During the first part of the meeting, the Presidency of the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia, headed by Mr Miodrag Orlandić, presented to the members of the Committee Delegation the short history of the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia, informing the attendees on the position and the status of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia with origins from Montenegro. They concluded that it was necessary to pursue a more quality legal regulation that would address the position of Montenegrin Community, which current regulations treated as a part of the group “other nationalities” in the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. Mr Orlandić emphasised the importance of active participation of the Parliament of Montenegro, meaning the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants, with regard to signing and ratification of the bilateral agreement on recognition and protection of rights of minorities between Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia, as well as ratification of the signed agreement on dual citizenship. The Presidency of the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia commended the Draft Law on Cooperation of Montenegro with Diaspora, emphasising that precisely the final legal framework would be the beginning of concrete steps toward improvement of position of our emigrants.

The second part of the meeting was marked by presentation on the important project that the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia was implementing in cooperation with the eminent science and education workers from Macedonia and Montenegro. The presentation on the topics of the project with the same name: “Demographic and migration characteristics of the citizens of Macedonia of Montenegrin origins and identification of Montenegrin minority in Macedonia” was held by Mr Nikola Panov of Science and Mathematics faculty in Skopje. Apart from the members of the Committee Delegation and the Presidency of the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia, the following also participated in the discussion: Mr Svetomir Škarić, professor of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law, Skopje; Ms Jadranka Dabović Anastasovska, also from the Faculty of Law, Skopje; Mr Aleksandar Atanasovski, from the Institute of History at the Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje; Ms Ljubica Kostovska, from the Faculty of Economics, Skopje; and Mr Oliver Bacanović from the Faculty for Security and many others.

Additionally, they also initiated talks on many other important projects being implemented by the Community of Montenegrins in the Republic of Macedonia, to which the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants could contribute.

At the meeting, they concluded that the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants, within its competencies, could meet the proposals, all in the interest of increasing visibility and the position of emigrants from Montenegro as well as strengthening of cooperation of their country of origin – Montenegro with the Republic of Macedonia.