The 54th Cabinet session – 26 May 2023

‎The Montenegrin Cabinet, at today's 54th session, chaired by Prime Minister Dritan Abazović‎‎, adopted ‎‎the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Safety of Maritime Navigation‎‎. ‎

‎The Decree amending the Visa Regulation was adopted.‎‎ Montenegro is fully committed to European integration as its key foreign policy priority and, in accordance with this commitment, amendments to the Visa Regulation ensure further harmonisation of Montenegro's visa policy with the EU. The amendment aligns the official name of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a decision by the Dutch authorities adopted at the beginning of 2020. The obligation to have a visa when entering, crossing the territory and staying in Montenegro is prescribed for citizens of the Republic of Ecuador. There were also corrections regarding the entry of the Republic of Croatia into the Schengen zone on 1 January 2023.‎

‎The Cabinet adopted ‎‎the Decision on the implementation of international restrictive measures, adopted by the Council of the European Union, in view of the situation in the Republic of Guinea‎‎.

‎The Cabinet adopted‎‎ the Decision on the formation of a Coordination Body for monitoring the implementation of the Declaration of Western Balkans Partners on Roma Integration within the EU Enlargement Process. The Coordination Body consists of seven members, headed by President ‎‎Sokolj Beganaj‎‎, Head of the Department for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Roma and Egyptians in the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.‎

‎The Cabinet adopted ‎‎the Decision on the formation of the Negotiating Working Group for the preparation and conduct of negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the European Union for the area of the Acquis communautaire relating to the negotiating chapter 11 – Agriculture and Rural Development‎‎.‎

‎The Cabinet adopted ‎‎the Programme of Incentive Measures in the Field of Tourism for 2023.‎‎ The total budget for the implementation of this Programme is 630,000 euros, of which the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism will allocate 400,000 euros from its own funds, and the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro 230,000 euros. The aim of the Programme is to enrich and improve the quality of the tourist offer while improving marketing activities in order to attract tourists from new emissive markets, aimed at generating higher revenues in tourism, extending the tourist season, increasing the level of occupancy of accommodation capacities, consumption and employment.‎

The ‎‎Report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)‎‎ within ‎‎GRETA’s third‎‎ evaluation report on Montenegro‎‎ was adopted.

‎The Cabinet adopted ‎‎the Information on Montenegro's participation, as full member, in the eleventh and twelfth rounds of the European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure (ESS ERIC).

‎The Cabinet adopted ‎‎the Information on the preparation of a Feasibility Study on the need to build a State Data Centre‎‎. In order to provide the necessary preconditions for further digital transformation of Montenegrin society, it is necessary to start activities on the planning of the construction of the State Data Centre, which would be a unique complex for the entire state administration built in accordance with all international standards related to data centres, information and cyber security. ‎

For full press release in Montenegrin, please follow this link.