The process of EU enlargement with the West Balkan countries is among Bulgaria’s foreign policy priorities and will be in the focus of Bulgaria’s EU presidency in 2018. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said, who held talks with Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro, at 2 Dondukov street today. “Bulgaria will continue to support Montenegro’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as the process of reforms in the country. Each country’s progress towards a full EU and NATO membership is success for the whole region,” the Head of State further assured.
Ensuring a long-lasting stability and a speeded up economic growth in the West Balkans is based on the prospects for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Prime Minister Djukanovic said and called on the EU and NATO to remain actively committed to the integration processes in the region. Milo Djukanovic emphasized that Montenegro will continue to strengthen its cooperation with NATO and expects to receive an invitation for full membership in the Alliance by the end of 2015.
Rosen Plevneliev and Milo Djukanovic shared the opinion that the regional projects on transport and energy connectedness create favorable conditions for increasing the trade turnover and strengthening the economic cooperation between the Southeast European countries. The lack of connectedness in the energy sector produces only negative results for the Balkan countries, President Plevneliev was adamant. In his opinion, the construction of inter-connectors between the gas-transit networks of the countries in the region should be speeded up and a regional energy exchange should be established.
“Montenegro has the most dynamic economy among the West Balkan countries and we are pooling efforts to preserve this trend in the next years,” Prime Minister Djukanovic said. In his words, Montenegro is working to attract more Bulgarian investments and to draw on the experience of the Bulgarian companies. Transport infrastructure, energy, tourism, agriculture and food production were highlighted as particularly prospective spheres of cooperation. The bilateral agreement on the mutual protection of investments is being coordinated, which will encourage the business circles in the two countries to implement more joint projects. The two agreed that the countries should work to ensure a direct airline between Sofia and Podgoritsa.
At the meeting Rosen Plevneliev and Milo Djukanovic emphasized Bulgaria’s and Montenegro’s readiness to strengthen their partnership in the Southeast European region both in bilateral terms and within the international organizations.