Regional parliamentary conference titled: “Working to strengthen regional cooperation in the Western Balkans: achievements and prospects”, has begun on Jahorina today. Around 30 parliamentarians from six parliaments of the regional states are participating, including the Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro.

The introductory remarks were delivered by Mr Emil Atanasovski. Director of Western Balkans Programme at Westminster Foundation for Democracy, who presented the work of the Regional Network of Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance and European Integration of the Western Balkans in the previous three years, stressing that in the period to come the Network would be focused on the issues of controlling funds from IPA II programme and strengthening parliamentary oversight of the budget.

The following spoke on the first panel discussion titled: “2015 progress report of the EU and IPA II funds: where are we and what are the options?": Mr Mitar Kujundžic, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms Nataša Dragojlović, Coordinator of the National Convention on the EU from Serbia, Mr Gordan Georgiev, a former member of the Macedonian Parliament and Mr Momcilo Radulović, President of the European Movement in Montenegro. The participants discussed the reform steps necessary for further progress of the Western Balkans countries towards the EU, referring to current challenges that the Union was facing, such as refugee crisis and terrorist attacks. They concurred that the agreement from Vienna Summit on joint infrastructural projects represented a strong incentive for the regional cooperation. Also, they emphasised that the parliaments should be more devoted to the oversight of the IPA projects in the new financial perspective.

The second panel discussion was devoted to the topic: “Towards open budgetary process and stronger financial oversight”, and the following spoke on the topic: Mr Aleksandar Damjanović, Chairperson of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Veroljub Arsić, Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Mr Predrag Kozul, Chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Finance of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Igor Radojicić, Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and Mr Marjančo Nikolov, Chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Finance of the Macedonian Parliament. The participants presented different experiences regarding the revision of spending the public means, and possibility of strengthening the role of parliamentary committees. Additionally, they stressed the importance of fiscal discipline, financial control and transparency of creating the budget.

The conference is organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Regional Network of Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance and European Integration of the Western Balkans. Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro is composed of: Chairperson and member of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget Mr Aleksandar Damjanović and Mr Almer Kalač, and members of the Committee on European Integration Mr Šefkija Murić and Mr Danko Šarančić.