Koprivica meets with Head of Unit for Montenegro and Serbia at DG NEAR Michael Miller

Deputy Prime Minister for Political System, Judiciary, and Anti-Corruption Momo Koprivica met with Head of Unit for Montenegro and Serbia at the European Commission's Directorate-General for for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Michael Miller.

At the outset of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Koprivica emphasised that the Government of Montenegro is fully committed to reform activities in the area of rule of law – Chapters 23 and 24, as well as fulfilling the interim benchmarks in this area.

During his introductory remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Koprivica placed special emphasis on the recent appointments of the Supreme State Prosecutor, the President of the Judicial Council, and a judge of the Constitutional Court, as a result of a high degree of political consensus.

In discussions with Miller, Deputy Prime Minister Koprivica highlighted the establishment of the National Council for the Fight against Corruption, within which operational teams will be formed at a lower level, and with the assistance of international partners, will work on drafting the Strategy and Action Plan. The Draft Strategy for the Fight against Corruption has already been forwarded to the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Ministry of Justice, providing the Council with a starting point for further work.

Miller stated that Montenegro has achieved significant results in the past few months. He emphasised that the priority should be to continue reforms in the rule of law, so that Montenegro can fulfill the interim benchmarks in Chapters 23 and 24 as soon as possible, thus capitalizing on the current momentum of enlargement policy to accelerate accession negotiations with the EU.

Deputy Prime Minister Koprivica remarked that Mr. Miller's visit is indeed a support to Montenegro in intensifying the reforms necessary for accelerating the accession process to the European Union.