Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Milutin Simović today met Mr Ulrich Petzold, Member of the Bundestag, and Mr Guido Heinen, Head of the Bundestag’s department of Research Services Directorate. Mr Uwe Meerkotter, Deputy German Ambassador to Montenegro, also attended the meeting.

Vice President Simović emphasised that the meeting was a good opportunity for guests to become familiar with the political and economic developments in Montenegro as well as its achievements on European and Euro-Atlantic path, simultaneously voicing gratitude for the overall support provided by Germany to Montenegro in development of democracy, and during the numerous economic challenges behind us but also in front of us. They pointed out to dynamics and quality of NATO integration through the fact that Montenegro was in the process of intensive and focused debates with our NATO partners in four key fields.

MP Petzold thinks that the best way to support Montenegrin society is education of young people. These activities have been implemented through the International Parliamentary Scholarship programme (IPS) of the German Bundestag, where representatives of Montenegro also take part. In addition, the MP announced granting scholarship to young people who want to attend higher education in Germany, after which they would return to work in Montenegro, and thus give a contribution to development of Montenegro. As a part of the economy cooperation of the two countries, MP Petzold announced opening of the German Chamber of Commerce Office in Montenegro.

According to Mr Simović, the development is a guarantee for prosperity of Montenegro and the region. The important support on that path will be provided by the regional initiative Berlin Process, initiated by the German Chancellor Ms Angela Merkel.