February 20, 2019 - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development today announced five public invitations to grant non-refundable support to the development of marine fisheries, sea aquaculture, and freshwater aquaculture.

February 20, 2019 - The Center for Civic Education (CCE) today announced that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ASK) should check where the President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic has money to cover the debt to Atlas Bank.

20 February 2019 - Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković has asked the Public Works Directorate to terminate the contract on the construction of a kindergarten in Bar and to arrange the existing location by planting 90 cypresses.

Marković emphasized that at the moment of the discussion about the allocation of financial resources, the municipality has already had a defined location through a valid detailed urban plan, which did not include any objections from any party for its purpose during the public hearing. He added that it was only at the stage of preparation of the site for the commencement of works that an initiative to ban work had appeared which later resulted in civil protests.

"We believed that emotions were not above the need to invest in the future, and as a responsible Government, we wanted the best conditions for children in Bar. We were convinced that, when we are working in the interests of the generations to come in Montenegro, there can be no differences or politics involved," the Prime Minister said.

He announced that he was sorry that a number of citizens of Bar did not recognize the intention to ensure a better quality of their children and grandchildren.

"On the contrary, civil resistance to the project has grown into a political platform that has not been barred by the protests’ organisers. However, this Government will not work against the will of citizens, and especially we will not build kindergartens with police cordons. We will draw the lesson from this situation, which is that sometimes the commitment to build a kindergarten at a planned location is not a guarantee that the citizens want it," Marković emphasized.

He said that the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the creditor, will redirect the amount of two and a half million euros for the construction of facilities for the same purpose in another city, where the Government already has all the necessary documentation and the agreement on the common interest exists.

Marković pointed out that the selection of a new location in Bar requires complex and long procedures, so he asked the citizens for patience while creating planning, project and other conditions for the construction of a new kindergarten.

"The Bar Municipality has a very pronounced problem of lack of space in preschool institutions. In two school years, the number of children in kindergartens increased by 50 percent. Namely, in the school year 2015/2016, 940 children were enrolled in Bar, and this school year there is already 1,391 children, "the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister recalled that recognizing the problem of insufficient spatial capacities in preschool institutions in Montenegro, the previous Government with the Council of Europe Development Bank signed in December 2013 a credit arrangement worth 10 million EUR for the construction of seven kindergartens. The total value of the projects with the participation of the state is 17 million EUR.

Source: TVCG

18 February 2019 - "Small countries like Montenegro and North Macedonia must act smartly since we do not have many resources and we must use the best we have. I think that is the whole logic of the Alliance. We cannot all be specialized in all issues but we can have advantages in some of them and offer them to our allies," said Minister of Defense of North Macedonia, Radmila Šekerinska, during the NATO summit held in Brussels last week.

In the conversation with Montenegrin journalists, Šekerinska said that during the entire negotiation process with NATO, official Skopje had the great support of Montenegro.

“When we got the new Government in 2017, several days later Montenegro entered the Alliance and I was invited to deliver a speech at the ceremony in Skopje organized by the Montenegrin Embassy. I said then, and I still think so, that Montenegro serves us as an inspiration and that even in the hardest of circumstances, one should think about the strategic objective. You have been through a very difficult political period, and we have even been through the violence and very deep political crisis. Despite everything, we managed to unite our state,” said Šekerinska.

She points out that her department has had very intense cooperation with the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense. They used our experience as an example. She states that the Macedonian transition will not be easy.

“Resources are required, people are necessary, we must act fast. We have been working a lot with my Montenegrin counterpart and did so many projects of bilateral cooperation and transformation of armed forces,” said Šekerinska.

Asked if North Macedonia is faced with strong Russian pressure, just like Montenegro, she said that there had been several statements made by official Moscow related to Macedonian NATO accession being an act against Russia.

“We want to be on good terms with Russia too, but our strategic objective has been defined since 1993. EU and NATO membership is our goal. We don't agree with those saying that North Macedonian NATO membership means NATO expansion towards the east. We decide about our own future but we want good relations with everyone,” concluded Šekerinska.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

18 February 2019 - Bulgaria is willing to help Montenegro accelerate progress on the path towards the European Union in order to achieve its ambitions and become the next full member, Prime Minister Duško Marković and newly-appointed Bulgarian Ambassador Maglena Plugchieva concluded at the meeting that took place in Podgorica.

19 February 2019 - Improving private sector competitiveness, energy and infrastructure integration, as well as greening the economy and sustainable tourism are three priority areas in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) wants to help Montenegro, Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković and First EBRD Vice-President Jürgen Rigterink agreed at the official meeting in Podgorica.

Prime Minister Marković pointed out that the priorities of the State have been recognised by the EBRD as well, which allows for a further productive partnership. He added that Montenegro has successfully pursued economic policy in the past two years, achieved dynamic economic growth, stabilised public finances and reduced the unemployment rate. He stressed the reduction in the budget deficit, as well as the good income-generating side, both in the previous and this year.

"EBRD support for around 60 projects totalling to approximately 570 million EUR is of great importance to us. Your support and confidence contributed to such economic results," said PM Marković.

He added that the continuation of strengthening the overall infrastructure, construction of the motorway, airports and ports valorisation, as well as further activities towards strengthening competitiveness and creating a favourable business environment, strengthening of small and medium enterprises and professionalization of administration is of strategic significance for Montenegro.

"The EBRD will stand by you to support you," Vice President Rigterink noted and praised the results in the field of economic policy, stressing that the international market reactions are the best indicators of the progress, referring in particular to the successful issuance of Eurobonds by Montenegro last year.

Both sides highlighted the success in the European integration process, which creates an incentive for achieving further results in opening up the remaining and creating conditions for starting the closing of negotiation chapters.

16 February 2019 - At a session dedicated to NATO missions and operations, Defense Minister Predrag Bošković recalled that Montenegro, aware of the importance of designing stability and strengthening security beyond the borders of NATO, continues to give an active contribution to the preservation of global peace and security by sending its members to international missions and operations. 

The Allies agreed that NATO would continue to provide a decisive answer when it comes to the fight against terrorism, with a comprehensive approach that requires the engagement of the entire international community. It was emphasised that in the forthcoming period the work on building capacity and enhancement of cooperation with partners in order to combat these threats, thus strengthening the overall security of NATO, will be continued. 

Bearing in mind the unpredictable security environment, as well as the commitment of the Alliance to protect the territories and population of its members, the importance of preventive action on potential challenges from the territory outside the borders of NATO has been highlighted. In the context of possible threats that can come from different strategic directions, further activities were considered to be carried out to strengthen the NATO presence at the eastern borders, as well as the implementation of measures from the Framework for the South representing the Alliance's reaction to the challenges arising from the Mediterranean. 

Evident progress was noted in terms of cooperation between NATO and the European Union, which will remain an important partner of the Alliance in the following period. Furthermore, it was emphasised that the interconnection of international actors contributes to a more effective response to security challenges. 

Minister Bošković stressed the importance of intensifying NATO and EU co-operation, in order to facilitate the effective functioning of the two organizations, taking into account the mutual complementarity and the development of defense capacities in order to strengthen European defense. 

He also met with the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Slovenia, Karl Erjavec.

The conversation was dedicated to continuing political dialogue and strengthening bilateral and regional cooperation in the defense and security sphere. Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the intensive cooperation that is being constantly enhanced through the exchange of experience, skills and knowledge in the area of defense and security within regional initiatives, in particular through joint participation in military exercises and in international missions and operations. Bošković and Erjavec pointed to the importance of joining the Western Balkan countries to the Alliance as a guarantee of peace and stability in this part of Europe. The interlocutors also emphasised the importance of the "open door" policy, and discussed the continuation of cooperation in the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP), in Latvia, as well as in the field of aviation and cooperation between the two navies.