President of the Parliament thanked the Albanian Prime Minister on continuous support of Albania in the NATO accession process, pointing out that support by neighbours was an additional incentive for European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes.

Mr Pajović expressed hope that Albania would as soon as possible get a green light from the EU to open negotiations, because the pre-accession negotiation would bring new responsibilities, but also an incentive for dynamization of the European integration goal. Mr Pajović pointed out that Montenegro, as a good neighbour and friend, would share its experiences from the EU negotiation process, bearing in mind that Montenegro had made deep steps into the negotiation process.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania Mr Edi Rama congratulated Mr Pajović on his election to the position of president of the Parliament of Montenegro and wished him success. He pointed out that the visit by Mr Pajović was taking place in a very significant period, both for our two countries and for the North-Atlantic Alliance. Furthermore, he emphasised that Albania, as a great friend and good neighbour, would send a message by today’s ratification of the NATO Accession Protocol for Montenegro to other partners as well to complete their internal ratification procedures as soon as possible, because Montenegro’s membership in NATO was a gain not only for Montenegro and the region, but also for the entire Alliance.

Pointing out the closeness of the two countries, Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania expressed special pleasure over the information that all MPs of Albanian origin in the Parliament of Montenegro would be enabled to have permanent communication in their mother tongue emphasising that it might be a small technical issue expressing great respect, and that the citizens of our two countries “between respect and bread, will rather choose respect”.

Mr Pajović and Mr Rama agree that Montenegro and Albania share a joint culture, history, values and mutual trust, and that there is an excellent basis for further and deeper development of excellent bilateral relations. It was pointed out that opportunities for improvement of cooperation were especially great in the field of economy and sustainable development, i.e. joint sustainable projects in the area of the Lake of Skadar, Bojana river, and Prokletije.

In addition to President Pajović, Montenegrin delegation included Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Miodrag Vuković.