Montenegro will make additional efforts in order, through reforms in four key areas, to do everything necessary to receive an invitation for membership in the Alliance at the end of next year, said the national coordinator for NATO, Nebojša Kaluđerović.
At the opening of the Comprehensive Regional Ministerial Meeting in Budva, he said that, regardless of the assessments of certain allies that Montenegro could have been invited to Cardiff this year, the conclusions and messages of the NATO Summit in Wales are perceived as positive and encouraging, especially considering current events on the international level.
As he said, the decision to start an intensified and focused dialogue clearly recognized the progress in the reforms implemented by Montenegro in the previous period.
"We will make additional efforts so that, through reforms in four key areas, we will do everything necessary to receive an invitation for membership at the end of next year. We believe that this would be important for the region of the Western Balkans and NATO's open door policy," said Kaluđerović. .
At the same time, as he said, by participating in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, Montenegro confirmed its commitment to global stability and security.
"We will continue to be present in Afghanistan after 2014 as part of the "Resolute Support" operation. The fact that the countries of our region, which has been synonymous with instability for many years, managed to work together to strengthen stability on a global level is impressive here," he said. is Kaluđerović.
He stated that the state remains, together with its partners, committed to further implementing reforms and strengthening the European and Euro-Atlantic perspective of our region.
"In this context, we encourage additional efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to the bilateral dispute between Greece and Macedonia in order to soon unblock Macedonia's integration process in the European Union (EU) and NATO," added Kaluđerović.
As he said, Montenegro hopes that Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon be able to receive the MAP and make significant progress towards integration into NATO and the EU.
"We strongly support the efforts made by Belgrade and Pristina in order to normalize mutual relations and strengthen the stability of the Western Balkans. We are sincerely pleased by the fact that Serbia has started negotiations on membership, and Albania has received the status of a candidate for EU membership," said Kaluđerović.
He assessed that the success of each country in the region should be treated as a significant incentive for further efforts to ensure the long-term stability and prosperity of countries from this area.
As he said, in the period before the restoration of independence, Montenegro defined membership in the EU and NATO as its strategic priority foreign policy goals.
Kaluđerović said that the government sees integrative processes as the best framework for the implementation of comprehensive reforms and the achievement of the desired standard of living.
"We are aware that it is not possible to achieve these goals without an active role in regional cooperation, developing good neighborly relations and rethinking policy in the regional context. Montenegro is a credible partner in the region and we play an active and constructive role in a number of regional initiatives and forums. Bilateral relations between the countries of the region are continuously developing and improving, with an emphasis on partnership relations in areas of common interest to our citizens," he said.
According to Kaluđerović, the further development of regional cooperation mechanisms has been strengthened with the belief that in this way we are strengthening individual relations with the countries of the region and helping our own progress and that of the Western Balkans in achieving European and Euro-Atlantic ambitions.
"Additionally, bearing in mind the fact that none of the countries in the region have sufficient human or material resources for an independent response to contemporary security challenges and threats, regional initiatives, comprehensive cooperation, as well as infrastructural connections are gaining more and more importance today," he said. .
CAs he reminded, Montenegro has been in the process of negotiations with the EU for two years and at the same time expects to receive an invitation for NATO membership by the end of 2015.
"The 2014 progress report, presented by the European Commission last week, showed that we continue to sufficiently meet the political criteria, that we are making further progress in establishing a functioning market economy and that we have improved our ability to take on the obligations arising from membership in the EU," said Kaluđerović.
He also announced that Montenegro has so far successfully opened negotiations in a total of 12 negotiation areas, and temporarily completed the negotiation process in two chapters.
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