President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Ivan Brajović, hosted today the Speaker of the Icelandic Parliament, Mr Steingrímur Sigfússon, who has been paying an official visit to Montenegro upon the invitation of Mr Brajović.
President Brajović emphasised that he was exceptionally honoured to host the Speaker of the Parliament of the state that had been the first to recognise the renewed independence of Montenegro and the first to ratify the Protocol on the Accession of Montenegro to NATO, and that these symbolic gestures remained recorded in the history of relations between the two countries. He stressed that there existed good parliamentary cooperation, primarily in the framework of the Conference of the Speakers of Parliament of the Small States of Europe, made up of countries experiencing similar challenges.
Countries belonging to the category of small states, especially when it comes to the number of inhabitants, need to work more intensively in all fields of mutual interest. Parliaments play an important role in this cooperation - it was concluded, among other things, at the meeting of the delegations of parliaments of Montenegro and Iceland.
President Sigfússon emphasised that he was very pleased he had the opportunity to visit a beautiful country like Montenegro for the first time. He stressed that the two countries, although located on different ends of Europe, had a lot in common and that in the period ahead attention should be focused on strengthening economic cooperation, in addition to the parliamentary one. President Sigfússon emphasised that tourism was for both countries an area of constant growth, and that Montenegro could be a very attractive destination for tourists from Iceland.
In his statement given after the meeting, President Brajović said that he spoke with President Sigfússon about regional cooperation and commitment of Montenegro with regards to this issue. He stressed that the Nordic Council was an excellent example of regional cooperation, so that the Western Balkan countries could consider its mode of operation and possibly adopt solutions of that model.
- In the relations between Montenegro and Iceland, normative and legal basis should also be strengthened, because there was room for implementing many forms of cooperation, in areas such as justice, labour and social welfare, the information and communication domain - President Brajović said inter alia.
When speaking about the economy, Mr Sigfússon stressed the fact that Island suffered major economic crisis in 2008, followed by very quick and successful recovery.
- I must mention that we had a very large increase in the number of tourists, from 500 thousand to two, three million tourists, and that it happened in a period of a decade, and I think that we shared the fate of the importance of tourism as an economic branch in both our countries.
- The Nordic Council that the President Brajović spoke earlier today could serve as an example of very peaceful and democratic cooperation, and as an example of the manner of the transfer from a difficult past onto the present, fruitful one, democratic and calm - Mr Sigfússon said.
He also said that in view of the fact that small states usually did not have great military power or economic strength, it was very important to unite those in order to properly resolve any situation, respecting democracy and the rule of law.
Members of the Parliament, Mr Predrag Sekulić and Mr Boris Mugoša, attended the meeting, in capacity as members of the Friendship Group with the Parliament of Iceland.
The Delegation of the Althingi held the meeting with representatives of MPs groups in the Parliament of Montenegro as well.
Statement of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Ivan Brajović
Press statement of the Speaker of Althingi, Mr Steingrímur Sigfússon
VIDEO:
Official welcome ceremony of the Speaker of Althingi
Video coverage – visit of the Speaker of Althingi
Statement of the President of the Parliament, Mr Ivan Brajović
Press statement of the Speaker of Althingi
Response of the President of the Parliament, Mr Ivan Brajović, to questions of the media
Ceremony of laying the wreath at the Monument of the Partisan Fighter
