American senators Chris Murphy and Gary Peters will visit Montenegro tomorrow as part of a regional tour in the Western Balkans.
They will meet in Podgorica with the newly elected President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović.
Murphy said that the goal of their visit to the Western Balkans is to discuss how the United States of America (USA) can promote stability and cooperation in the region.
"We can never take peace in the Balkans for granted, and our visit comes at a crucial time for many of these countries. Although there has been good progress towards normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, as well as Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro on the path to EU accession , there is still work to be done. Senator Peters and I will send a strong message that the US is invested in maintaining regional stability and supports their path to European integration," Murphy posted on his website.
Peters said they continue to support lasting peace and normalized relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
"We will work together with our partners in the Western Balkans to deepen economic, social and defense ties," he announced.
Murphy is a member of the US Senate Foreign Policy Committee, and Peters is a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Murphy spoke at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week on US policy toward the Western Balkans.
At that session, State Department adviser Derek Šole said that the new leadership in Montenegro should focus on reforms in the rule of law, especially on stopping organized crime and corruption.
Šole pointed out that he hopes that the outcome of the recent presidential elections will help to overcome the differences in Montenegro.
"Montenegro is a valuable ally in NATO and we hope that the outcome of the recent presidential elections will help to overcome the differences in Montenegro," said Šole.
The US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said at that session that Montenegro understands the need to speed up reforms for the sake of Europe's future.
"Several judges of the Constitutional Court have recently been elected, it is necessary to elect the remaining judge. The recent presidential elections went smoothly. We hope that the parliamentary elections on June 11 will be free and fair, and that the leaders of Montenegro will hear the voice of the people and speed up reforms." , said Escobar, RTCG reported.
When asked by Senator Pete Ricketts what can be done to distance Montenegro from Vladimir Putin and Russia, Šole answered that Montenegro is a good NATO partner.
He said that the new head of state, Jakov Milatović, won convincingly, that Montenegro had been imposing sanctions on Russia since 2014, and that the new president had publicly pledged to continue such a policy towards Russia.
"They are hosting the NATO exercise right now, as we speak. They are a good partner, and we see the movement led by the new president Milatović as a symbol of the change of generations in Montenegro," said Šole.
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