The first day of the International Parliamentary Seminar on the Western Balkans was marked by a discussion on key findings of the June London Summit and previous achievements and a further perspective of the Berlin Process.
This year’s London Summit is a continuation of the goals of the previous summit, in terms of enhancing connectivity, dialogue and cooperation among the Western Balkan countries. British parliamentarians have pointed out that UK citizens have decided not to live in the European Union but they remain in Europe, interested in stability, security and democratic processes.
During the discussion of members of the House of Commons and House of Lords and their counterparts from the regional parliaments, members of the delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro addressed the attendees.
MP Mr Miloš Nikolić congratulated to his British colleagues for the organisation of the Summit, which confirmed their commitment to our region, as well as the European perspective of neighbouring countries. Speaking about the main foreign policy goal of Montenegro, he stressed that Montenegro is in favour of the regatta principle, as a confirmation of all previous efforts made on the way to EU membership. Mr Nikolić expressed his expectation that the Berlin Process will experience its concretization as an idea, which, in his opinion, will contribute to a stronger pro-European policy in the Balkans.
Ms Aleksandra Vuković talked about the previous results of Montenegro on its Euro-Atlantic path. She particularly emphasised the role of the Parliament in the creation of a parliamentary forum within the framework of the Berlin Process, as a place where all the initiatives that are being implemented would receive a strong political input from elected representatives of the people. She stressed the initiative of the Government of Montenegro for the establishment of the South-East Europe International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), whose mission is to improve scientific and technological cooperation in the region following the CERN model of “science for peace”.
The following two days will discuss issues related to the democratisation of neighbouring countries, the strengthening of the rule of law, regional cooperation in the context of economics, security and migration.
The three-day seminar is organized by the British delegation to the Interparliamentary Union, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and it is the first meeting at the parliamentary level, following the previous summit on the Western Balkans.
Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro is composed of parliamentarians Ms Aleksandra Vuković, Mr Miloš Nikolić and Ms Marina Jočić.
