PM Dancila and Montenegro's Parliament President Ivan Brajovic discuss opportunities to develop bilateral cooperation

The analysis of opportunities for the development of the bilateral cooperation was one of the main topics discussed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila with Montenegro's Parliament President Ivan Brajovic who is paying an official visit to Bucharest.

The two officials remarked that the visit of the President of Montenegro's Parliament to Bucharest represented a good opportunity to develop the dialogue occasioned by the Romanian Prime Minister's visit to Podgorita (July 25-26, 2018) and voiced satisfaction over the very good level of bilateral relations.

The talks occasioned an analysis of opportunities for the development of the bilateral cooperation, especially at economic level, and also underscored was the important role of the parliamentary diplomacy in developing bilateral cooperation. The instruments of development in sectoral cooperation, in areas such as energy, tourism, culture and education were reviewed, a Government release mentions.

In respect to Montenegro's European journey, the Romanian Prime Minister reconfirmed that Romania, while holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as of 1 January 2019, will try to advance negotiations for Montenegro's accession to the EU, based on this country's own merits and the accession criteria.

The Romanian high official underscored again, on this occasion, the major importance of a clear strategic option of Montenegro, reconfirmed by its accession to NATO in June 2017, and remarked that the Alliance membership paved the way for a consistent reform process, beneficial including for the success of the EU accession negotiations, which are already in an advanced stage.

Also reconfirmed was the beneficial influence of the open doors policy of NATO for the reform processes in the Western Balkan states and also for regional cooperation, the same source mentioned. AGERPRES (RO - author: Catalina Matei, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Rodica State)