PODGORICA – Government officials of the Western Balkans in charge of European integration and finances met on Friday in Montenegro to discuss the EU Growth Plan for the region, adopted recently by the European Parliament.
According to the press release of the Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro, the ministers of Western Balkans exchanged opinions on joint actions, coordinated policies and initiatives aimed at ensuring success in the implementation of the Growth Pan and the entire EU accession process.
In this context, they discussed access to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), improvement of trade and transport facilities between the countries of the Western Balkans and EU member states, the digital identity wallet application and improvement of the supply of critical medicines.
“Montenegro’s intention is to speed up the development of key infrastructure in the field of transport and energy, which will have positive effects on the growth rate as well… During this specific period, when we worked diligently to demonstrate progress in the area of the rule of law, we also prepared a number of solid reform measures for other relevant policy areas of the Reform Agenda”, Minister for European Affairs of Montenegro Maida Gorčević said.
In mid-May, Montenegro will host a regional summit of the leaders of the Western Balkan countries and the European Commission dedicated to the maximum utilization of the advantages of the Growth Plan, the Ministry announced.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi, Deputy Finance Minister of North Macedonia Filip Nikolovski, Chief Negotiator of the Government of Albania Majlinda Dhuka, Minister of European Integration of Serbia Tanja Miščević and Assistant Director of the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zara Halilović.