenegro.

PM Abazović, NED President and CEO Wilson, EU Ambassador to Montenegro Oana Cristina Popa, and  Programme Director of YIHR Montenegro Aleksandra Vukčević spoke at the opening ceremony of the Podgorica Youth Summit 2022, organised by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.

I think this is the most important place in Montenegro at the moment. Every place where we can promote young people, new energy, new ideas, new creativity, should be a priority of every government in the world, not only of Montenegrin. We really need to take a different approach. We need to talk about our future, to build our country with strong institutions, to be part of the Western world, to promote universal values and human rights, creativity, ideas, economic development, mobility of people and to know that we can only succeed if we all make changes in our country, said PM Abazović in his address to young leaders.

Prime Minister Abazović told the young people that the future is theirs and that this summit is a good opportunity to get to know each other and talk about how we see our country in the future.

I am sure that in the end we will all succeed together, and that the Balkans can be a much more democratic place, with organised societies, said the Prime Minister.

Minister of Public Administration Maraš Dukaj also attended the opening ceremony.