Integration is another word for stability of the Western Balkans, says the president of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović at the meeting with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella.
During the meeting, Đukanović pointed out to a very important role of our country in salvaging and promoting stability and progress in the region.
“Montenegro and Italy are continuously improving their relations, especially in terms of Montenegro’s accession to NATO and EU integrations,” said president Đukanović.
He showed his respect for the support Italy provided at the bilateral, and European/Euro Atlantic level as well. “Such a position of Italy has been extremely significant to us, especially in terms of dealing with instabilities in the Balkans. That is why I say the integration would be another word for the stability of the Western Balkans,” stressed Đukanović.
Mattarella, on the other side, mentioned that Italy strongly supported the EU enlargement policy, underlining that Europe could not be complete without the Western Balkans. “Montenegro opens chances towards the EU as the leader in the EU accession process.”
The President of Italy said Montenegro’s integration process affected its overall economic and democratic development, as well as acceptance of EU values, which was in the best interest of the region and the EU.
In the end of the meeting, both presidents noted that the two states have had a wonderful bilateral cooperation at the economic level, especially in the energy field.
But, of course, there are other areas for linking these two countries, e.g. culture, environmental protection and education, which can be reached through mobility scheme programs and other programs for learning Italian, the presidents have concluded.
