Since 2006, the European Commission (EC) — the executive body of the European Union (EU) — has been represented in Montenegro by a resident Special Envoy, Mr. Martin Harvey. In the mid-2007, considering the positive democratic development which took place in the country, the EC decided to upgrade the Office of its Special Envoy into a full Delegation, and on July 5, 2007, H.E. Mr. Milan Roćen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, and Mrs. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Member of the European Commission (EC) in charge of External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, signed the final agreement establishing a permanent EU diplomatic mission in Montenegro.

Up to now, the EC Delegation — headed since November 2007 by Mr. Clive Rumbold, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, until the accreditation of H.E. Ambassador Leopold Maurer on last March 6 — operated in temporary premises of Hotel “Podgorica”, Bulevar Svetog Petra Cetinjskog 1, Podgorica.

After the accreditation of a resident ambassador, the last step in the establishment of the EC Delegation in Montenegro took place today, this Friday June 6, 2008 in the afternoon end, with the inauguration of its new building in Podgorica, Vuka Karadžića 12, by both the Prime Minister of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Milo Đukanović, and the Director-General for Enlargement in the European Commission, Mr. Michael Leigh.

Following is the audio record in English and Montenegrin of Director-General Leigh’s address at the inauguration ceremony, in Podgorica, Montenegro, June 6:

The role of the EC Delegation, in the framework of the implementation of the European Community’s external relations, is to facilitate the development of political and economic bilateral relations, to advise and guide Montenegro in its path towards integration into the EU, to disseminate information on the EU, informing the Montenegrin general public, decision makers and opinion formers about the integration process, EU institutions and its policies and to manage EU assistance programs for Montenegro, notably the Pre-Accession Instruments (IPA, CARDS and PHARE).

Contact details

On the occasion of his visit to Montenegro, Mr. Michael Leigh was successively received by the President of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanović, [1] and the Prime Minister; in the afternoon, he also met with the Speaker, Mr. Ranko Krivokapić, and the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament (Skupština), as well as various representatives of the civil society.