28 June 2019 - During the conference Seven Years of Montenegro's negotiations with the EU, Prime Minister Duško Marković noted that Montenegro’s goals coincide with the goals of the enlargement process, that Montenegro has progressed confidently towards the EU although it is the first time that a new, more demanding negotiating model is being implemented, that it had been  implementing some policies as if it was already an EU member state and that the Government will organise meetings with relevant non-governmental organisations in order to provide the synergy of the accession process.

"The most important political priorities of Montenegro are compatible with the goals of the enlargement process. Regional cooperation, reaching European standards and promoting of democratic values and the rule of law, together with economic development are within its core. It is what drives us and what we consider as the highest value for Montenegro, the Western Balkan region but also for the EU. Montenegro has progressed confidently towards membership in the EU. We have started negotiations based on a new model which is being implementing for the first time, negotiations based on the new and demanding principles. Montenegro is the first country with this level of involvement of civil society, faced with different challenges. A special Montenegro’s feature is that in this period we have carried out a parallel NATO integration process and two years ago we became the 29th NATO member. We have to agree that this was a special endeavour of a whole administration. We strongly promote European values trough the fulfilment of the obligations on the path to the EU and it is our most important foreign policy goal. Today, Montenegro’s accession to the EU is supported by two - third of citizens, according to the latest research," Prime Minister Duško Marković stated at the opening of the conference Seven years of Montenegro’s negotiations with the EU, which was sponsored by NGO Centre for Civic Education in Podgorica.

According to the report by the Government of Montenegro, speaking about Montenegro’s achievements, the Prime Minister stated that Montenegro has opened 32 out of 33 negotiating chapters and that Montenegro has support of 22 EU member states for the opening of the remaining chapter.

"However, the work on Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and 24 – Justice, Freedom and Security marked the previous period. Most of the temporary benchmarks have been fulfilled (83).  Implementing or amending over 70 laws in chapters 23 and 24 significantly improved the legislative framework in key areas which speaks volumes about the scope and complexity of the reform process in the rule of law area. I want to highlight that institutional framework for law implementation is significantly strengthen by strengthening the administrative capacity of the existing one, but also by establishing new institutions such as Anti-Corruption Agency, Special State Prosecutor’s Office, Sector for seized property, Centre for training of the judiciary and the State Prosecutor’s Office, Centre for asylum seekers and the Reception center for foreigners. I want to point to the concrete results which have been recognised in the last European Commission's report for Montenegro. In addition to the continuous progress in the legislative field and in the area of institution building, the European Commission notes the initial balance of the results achieved in the fight against high-level corruption and in the certain areas of organised crime, such as money laundering, financial investigations, temporary seizure of the property acquired through criminal activity. It was noted, as well, that the progress achieved in judicial cooperation, as well as boosted international police cooperation, yield concrete results," the Prime Minister pointed out.

When referring to the achievements of the negotiation process, the Prime Minister said that around 800 students and teachers attended one of the European universities, that Montenegro has achieved a national target of 33% of renewable energy sources in total final consumption and that the country has been successfully planned over EUR 260 million of non-refundable support from the European Union and achieved significant success in their use.

"Since 2014, within the framework of the Berlin Process, through the Western Balkan Investment Framework, Montenegro has received 120 million euros of EU support for seven infrastructure projects, with additional funds for project preparation. Finally, with regard to investment in infrastructure financed or co-financed by EU funds, during the first seven years of negotiations, funds of approximately EUR 167 million have been approved for infrastructure projects in various fields and for various purposes. When dealing with this topic, I want to look at an important fact that is being ignored when it comes to not only the presence but also the commitment of the EU to the Western Balkans. Many analyzes show that over the past 10 years, the European Union has invested over 8 billion euros in the region. Are our citizens familiar with the fact? Such data are often in the shadow of other, more bureaucratic messages, which, although they are also important, do not indicate the true extent of the Union's commitment to the Western Balkans and Montenegro. Such messages must come from high addresses of the Union, as well as from us who implement and promote the European Union's policy and its values. The perception must not be determined only by dry data, but by the overall picture of why the accession process is important and how important it is to both sides. Especially because the Union we are aiming for is undeniably more present than other actors in the region," Prime Minister Duško Marković pointed out.

The Prime Minister concluded by announcing new meetings with the non-governmental sector in order to re-ensure the synergy of the negotiation process.

"Cooperation with the civil sector and non-governmental organisations is an important part of the process. As we know, since the beginning of the negotiation process, we have been open to their contribution, and it has been very important in these seven years, both from the aspect of independent monitoring, but also in terms of providing knowledge the administration lacks. Lately, the Government has suffered constant criticism that we have abated our desire for such cooperation. In the context of the new approach, we will put this issue on the agenda by organising a meeting with all NGOs which take part in working groups and other relevant NGOs to restore confidence and synergy in this key process for us. The Government is, if it is wrong, ready to confess its mistake as it is ready for cooperation," Prime Minister Duško Marković stressed.

CEO of the Regional Office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation Max Brandle, the Executive Director of Centre for Civic Education Daliborka Uljarević, Chief Negotiator Aleksandar Drljević and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, Ambassador Aivo Orav, also spoke at the conference.

Read more about politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

28 June 2019 - The only festival of reggae music genre in Montenegro, the Montenegro Sun Reggae Festival, takes place from June 28 to June 30 at the Slovenska beach (at the Rondo swimming pool) in Budva.

Montenegro Sun Reggae Festival annually brings together the best performers of reggae music and popular reggae bands from all over Montenegro, as well as from many other countries of the world, on one stage.

This year's festival was opened on June 28 at 6 pm by the cult reggae band from Serbia - Del Arno Band. According to the organisers, many famous musicians will perform within this year’s festival program, such as Selektuh Dedduh, Horn Smancoyote, DJ Daibi, DJ Bratski Beatz&Rhymes, Natty Fiyah SS and many others. The Slovenian artist Tadiman will have the honour to close the Festival, said for RTV Budva Vinko Mihajlović, the organiser of the festival.

"In addition to the concerts, this year we have also prepared two workshops, one dedicated to drummers from Jamaica, and the other is the Dancehall workshop. Also, during the festival, fans of the reggae sound can expect numerous music surprises, which will mark the splendid start of the summer," Mihajlović stressed.

“Our wish when we organised the festival for the first time was to bring the audience closer to the music, and to bring the music closed to the audience. I hope that we managed to fulfil this goal. Our plans to mark our festivals on world maps have been achieved at the very beginning, so we are recognized in various parts of the world,” stated the organiser.

This year, the Montenegro Sun Reggae Festival is being organized for the first time at the Tourist settlement Slovenska plaža in cooperation with Hotel Group Budvanska rivijera, with the support of the Budva Municipality and the Tourist Organization of Budva.

As announced by the organisers, the cost of a three-day set of tickets for the festival is 20 euros. The price includes all concerts and seminars. Tickets cannot be refunded.

The festival ends on June 30 at 11:30 pm.

Read more about music events in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

28 June 2019 - The Montenegrin economy in 2017 and 2018 was characterised by strong economic growth rates of 4.7% and 4.9% in 2017 and 2018, and in this way Montenegro was one of the fastest growing economies in the Western Balkans and among the fastest growing of the EU economies, said the Director General of the Directorate for Economic and Development Policy at the Ministry of Finance Iva Vuković at a press conference on June 27 following the Cabinet session.

Montenegrin Cabinet adopted the Spring Analysis of Macroeconomic Trends and Structural Reforms – 2019 during the session held on June 27.

According to the report of the Government of Montenegro, at the session, it was noted that the greatest positive contribution to the growth of the economy in 2018 came from intensified investment activities and increased consumption of households. Increased investment activity is the result of private investments dominant in the sectors of tourism and energy, while public investments also contribute through increased investment activity in the construction of the highway, as well as other local and regional roads.

The largest contribution of investments to real GDP growth was 4%, while the second largest contribution came from household consumption of 3.4% and this is the result of a record-breaking tourist season, growth in lending activity, growth of remittances from abroad and employment growth.

"Tourism revenues in 2018 exceeded one billion euros, we had twice as much export of electricity, increased aluminum exports and increased export of pharmaceutical production, but all this was not enough to neutralise high imports dominantly for the needs of building investment projects, and that the contribution of net exports to real GDP growth was negative by 2.1% ", emphasised General Director Vuković, adding that Montenegro is at 47% of the EU average, according to Eurostat data (regional GDP per capita comparison as the EU average according to the purchasing power standard for 2018), followed by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and Serbia, with a lower average development compared to EU countries.

In the first quarter, the Monstat stated that the economic growth rate was at the level of 3%, and macroeconomic indicators can see a diverse situation depending on the sector. Montenegro has sectors that experienced extremely strong growth rates in the first quarter, while there are sectors that, due to objective circumstances, experienced a downturn. Thus, the sectors that experienced extremely strong growth in the first quarter is the tourism sector with 44.1% more arrivals and 22.5% more tourist nights, and this could be a signal or indicator of yet another record-breaking tourist year.

Read more about the business environment in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

28 June 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković recently hosted a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Head of the IMF Mission to Montenegro Srikant Seshadri.

According to the report by the Government of Montenegro, the meeting concluded that the Fiscal Strategy, adopted by the Government two years ago, was successful and generally yields good and expected results and that the maintenance of fiscal discipline remains a priority of the Government in the forthcoming period.

"This Government will abide by all obligations arising from our Fiscal Consolidation Programme, addressing the needs of citizens and development," Prime Minister Marković said at the meeting.

The Prime Minister and the Head of the IMF Mission to Montenegro agreed that economic growth over the past two years exceeded the expectations of international experts and pointed out that such a high base is a challenge in this year and in the next period, especially after the completion of the priority section of the Bar – Boljare motorway. In this context, PM Marković reiterated Montenegro's determination to continue working on creating all the preconditions for defining the planning and financial elements of the continuation of the motorway construction on the principle of a sustainable solution.

The IMF delegation said that in the coming period it will focus on: reform of the pension system, public sector optimisation and full harmonisation of our tax system with the European Union system.

Read more about Politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

The Board of Directors of Elektroprivreda Montenegro (EPCG) approved the Decision on Investment for the Environmental Reconstruction of the Thermal Power Plant "Pljevlja" Blok I, and during July the tender will be announced.

The estimated value of the investment is EUR 45 million, and after the announcement of the public procurement procedure, during July, we expect the interest of a large number of renowned world companies with experience in the realization of this project. The Board expects, if the tendering process goes smoothly, the contract to be signed by the end of the current year, the EPCG said after the session of the Board of this company chaired by the president Djoko Krivokapic. The company "Steag Energy Services GmbH" from Germany made the Preliminary design, and after the conclusion of the Contract with the Institute of Civil Engineering from Podgorica, the Technical Documentation of the preliminary design was revised.

The realization of the project for the ecological reconstruction of the existing block of TE "Pljevlja" should be from 2019-2021. and will enable the continuation of the thermal power complex in Pljevlja (TEP-RUP) for the next 20 to 30 years. Reconstruction will ensure fulfillment of the obligations and respect of the strictest environmental protection parameters envisioned by the most recent 2017/1442 EU 2017 Decision. The project includes, together with the revitalization of the landfill Maljevac worth EUR 20 million, the construction of a desulphurization system, denitrification system, the improvement of the electro-filtration plant's operation and the construction of wastewater treatment systems, "the EPCG said.

In particular, they stressed that, in agreement with the ecological reconstruction, within 12 months of the signing of the contract, the source of thermal energy for Pljevlja district central heating would be provided.

Text by Milorad Milosevic, on June 27th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The Association for Assisting Individuals Disabled in Psychophysics Development in Niksic organized a two-day seminar for representatives of 15 local institutions and non-governmental organizations on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (OSI) and their proper implementation. The seminar is part of the seven-month project "Together for the Better Status of Persons with Disabilities", worth around 17,000 euros, and 82% of means are funded by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights.

According to the Director of the Association, Milusa Zugic the results of the OSI position in Niksic were presented.

"We conducted research with four focus groups - people with disabilities, their parents, non-governmental organizations and institutions. We surveyed over 100 citizens, and the questionnaire was filled out by about 50 people with a disability from Niksic, all in order to get the right picture of the position of people with disabilities," said Zugic.

The project's aim, which ends in late July, is improving the position of people with disabilities, and the Association has also printed a brochure containing information on the research, OSI rights, and good manners. The brochure and the results of the research will be presented next month.

Text by Svetlana Mandic, on June 27th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The Citizens' Initiative “Let's Save Sinjajevina” invites the Minister of Defense Predrag Boskovic to stand on the side of the people and not go against them and to comply with the recommendation of the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Environment, which gave the green light to declare the mountain Sinjajevina as the regional nature park, said the initiative.

They responded to the statement by Boskovic, who said that there were more political activists than the locals at the protests in Sinjajevina.

"We call on the Minister to support the petition that has been launched and aims to declare this mountain as a protected area (https://www.epeticije.gov.me/). Instead of counting us and seeing who we are and where we are from, what we do and how many times we were in Sinjajevina, perhaps it would be better to talk, to see that we want good for this mountain and for you to finally hear and understand what we have been repeating this whole year. We will say once again that the Citizens' Initiative is asking only one thing, and it is that Sinjajevina becomes a protected area and a nature park, to be used for the development of agriculture and tourism, not a military polygon.

After all, respected minister, there are no hidden intentions, no other motives, and it is not difficult to understand, only if you want to," the statement adds.

They said that they did not want to enter discussions with Boskovic, but as a politician with many years of experience, he should hear the voice of the people rather than come into conflict with them.

"As a politician, you probably know that the main instrument of democracy is dialogue, which brings together common solutions in the public interest, not at the expense of any individual or social group. Therefore, we expect you to speak with the people and not to dismiss them as per the automatism. So far, there has been no single proof that the military polygon will not have a negative impact on the environment, that agriculture will not be endangered, that there will be no contaminated sources from which the citizens of Mojkovac, Kolasin, Savnik, Zabljak drink potable water, in one word - that Sinjajevina will not be destroyed. We have only verbal persuasions, attacks and labeling.

This is neither good nor reasonable; it is even less in line with the democratic principles that we aspire to as a society," they added. They told Boskovic that it was not true that the villagers did not protest in Sinjajevina.

"We do not know how you can say that there were no locals among the assembled people when you were not here to see us, it is difficult to see something that you turn your head away from. Everyone who wants the best for the mountain is welcome to Sinjajevina, who are engaged for its preservation. Therefore we invite everyone to come to Savine vode on July 12^th. Also, it is not true that Sinjajevina was used as a military polygon by the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA), not even for a single day, and especially decades, as you are reporting to us from Brussels, for which you have no proof because if you had it you would show it long time ago," the Civic Initiative continued.

They called Boskovic to come to Savine vode on July 12th.

"Finally, we invite you to come to Savine vode with all the other citizens of Montenegro on July 12, to hear how much this mountain means to the people who live there and how much it can be useful to Montenegro. So you can see how Sinjajevina can be much more than a military polygon that it can bring millions to the state and not be destroyed for nothing. To make it easier for you to reach it at the time of arrival, we will give you proper guidance. Savino Lake is located a few hundred meters away from Margita, which you visited in November 2018," concludes the statement by the Civic Initiative “Let’s Save Sinjajevina”.

Text by Vijesti online, on June 27th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

27 June 2019 - The Second session of the Mixed Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of Azerbaijan took place in Baku recently, during the bilateral visit of the Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković to Azerbaijan. Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić headed the Montenegrin delegation.