30 December 2018 - "The Western Balkans need to become part of the European Union (EU) as soon as possible, and we will remain committed to providing support to our partners in the region," said Romanian foreign affairs minister Teodor Melescanu.
This is especially important due to the fact Romania is to take over presidency over the Council of the EU as of 1 January, and Melescanu stressed that it would be essential for Montenegro to open all negotiation chapters to come closer to the European community.
“Romania will continue with encouraging the enlargement process by using all the forthcoming key moments for further promotion of the EU involvement in the region, as well as commitment of our partners to reforms and demographic transformations. We will keep stressing the importance of joint support to the Western Balkans in order to be able to respond to the requirements of the accession process,” concluded Melescanu.
They have been, Melescanu said, fully aware of the fact Montenegro needs to open all negotiation chapters while at the same time being focused on the internal preps, which enable closing of some chapters.
Back in July 2018, representatives of the Government of Montenegro hosted the Prime Minister of Romania, Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă, who paid an official visit to Montenegro.
"We particularly appreciate the visit of Prime Minister Dăncilă ahead of Romania's first presidency of the EU Council next year, in the first half of 2019. At the same time, we want to congratulate you in advance and wish Romania success during the presidency and thank you for the fact that Montenegro and the Western Balkans are already high on their agenda," the Prime Minister of Montenegro said during this occasion.
Dăncilă said that she had very constructive discussions with Prime Minister Marković and emphasised that in the future, the two countries will pay more attention to sectoral cooperation and cooperation in the field of energy, education, culture, and tourism, as well as cooperation in the field of investments.
"We decided to organise an economic forum together to present one of the first steps in promoting cooperation between the two countries," Romanian Prime Minister Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă concluded.
