European Union and Council of Europe join forces in partnership with key national actors and stakeholders to continue to contribute to the country’s reform agenda and produce tangible results for the benefit of citizens of Montenegro. This has been confirmed in today’s first meeting of the Beneficiary Steering Committee of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
Ms. Milena Šofranac Ljubojević, Director of the Directorate for OSCE and the Council of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the advancement of the programme in Montenegro that has produced concrete results in improving the lives of the citizens. “The second phase of the Horizontal Facility speaks about the success off the last phase and also means that there is still many things to do in the following years. In terms of results we are proud for the new Law on International Restrictive Measures that we adopted in July 2018 with the support of the Council of Europe Office. I would like to also emphasise the progress in the area of judicial reform where a special attention has been dedicated to the European Court of Human Rights and implementation of its decisions”, said Ljubojević.
Mr Hermann Spitz, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro in his address focused on the support that the Programme is providing to institutions, benefiting from the technical assistance, capacity building, expertise and exchanges of experience. “Beneficiaries countries have to act with determination and double their efforts in the area of rule of law, independence of judiciary and fundamental rights in order to complete the political, economic and social transformation that citizens are waiting”, stressed Spitz.
"It is important to preserve the ownership developed by our partners and increase further commitment and the institutional follow up to ensure the sustainability of the results and our co-operation in the years to come”, was the key message of Ms Delphine Freymann, Head of Division, Office of the Directorate General of Programmes in the Council of Europe. Freymann also emphasised the trust that has been established in the Horizontal Facility Programme and its continued added value in addressing key reforms in the country.
The second phase of the programme to be conducted between 2019 and 2022 with an increased dedicated funding of € 41 million builds on the results of the first phase and broadens the scope of the initiative with its stronger regional dimension, and the inclusion of new topics such as freedom of expression and freedom of media. In Montenegro €4.7 million have been allocated for 7 projects, covering all the key areas of the Horizontal Facility such as justice reform, human rights protection, prison and police reform, fight against economic crime, fight against discrimination and inclusive education.
