26 March 2019 - Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković paid an official visit to the State of Maine, where he met with Governor Janet Millsand National Guard Commander Major General Douglas Farnham.
At the meeting with Governor Mills, Minister Bošković emphasised the importance of Montenegro's full membership in the Alliance, and outlined the role that Montenegro has in ensuring lasting peace and stability in the Western Balkans.
He pointed to the importance of comprehensive bilateral relations between Montenegro and the United States, with the view that one of the crowns of these relations is precisely the State Partnership Program – SPP between Montenegro and the State of Maine, which is based on many compatibilities of Montenegro with this US federal state.
Boškovic also stressed that the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Montenegro are particularly satisfied with the intensity of defence cooperation that should be strengthened alongside the development of relations in other areas of the state partnership.
Governor Mills praised the overall progress of Montenegro that resulted in NATO membership and expressed satisfaction with the high-quality the State Partnership Program. She pointed out that the State of Maine is open to establishing more significant cooperation with Montenegro, especially in areas such as tourism, economy and education.
At the meeting with Commander Farnham, Minister Bošković stressed the high-quality bilateral defence cooperation, emphasizing that the United States represents the main ally and strategic partner to Montenegro in the area of development of defence capabilities.
He said that the long-standing partnership between the Armed Forces of Montenegro and the National Guard of Maine within the mentioned State Partnership Program not only actively links these two structures but also gives particularly evident results in terms of improving the existing capacities of the Montenegrin armed forces.
The Minister expressed the gratitude for the support of the National Guard of Maine in strengthening the interoperability and readiness of the Armed Forces of Montenegro for participation in international peacekeeping missions, as well as helping to fulfill the conditions for full membership in NATO. Furthermore, Bošković pointed to the continuous improvement of bilateral defence cooperation, especially in the areas of cyber defense, human resources development, and joint exercises and training.
General Farnem pointed out that the National Guard of the State of Maine will continue to strongly support the Armed Forces of Montenegro in fulfilling capability goals, and expressed the expectation that the defence cooperation of the two countries will be continued for mutual benefit. He said he was pleased that the SPP has directly influenced the development of the armed forces of both countries.
