PM Krivokapić, Minister Linde: Montenegro's leading position in EU negotiations confirmed

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić organised a working dinner on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, H.E. Ann Linde. Minister Linde is paying a two-day visit to Montenegro, as part of Sweden's Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The Prime Minister used the opportunity to share his impressions with Minister Linde about the most important results in the implementation of priorities that are part of the agenda of Sweden's Chairmanship. This primarily refers to the defence of the European security order, the promotion of the comprehensive OSCE security concept, with special emphasis on human rights, democracy and gender equality, as well as the contribution to resolving conflicts in the OSCE region.

The officials agreed that the OSCE has a unique value as an organisation, whose task is to prevent conflicts and build trust and cooperation between participating countries, and that Montenegro will continue to contribute to the implementation of projects of mutual interest.

The Prime Minister thanked Minister Linde for the very purposeful and concrete cooperation that Montenegro has with the OSCE Mission in Podgorica, emphasising the importance of further progress in key reform projects that the Government is currently implementing. This primarily refers to the reform of electoral legislation, the improvement of democratic processes, the rule of law, freedom of the media and gender equality.

Minister Linde especially praised the successful, democratic transition of power after the elections in August last year. She pointed out that the dialogue with the Venice Commission showed the maturity of all state actors in choosing the way to resolve the stalemate in the revision of prosecutorial laws. Minister Linde assessed that this is an indicator of the Government's readiness to lead an open and transparent process in the adoption of new or innovated legal solutions, inviting all interested political groups in Parliament to participate in a dialogue. She confirmed that in this way, the leadership position of Montenegro in the negotiations with the EU is once again positively assessed and confirmed, emphasising the support for our primary foreign policy priority - to be the first next member of the EU.

Referring to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Linde praised Government's vaccination efforts, saying that the declining trend in the number of patients worldwide is evident. As she emphasised, that reinforces hope that the epidemiological situation will be normalised soon, which will relieve the health system and create the necessary preconditions for economic recovery.

President of the Parliament Aleksa Bečić, Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović also attended the working dinner.