14 December 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković extended his thanks to Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for the successful presidency of the Council of the European Union over the past six months and expressed his gratitude for Austria's support in ensuring member states' giving their consent to Montenegro's opening of Chapter 27.
"I assure you that Montenegro will be responsible and fully aware of the complexity and importance of the negotiations in fulfiling these and all other obligations. Montenegro's path to the EU is a continuous positive trend, and the newly opened chapter is an incentive for further fundamental reforms and the accession process which brings increasingly visible quality to our society and citizens on a daily basis," PM Marković's letter of gratitude to Chancellor Kurz, sent ahead of the ending of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the EU, reads.
Noting that Austria, as always, has shown that it is up to the task, the Prime Minister stated that Montenegro especially appreciates Chancellor Kurz's positive and encouraging message concerning the region and its European perspective.
"As a country that knows, understands, and supports the region of the Western Balkans, and the specifics of each country individually, Austria has further strengthened the path of all of us towards that goal and the permanent stabilisation of this area," Prime Minister Duško Marković points out in his letter addressed to Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
At the end of the letter, Prime Minister Marković highlights that European future of the region has no alternative, stressing that the Austrian Chancellor can always count on Montenegro as a partner in attaining these worthwhile goals.
During the Vienna Economic Forum which was held during mid-November, Federal Chancellor Kurz, told at the press conference that Austria, during its presidency of the Council of the European Union, will focus on three areas: the region's path towards the European Union, the necessary regional cooperation and the resolution of bilateral disputes in the region. Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn emphasised that all Western Balkan countries have a European perspective, although it is not realistic that they all join the Union at the same time.
