BUDVA – “It is important that citizens are familiar with the benefits that the four pillars of the Growth Plan will bring and that we all be ambassadors of initiatives that will bring good to the countries of the Western Balkans”, said Valentina Superti, Director for Western Balkans in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), addressing the participants of the regional conference “Empower. Integrate. Growth”, which takes place on 28-29 January in Budva.
The conference on regional economic integration brought together policymakers, EU officials, business leaders and experts to jointly analyse the achievements in improving regional trade and highlight the next steps towards deeper integration with the EU Single Market.
Among the speakers are the ministers of EU affairs of Montenegro and Serbia, Maida Gorčević and Tanja Miščević, First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Josip Brkić, Chief Negotiator of Montenegro with EU Predrag Zenović, as well as German ambassador to Montenegro Peter Felten.
According to Valentina Superti, the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is closely linked to the EU accession process.
“The Growth Plan will not only bring tangible benefits to citizens, but will provide resources to accelerate the accession process”, she said.
Superti praised Montenegro for its efforts “to prioritize and accelerate concrete EU-related reforms, while maintaining a strong focus on the fundamentals of the accession process”.
Maida Gorčević stated that “for the citizens of Montenegro, but also of the region, membership in the European Union is not only a political goal, it is the promise of a better life, dignified jobs, quality infrastructure and, above all, stability and security”.
“Our government is fully committed to this. The recent closure of three negotiating chapters is not only a success, it is a signal that our goal is to become a member of the European Union by 2028 is attainable”, Maida Gorčević stressed.
She added that the success of the Growth Plan depends on the countries of the Western Balkans, on their ability to overcome political differences and work together.
Ambassador Peter Felten underlined that it was a good sign that all countries in the region and relevant institutions saw regional economic integration as a key policy goal.
Speaking about the complementarity of the growth plan with the negotiation process, Petar Zenović stressed that the Reform Agenda would be the backbone for the implementation of activities that coincided with the reforms in the EU accession process.