Mattarella: Montenegro leads reconciliation efforts in the Western Balkans, has Italy’s full support

During the first day of his official visit to Italy, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić met not only with President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni, but also with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella.

The recent frequency of high-level contacts — including President Mattarella’s visit to Montenegro and Prime Minister Spajić’s visit to Rome — clearly signals that the strong bilateral relations between the two countries are on an upward trajectory.

We already see you as a member of the European Union. Considering all that you have achieved in such a short time, Montenegro rightfully expects to soon become a full member, President Mattarella stated.

He welcomed Prime Minister Spajić to Italy and reaffirmed that Italy remains deeply committed to the well-being of the Western Balkans.

The European Union is a stabilizing force in the region, and Montenegro is at the forefront of reconciliation and progress — for which you have Italy’s strong support, Mattarella emphasized.

Prime Minister Spajić informed the President of Italy about the Government’s efforts to accelerate the European agenda and reiterated Montenegro’s expectation to complete EU accession negotiations by the end of 2026, with the goal of joining the Union during Italy’s Presidency in 2028.

We are ambitious and committed. For us, European integration is not an end in itself, but a transformational process that makes our society more structured and resilient. We are ready to meet all challenges, Spajić stated.

The two leaders exchanged views on current global challenges and agreed that, in order to enhance resilience to unpredictable global economic developments, the already strong political relations between Montenegro and Italy should be complemented by deeper economic cooperation.

In that context, the upcoming Business Forum, agreed upon with Prime Minister Meloni, is expected to give an additional boost to cooperation between large companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, which, as noted by both sides, stand to gain valuable opportunities through this initiative.

The meeting also touched on cooperation in the fields of culture and education, with an emphasis on enhancing university-level collaboration between the two countries.

Prime Minister Spajić will continue his meetings with Italy's top officials tomorrow with talks with President of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, followed by a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani.