On 17 and 18 December, Secretary General of the Parliament of Kosovo Mr Ismet Krasnići paid a two-day visit to the Parliament of Montenegro.

At the meeting of the secretaries general, organisational structures of the parliaments were presented and opinions on the manner of operations of the services were exchanged. Bearing in mind that the drafting of text of working version of the Law on the Parliament of Montenegro was envisaged by the 2015 Action Plan for Strengthening the Legislative and Oversight Role of the Parliament of Montenegro, at the meeting they talked about the Law on the Parliament of Kosovo, which is in the preparation stage. Secretary General Krasnići pointed out the most significant aspects of this law, primarily from the aspect of financial autonomy of the parliament.

During the meeting, Mr Stanković informed the interlocutors on progress in the process of European integration of Montenegro, with special accent on the role of the Parliament of Montenegro in the process of accession negotiations with the European Union. In that context, he pointed out the specific approach of the Parliament of Montenegro to this process and its increasingly significant role. He informed his interlocutor on the extended competencies of lead committees in evaluating harmonisation of legislation, as well as the role of the Committee on European Integration in monitoring negotiations with the EU.

The associates of secretaries general exchanged opinions and experiences in the field of parliamentary IT systems, as well as the issues of cooperation between the parliaments and civil sector, as an important segment of participation of public and citizens in the legislative process.

Secretaries general Mr Krasnići and Mr Stanković also visited the Democracy Workshops “Barbara Prammer”. During the visit, the Service of the Parliament of Montenegro informed the associates from the Parliament of Kosovo on the process of implementation of Democracy Workshops, so they could apply these experiences in the Parliament of Kosovo.

Given that the improvement of work of the parliament requires continuous strengthening of administrative capacities, they also emphasised the significance of exchanging experiences as a form of enhancing knowledge and professionalism of employees, as well continuation of successful cooperation of the services of the two parliaments in different segments.