Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the Parliamentary Dimension of the Central European Initiative MP Mr Miodrag Vuković took part in the annual Meeting of the CEI Parliamentary Assembly and meetings of the general committees, held in Sarajevo, in the period 5-7 December, within the Bosnian presidency of the Initiative.

This year’s Meeting has been dedicated to the topic: "The strategy for preventing and combating terrorism in the light of migration crisis”.

While opening the Meeting, the participants and guests were greeted by Head of Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Chair of the PD CEI Ms Monika Tomić, who expressed hope that parliamentarians from the CEI member states would find joint solutions to the global issues of migration and terrorism.

The participants in the Meeting were also greeted by Speaker of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH Mr Mladen Bosić, who estimated that the CEI, consisting of 10 member states of the European Union and 8 non-EU members, at present represented a powerful and strong international organisation advocating for EU enlargement and strengthening of regional cooperation in Europe.

Estimating that the European integration process was crucial for stability of our entire region, Mr Bosić expressed his conviction that the action of parliamentary diplomacy within the CEI would continue to open doors to the Western Balkans countries on their path towards the EU.

Within the introductory part of the plenary session, the participants were addressed by Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Mektić, as well as Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr Amer Kapetanović.

Within the main debate, the participants in the gathering were also addressed by MP Vuković who presented activities undertaken in Montenegro on solving problems caused by migrations and threatening terrorism. He emphasised that Montenegro would readily respond to all challenges, and that so far there had been no major problems with regard to migrants, considering that Montenegro was currently not on the direct migrant route.

At the end of the Meeting, the Final Declaration was unanimously adopted, which summed up conclusions from the held Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Central European Initiative, calling for member states and EU institutions to continue close cooperation with the CEI member states aimed at continuation of assistance to the enlargement countries in reaching European standards and accelerating the EU enlargement process.

With this gathering the activities within the Bosnian presidency of the CEI-PD have officially ended.

During 2017, the country presiding over the Central European Initiative will be Belarus.