Abazović and Radulović pay visit to Atlantic Council

Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović delivered a lecture at the headquarters of the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.

If we want the Western Balkans in the European Union, we need a new political establishment that will promote a policy of reconciliation. We have had enough of politicians with the virus of the 1990s, we need new progressive politicians. I am an optimist and I think that the Western Balkans have many possibilities, said Deputy Prime Minister Abazović.

Speaking about the importance of the first democratic change of government in the history of Montenegro in 2020, Abazović pointed out that the Montenegrin "Berlin Wall", which symbolised weak institutions, corruption and crime, was torn down. In that sense, Abazović stated that the biggest advantage of last year's change of government is that the citizens gained sovereignty and that they now believe that the government can be changed in democratic elections.

Foreign policy is a key interest of the Government of Montenegro and it will not change. We are fully in line with EU foreign policy, a reliable partner of NATO. With the help of our EU and NATO partners, we will work on its implementation, which will at the same time make Montenegrin institutions stronger and more independent, Minister Radulović pointed out during the lecture.

The lecture was attended by several distinguished professors, including Daniel Serwer and Benjamin Haddad from Johns Hopkins University, representatives of the National Democratic Institute, the Europe Office of the Atlantic Council, the Williams Institute (UCLA), the EU Delegation to the US, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Center for European Policy Analysis, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Congressional Research Service and others.

The mediator of the lecture was Damir Marušić, Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council's Europe Center.