The Parliament of Montenegro, headed by the Secretary General, Mr Aleksandar Jovićević, hosted today civil servants of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Secretary General of the Montenegrin Parliament, Mr Aleksandar Jovićević, expressed gratitude at the beginning to H.E. the Ambassador Maryse Daviet, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, as the organisers of this working visit, on the overall support of the Mission continuously provided so far to the Parliament of Montenegro. "Meetings of this kind provide an exceptional opportunity to share experiences and upgrade knowledge through constructive dialogue and discussion on important topics of interest to the services of both parliaments", Mr Jovićević said. The Secretary General stressed that "issues of transparency and openness of the institution to the public have a special place on the priorities' list of the Service, and appropriate provision of information and the ability of citizens to monitor and evaluate the work of their representatives."

H.E. the Ambassador, Maryse Daviet, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, said that programs and projects of the Mission, "organised in cooperation with the Parliament of Montenegro, have been focused on improving the capacity of parliamentary committees, bodies and employees, and exchanging regional experiences and introducing gender aspects". Ms Daviet also expressed her gratitude for the excellent cooperation that the Mission has made with the Parliament of Montenegro, adding that "OSCE was an organisation that supported regional cooperation and appreciated regional meetings of key democratic institutions".

During the course of the meeting, representatives of the Service of the Parliament of Montenegro informed the colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the organisation, manner and functioning of the Montenegrin Parliament Service, legislative procedures, European integration, the Parliamentary Institute, the Research and Education Center, management of documents in the Registry Office and the search of documents on the website of the Parliament of Montenegro.

At the end of the visit, civil servants of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina were also acquainted with the work of the Democratic Workshops, and toured the building of the Parliament.

The working visit was jointly evaluated as highly significant and useful, and two parliamentary services agreed on cooperation to be continued.