Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Branimir Gvozdenović has taken part in the Western Balkans Conference, held in the UK House of Lords. The Conference is held ahead of the EU - Western Balkans Summit, to be held also in London, on 9 and 10 July.

- Bearing in mind that Montenegro is recognised as a country with very good neighbourly relations and that we do not have open bilateral issues with our neighbours, it is our interest that the financing of infrastructure projects remains in the focus of the London Summit and that new ways of funding are defined, Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Branimir Gvozdenović said.

Vice President Gvozdenović stressed that this year’s EU - Western Balkans Summit should provide a summary of the progress made over the past four years and answer the question of how and in which segments the process has enhanced the regional cooperation of the Western Balkans and, moreover, how to ensure the process to be more efficient in case it continues through "Berlin Plus" or some other initiative.

Pointing out that at all previous summits mainly covered topics of regional integration in the areas of transport, energy, economy, digitisation, environmental protection, youth cooperation, scientific cooperation, Mr Gvozdenović specifically underlined that in the past major concrete projects and initiatives were about the economic connectivity in the field of transport and energy infrastructures, while the last one, held in Trieste, dealt with digitisation and cooperation in science.

- However, the work on the development of infrastructure and economy has not automatically led to the improvement of cooperation in the region in terms of security, the rule of law, the resolution of bilateral issues and the issues of reconciliation, which are fundamental problems of the region. It is therefore important that the London Summit results in specific agreements that will contribute to strengthening of regional cooperation in these segments and ensure overcoming of the political challenges that hamper the progress of the region, Mr Gvozdenović concluded.

Aside from Vice President Gvozdenović, Lord David Howell, Chairperson of the House of Lords International Relations Committee, and Mr George Tsereteli, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, also spoke at the conference.