Milo
Đukanović
Prime Minister of Montenegro
Speech made to the Assembly
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
said that it was a great honour, as President of Montenegro, the youngest member of the Council of Europe but a country with a long and deep history, to address the Assembly. He thanked the President for the invitation and for taking the time to visit Montenegro during recent difficult events.
It was a time for reform for the Council of Europe. This was necessary for it to be able to carry out its role of protecting human rights and the rule of law. Montenegro would continue its work to become a fully functioning democracy.
The Secretary General should be thanked for his actions to make the Council of Europe a modern institution and to improve relations with the European Union and the United Nations. This was important if continued stability were to be achieved through strengthening the rule of law.
It was a particular privilege to be speaking during the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. Montenegro had recently had a referendum on maintaining independence which had been conducted to the highest standards. Montenegro was continuing to improve its democratic standards, particularly through co-operation under the Venice Convention. Montenegro was also acting to spread democratic values throughout the region.
Internally, efforts were being made to improve relationships between numerous ethnic and religious minorities. Montenegro had also successfully established a separate judiciary, legislature and executive.
It was important to continue strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law. Work was also being done to fight organised crime and corruption and to ensure that policies aimed at reducing such activity were fully implemented.
Montenegro was enjoying micro-economic stability and had had a good tourist season. It was one of the European countries that received the largest amount of foreign direct investment, with more than 80% coming from EU member states, and that trend was continuing this year. This was leading to increased investment in infrastructure energy and tourism, which was further developing the country. He thanked the Council of Europe Development Bank for taking part in so many projects in Montenegro.
Montenegro was also part of a coalition working to solve mainly international problems. Progress was being made on EU-Atlantic relations and liberalisation of the visa regime. By the end of the year, he hoped that Montenegro would have candidate country status. Work on this was going well and Montenegro had to date successfully answered all the EU’s questions.
The stability and association agreement had recently entered into force and this week in Luxembourg there had been the first high-level meeting on implementation. He had also attended a high-level summit in Sarajevo and was committed to continuing improvement of European-Atlantic relations.
Reform should be carried out for the benefit of citizens, and the positive reaction of the EU had helped encourage Montenegro to do better. European-Atlantic integration guaranteed a stable and democratic West Balkans, which would aid stability in both the Balkan region and the Mediterranean, and that in turn would aid global stability.
A lot had been done in a short time. A membership action plan for NATO had been agreed last November, and last week had seen the first meeting on the two-year plan. The first Montenegro contingent had taken part in the international security assistance force mission in the German part of Afghanistan.
Work with the Council of Europe was particularly important for improving human rights and the rule of law. Montenegro had achieved full membership in May 2007. The importance of joining the Council of Europe had been recognised in all spheres of life in Montenegro. He was hopeful that action would be taken to achieve their mutual goals. He placed a high value on the Council of Europe’s work to improve democratic stability, the rule of law and economic development.
The government would implement all suggestions made by the Council of Europe, and the plan for 2008 to 2010 showed that good progress was being made. Of the 77 conventions on human rights, Montenegro had only one more to sign and three more to ratify. He was glad that the Council of Europe was pleased with progress being made but believed that quality of actions was more important than the speed at which they were taken. That was why he was committed not just to ratifying conventions but to achieving their standards so that people could enjoy the rights of 21st century European citizens.
Work was being done to reform the law, the judicial system, education and the prison system. All this work was being done within a human rights framework. In addition, the police were being reformed, action taken to combat corruption and organised crime, and to improve tolerance and to ensure equal treatment of all citizens, including those from the Roma community.
Work with the Venice Commission had been particularly important for the improvement of democracy in Montenegro in 2008-09. Eight laws had been reviewed by the commission, including electoral law and the law of minority rights. Respect for the rule of law was a basic principle and the Commissioner of Human Rights was continuing to monitor the situation in Montenegro.
The work of the European Court of Human Rights was very important, as it provided the pinnacle of protection for human rights. He supported the form of the Court, including the new principles for filtering new applications based on the Interlaken declaration.
Strong efforts were being made to reform national courts, and these needed support from the Council of Europe. A legislative framework had been created to strengthen the capacity of the independent judiciary. This had had positive results, with 76.19% of the previous backlog of cases being dealt with. They were also involved in the project on cybercrime and training for judges run by the Council of Europe. Some 16 of the 24 recommendations had been implemented with the remaining eight partially implemented.
Recommendations in a report by the Council of Europe on the prevention of money laundering and on dealing with the proceeds of organised crime had also been adopted, with 41 of 49 recommendations being taken up.
Montenegro supported all efforts to strengthen human rights and freedom. It had worked to create new legislation and harmonise existing legislation to ensure implementation of the Convention. Institutional capacity was also being strengthened to improve implementation.
In April, the Plenary Assembly of the Council of Europe had issued an opinion on Montenegro. The situation in Montenegro had improved, and he would use the report’s recommendations to make further progress. He was determined to improve the system of law in the country by adopting best practice. He was committed to the core values of the Council of Europe.
Relations with neighbouring countries were of great importance and Montenegro was leading three important regional initiatives. He welcomed the progress made and hoped that dialogue would further improve relations.
He was committed to the rule of law and to an efficient legal system. He hoped that the Council of Europe would continue to support his efforts. A responsible attitude would help with negotiations over European integration.