The Minister of Foreign Affairs met with his Montenegrin counterpart

The Minister of Foreign Affairs met

with his Montenegrin counterpart

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ioannis Kasoulides, had today a meeting, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, Mr Igor Lukšić.

The bilateral relations of the two countries and ways for their further enhancement, the Cyprus problem, energy issues, regional issues of mutual interest with emphasis on the ways for combating terrorism, the developments in the region of Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the regional cooperation in Western Balkans, were at the center of the discussion. Moreover, the two Ministers discussed extensively Montenegro’s accession negotiations and the reforms implemented by the Government of the country, in the framework of harmonizing with the European standards.

Moreover the two Ministers signed an Agreement for Cooperation in fighting terrorism, organized crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, illegal migration and other criminal offences.

In statements to the Press, following the signing of the Agreement, Minister Kasoulides said: “We have had a very fruitful discussion with my Montenegrin colleague in continuation of the productive first trilateral meeting we held yesterday together with the Maltese Foreign Minister.

The Agreement on Cooperation in Fighting Terrorism and Organized Crime that Cyprus and Montenegro have just signed is evidence of our multifaceted bilateral c ollaboration and our determination to assist in effectively addressing asymmetrical threats.

Once again, I wish to stress what I already mentioned yesterday: The fact that such meetings symbolize the solidarity and resilient friendship that leads and will lead the small states in the EU.

The negotiations we had today set the practical foundations to a new cooperation between Cyprus and Montenegro, which includes providing technical assistance to Montenegro, so that it is facilitated in the completion of its accession process.

The Memorandum of Understanding on European Integration between Cyprus and Montenegro provides an important medium towards this direction as well and this has already been tested in the past, and particularly during the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.

I had the opportunity to commend the exemplary progress achieved by Montenegro and we were encouraged with the dedication of Montenegro in continuing with necessary reforms.

 

The harmonization path indeed is a painstaking process that entails a show of unwavering commitment, but it certainly pays off through the transformation value of institutional structures of the acceding country and its society as a whole.

 

Cyprus is ready to offer technical expertise in the very important path for Montenegro in specific areas of particular interest, such as rule of law, justice, customs union, commercial law.     

 

We have also discussed various issues on the regional agenda, which are of critical importance to us”.

On his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro said: “I would like to subscribe to all that my colleague has said and I should say that we see the meeting today as a continuation of the excellent political communication, cooperation and relationship we have between the two countries. And also the fact that we, today, added one more Agreement to the list shows our commitment to cooperate beyond our political meetings, but to cooperate in different fields of action, which are important for both countries. For us, in Montenegro, it is incredibly important because of the possibility to transfer experience, knowledge, know-how from Cyprus to Montenegro.

It is important for us that we are progressing in a way forward towards the membership in the European Union and the Agreement that we signed today will let us meet the different standards. As you know, our joint activities in combating terrorism, illicit trading and so on, are important elements within the area of justice, freedom and security. So this will help meet the standards in this area, especially because battling this sort of negative phenomena is something that no country can deal with on its own. There has to be cooperation.

I am thankful for the possibility to have Cypriot experts helping us in different fields of negotiations process with the European Union. And generally, I think it is important for us to learn as much as we can from Cypriot experience, because we are also a small country, more or less the size of Cyprus, and handling the process of accomplishing a number of European standards is something that we can learn best from countries that have similar size and experience. Therefore, the ways to organize public institutions and public administration is something that experience could be transferred from Cyprus, especially because along the way the rule of law standards, the economic governance, which is also a field we could work together, but also in the reform of the public administration, we can be the beneficiary site in this process.

We touched the point of cooperation in different bilateral and regional fora, we exchanged views about the current state of affairs in our region, which is very valuable to me. Also, we agreed that cooperation in multilateral institutions is really to the benefit of both countries.

I think it has been a very successful round of meetings. I will continue also meeting other officials of the Cypriot Government, in an attempt to make as many contacts as possible, in order to make sure that, in future contacts, our Governments can work in different areas and to the benefit and mutual interest of both countries.

Asked about the importance of the Agreement signed today for Montenegro, Minister Kasoulides replied: “It is an important document that we have signed. The fact that we have decided to face in collaboration, and in collaboration with many other countries, the asymmetrical threats demonstrates that we are willing to face this threat that is a threat for the European Union and for many countries in the area.  We both belong to the Coalition against Da’esh, is yet another fact demonstrating that we are serious about facing this kind of important threats for the security of Europe, the neighbourhood and the world in general”.