06 June 2019 - President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović received the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Italy Elisabetta Trenta, who is on an official visit to Montenegro. Trenta recently met with Prime Minister of Montenegro, Duško Marković.
President Đukanović thanked the minister for visiting Montenegro, which represents a new and especially important impulse for further improvement of the interstate relations between Montenegro and Italy. The additional value of the visit is and, as the President said, that this visit happened at the same time when Montenegro celebrate an important jubilee of 140 years of establishing diplomatic relations marked last night in Cetinje in the building of the former Italian mission. Đukanović expressed great satisfaction with the quality of interstate cooperation and emphasized that Montenegro is very proud of the tradition of relations between Montenegro and Italy.
He emphasized the importance of Italy's support to the European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives of the region, which is particularly important in order to overcome the multi-year lag of the WB for a developed Europe.
"Aware of missed opportunities in recent history as well as internal crises in the EU, we continue to believe that the only prospect for this region is integration, and for Europe to continue unification and strengthen its global competitiveness," as noted in an official report by President of Montenegro Cabinet.
Stressing that Montenegro is a NATO and EU partner, the President paid special gratitude to Italy for supporting that country's membership of Montenegro to NATO. At the same time, he also pointed to the importance of the alliance within the Alliance, because Italy together with Greece preserves the airspace of Montenegro, as well as defense cooperation, which is reflected in support for training officers in the prestigious Italian schools.
In the context of exceptionally good bilateral relations, the President assessed that there is a significant area for improving economic cooperation on the basis of positive experience through submarine cable projects and underwater exploration of oil and gas.
"With the pleasure of opening a Confindustria branch in Montenegro, an even greater presence of Italian investors is extremely desirable, not only because of investing in Montenegro, but primarily because of the transfer of European standards, new technologies and management knowledge," Đukanović said
The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Italy conveyed to President Đukanović the greetings from President Mattarella and expressed her gratitude for showing respect to her country by attending the celebration of the Day of Italy in Cetinje.
"Friendship has existed for a long time, but it is always good to have a new friendship gesture," Trenta said.
Recalling Italy's support to Montenegro for joining NATO, the minister stressed that with the great impression that country remains with Montenegro on its way to the EU. Integration is also very important because of the need for a common response to contemporary challenges, Trenta said, stressing that Italy's position towards the Balkans is very clear, both in terms of supporting the integration of Western Balkan countries, as well as meeting the criteria for membership.
The interlocutors agreed that while meeting the requirements for EU membership, it is extremely important to take advantage of the momentum and further strengthen the partnership of NATO and EU countries, which rests on the strongest basis, the Euro-Atlantic system of values. Extending cooperation in the field of defense and intensifying economic ties will undoubtedly contribute to better cooperation within NATO, but also to help to transfer knowledge in which Italy wants to participate.
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