Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro and a member of the standing delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the Parliamentary Assembly of South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Mr Suljo Mustafić participated in the meeting of the General Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Security Cooperation, held in Istanbul.

The following topics were covered: “Regional cooperation: Opportunities for cooperation in the field of justice”, “Legal status of refugees: Syrian refugees in Turkey” and “International judicial cooperation in preventing cross-border organised crime”.

During the discussion on the possibility of cooperation in the field of judiciary, Vice President Mustafić pointed out the importance of promotion of legislative framework, emphasising that it was just a prerequisite but not a final solution, because intensive work and consistent implementation was necessary, in order to achieve the expected and adequate results. Mr Mustafić added that these were common challenges of the countries in the region on their path towards the NATO and EU integration.

The basic requirements of integration in the field of judiciary reform to which we should strive are to make the judiciary independent, effective, professional and responsible. This kind of judiciary is a foundation of a healthy society, which ensures implementation of laws and protection of the citizens’ rights. Every country has its own judiciary system and there is no single model which could be taken over and applied to all countries, however that is why it is necessary to create a system that will enable us to efficiently implement the law, says Mr Mustafić.

Vice President Mustafić also had a separate official meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey Mr Sadik Yakut. On that occasion they pointed out the close and friendly cooperation between Montenegro and the Republic of Turkey achieved on political, economic and cultural level.

We will promote our cooperation, because it is in our mutual interest, both at the bilateral level and within the regional initiatives, says Deputy Speaker Yakut.

President Mustafić expressed gratitude regarding political support of Turkey to Montenegro in the field of NATO integration, through economic investments, cultural exchange and especially through projects of development agency TIKA.

A significant link of cooperation between our countries are the emigrants from Montenegro who live throughout Turkey and who contribute to strengthening of our connection in the social and economic fields, says Mr Mustafić.

The two-day meeting of the General Committee ended with adoption of the Report and the Resolution containing conclusions from the meeting held in Istanbul on 9 and 10 February.