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Official visit of the President of the Congress to Montenegro

The President of the Congress, Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM, accompanied by the Secretary General, Andreas KIEFER, paid an official visit to Montenegro on 24 and 25 July 2018. They met the Minister for Public Administration, Suzana PRIBILOVIĆ, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zoran JANKOVIĆ, Director General for Multilateral Affairs Ivan IVANISEVIC and the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ivan BRAJOVIĆ. “The Congress remains committed to support the ambitious reform agenda of Montenegro, notably in the field of local democracy. The progress made since the last Monitoring report of the Congress in 2015 is significant,” said Congress President Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM after the high level meetings in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

Minister Suzana PRIBILOVIĆ expressed her gratitude for the support of the Council of Europe in the different reform projects on public administration, local self-government, and the judiciary. “Especially the Congress Monitoring report from 2015 provided many elements for amending the existing and for drafting new legislations”, she said, underlining that the government program referred directly to the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In dialogue and consultation with the Union of Municipalities several draft laws were modified and improved. This consultation will also be practiced in the preparation of the law on local finances, which is due shortly. “The Ministry of Public Administration supported the professionalization of the municipal staff and promoted inter-municipal co-operation”, she added, informing that next projects will focus on improving citizen’s participation. Gudrun MOSLER-TÖRNSTRÖM referred to the recently adopted guidelines and a Recommendation by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers as well as Congress report, which would be useful elements in this process. The president also welcomed the very recent decision of the Montenegrin Government to ratify several additional articles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

During the meeting with the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Ivan BRAJOVIĆ, and the Head of the Montenegrin delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Predrag SEKULIĆ, the Congress President commended the ambitious reform agenda pursued by Montenegro and the progress made. She welcomed the confirmation that the Montenegrin Parliament would discuss the ratification of additional articles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government after the summer break. The role of national Parliament s in decentralization processes was crucial for the success and the Congress delegation referred to a report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in this matter, which will be presented to the autumn part session of PACE in October.

 

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Official visit of the President of the Congress to Montenegro
Presidency Podgorica, Montenegro 24-25 July 2018
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