President of the Government of Montenegro, Duško Marković, opened in Bečiće the meeting of the ministers of defense of the US-Adriatic Charter (A5) and said that Montenegro has already started to feel all the benefits of the NATO membership, especially through increase of investments and interest of credible investors.
“The huge step forward that Montenegro made by joining NATO is more than obvious. Montenegro demonstrated the power of the idea of alliance among the countries that share the same values, regardless of their size. Our citizens can already see and feel the benefits of NATO membership. We’ve recorded increase of investments which definitely had an impact on our economic growth. The sign of safety that we carry now changes the awareness that others have of Montenegro”, said the Prime Minister.
By joining NATO, our country fulfilled one of the most important objectives of the foreign policy and, in that context, US-Adriatic Charter had a very important role. Marković reminded that Montenegro is constantly working on the open door policy, both within NATO and the Charter.
“This will be our key priority this year, since we are aware of the importance of strengthening regional trust and mutual support of neighboring countries. Therefore, we were so happy about the invitation sent to Macedonia regarding the commencement of the negotiation process. We believe that Macedonia will soon become fourth member of the Charter”, said Marković.
According to him, Montenegro already shares its experiences in the NATO membership.
“One of the priorities of our chairmanship of the Charter is to share what we have learned. We are sharing our experience with our Macedonian and Bosnian companions and we are ready to share with other neighbors dedicated to the same objective. We want our neighbors to be ready to give their contribution to our common interests and objectives so that the region can become stable contributor to regional and global security”, said the Prime Minister.
He pointed out that the nature of contemporary challenges, such as terrorism, illegal migration, hybrid and cyber threats, require that we all focus more on the issues of wider importance.
