- Your neighbours are democratic and rich European states, but still, I believe, it was difficult to achieve your particularity even in such circumstances – said President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović in the session on sovereignty, origins and international recognition of small states at the Twelfth Conference of Presidents of the Parliaments of Small European States with population of less than a million, which is being held in Liechtenstein.
While addressing his counterparts from Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, and San Marino, Mr Brajović pointed out that Montenegro was located in the area still burdened by history, economically underdeveloped and with many open issues among neighbouring states:
- However, with our wise politics, good relations with all our neighbours, devoted to reforms, Montenegro proves that the Balkans, as your neighbour, can also belong to successful and developed Europe - said Mr Brajović.
Speaking on the topic of political participation and special challenges in a small state, President of the Parliament said that, even though we were a young democracy, which was still facing numerous challenges, it was encouraging that our citizens understood processes and had trust in the state institutions, demonstrating that by their activism, i.e. resoluteness to create their destiny in the elections:
- The turnout in my country is unattainable for many developed democracies. In the last parliamentary elections of 2016, the turnout was above 73%, and in the presidential elections of this year 64% as well as in the local ones, where in certain municipalities the turnout was up to 80%. The high turnout and the results of the elections made the major part of the opposition to end the boycott, so now they act as MPs from the people’s house, leaving populism to those who need it for satisfying their megalomaniac appetites - said the President of the Montenegrin Parliament.
On the topic of international relations and diplomacy, Mr Brajović pointed out that Montenegrin foreign policy was focused on building and fostering good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation:
- Following the integration to the North Atlantic Alliance, our key priority is the EU membership. We see membership in these organisations as important not only from the aspect of adopting standards that should provide better life to our citizens, but primarily as a guarantee of the permanent protection of our stability, sovereignty and integrity. I am pleased to note that we are not struggling for the survival any more; on the contrary, we are recovering and becoming stable among European and world states and democracies, which is our priority and strategy, together with boosting our economy and improving the living standard of our citizens - concluded the President of the Parliament of Montenegro.
At the conference, Mr Brajović suggested the consideration of regular parliamentary meetings of responsible working bodies in the field of tourism, economy and culture, as well as the sending of a joint initiative to the governments of participants to work on establishing a kind of organisation for cooperation among small European states.
- Bearing in mind the necessity of our stronger presence at the international scene, i.e. the need for greater visibility, and given our staff and financial restrictions, we need to consider how our individual potentials can serve the joint purpose. We can intensify the cooperation at the multilateral level through regular consultations within international organisations, particularly in order to promote more intensively our common topics. Finally, if we have the Games of the Small States, where athletes make considerable results, we also have to organise “games” of all other potentials and opportunities, in order to use the brand of small states in the best possible manner and for the benefit of our citizens – pointed out the President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Ivan Brajović.
The President of the Montenegrin Parliament will also discuss the potential for cooperation with each of the small states individually at the bilateral meetings with his counterparts from these states, which include some states with the highest democratic and economic development in Europe.
Twelfth Conference
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
