Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the Parliamentary Dimension of the Central European Initiative Mr Miodrag Vuković took part in the Meeting of the CEI - PD parliamentary committee, held in the Croatian Parliament today.
Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Mr Željko Reiner opened the meeting, which was followed by introductory remarks of Mr Peđa Grbin, Croatian CEI PD President, Deputy Secretary General of the Central European Initiative Mr Antal Nikoletti, Member of the Tourism Committee of the Croatian Parliament Ms Sabina Glasovac, State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Mr Frano Matušić, and Head of the European Parliament's Information Office in the Republic of Croatia Ms Violeta Simeonova-Staničić.
Head of the Montenegrin parliamentary delegation to the CEI-PD Mr Miodrag Vuković said that Montenegro had a good normative and institutional framework for sustainable tourism, explaining that the Constitution of our country provided a definition of Montenegro as an ecological state. In this regard, he reminded of the comprehensive document “Directions for the development of Montenegro as an ecological state”, prepared in 2001. He pointed out that Montenegro was among the first countries of the world to fully accept and integrate the requirements set out in the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda into the national system by adopting the National Sustainable Development Strategy for the same period. The Head of the Montenegrin delegation concluded that the consistent political actions were the essence of sustainable development, aimed at the development of national resources and preventing decisions that diminished them.
MPs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Poland, Italy, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine and Austria took part in the discussion, stressing that tourism was one of the most important economic branches in these countries, while statistical indicators to support this were presented.
The participants particularly welcomed the amendment of the Italian delegation to the Joint Statement, which recognised the efforts of the Western Balkan countries on their European path and urged them to continue the implementation of reforms.
The meeting concluded that it was necessary to adopt a balanced approach to the economic, social and cultural aspect of sustainability, with special care for the environment and the preservation of cultural and natural resources.
