Today, this July 17, 2008, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Milo Đukanović, made his first official visit to Italy since Montenegro gained its independence in June 2006.

In the afternoon end, at 06:00pm, Prime Minister Đukanović has been received at the Palazzo Chigi by the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, H.E. Mr. Silvio Berlusconi. Initially planned for half an hour, the encounter was finally extended more than an hour. This high-level Italy-Montenegro bilateral meeting — at which was also present the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Franco Frattini — took place in the middle of an intensive collaboration between the two countries in the fields of justice and home affairs.

For several years now, Italy and Montenegro have been engaged in a close dialogue which already led to the signing in July 2007 of a bilateral agreement on police co-operation in the fight against organised crime. On the basis of this agreement, a special unit against economic and financial crimes from the Italian Ministry of Interior is currently operating inside the Embassy of Italy in Podgorica to liaise with Montenegrin authorities. In parallel with the work of this unit, a new negotiation process recently begun to complete a bilateral co-operation agreement on criminal justice issues, including the exchange of information, the creation of joint investigative teams and the implementation of provisions restricting personal freedom.

Prime Ministers Đukanović and Berlusconi also discussed bilateral trade issues, in order to further strengthening economic relations between both countries, especially in the areas of energy, tourism, infrastructure and privatisations. With this aim in view, a Montenegrin delegation headed by the Minister for Economic Development, Mr. Branislav Gvozdenović, will be visiting Rome on July 21 next, while a forum promoting Italo-Montenegrin economic and trade relations is planned to be organised in Montenegro in the autumn 2008 too.

Finally, on the European part of the meeting, Prime Minister Đukanović received the assurance from his counterpart that Italy will continue to assist Montenegro towards EU membership, and will fully support the country’s determination to submit its application by the year’s end.

Following is the audio record in Italian and Montenegrin of the joint press conference given by Prime Ministers Messrs. Silvio Berlusconi and Milo Đukanović, in Rome, Italy, July 17:

During his official visit to Italy, Prime Minister Đukanović was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Milan Roćen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, and H.E. Mr. Darko Uskoković, Ambassador of Montenegro to Italy. Sooner in the afternoon, at 03:30pm, the Prime Minister also met with the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Gianfranco Fini, at the Palazzo Montecitorio. “Now I understand why Mr. Đukanović is a leader!,” just said President Fini after is meeting with the Montenegrin Delegation.