On 21 December, Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria and Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia will visit Montenegro, as mandated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

Montenegro is one of the closest partners of the European Union, well advanced in its accession negotiations and with the longest standing record of full alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The visit comes at a moment when recent political developments have provoked a serious institutional crisis, undermining the democratic institutions and slowing down the country’s progress on its accession path.

It will be an opportunity to underline that in order to advance on EU accession, which is the wish of an overwhelming majority of Montenegro’s citizens, all political actors need to support the functionality of the institutions, in particular of the Constitutional Court.

The Ministers will meet with the President Milo Đukanović, the President of the Parliament Danijela Đurović and the acting Prime Minister Dritan Abazović.

The Ministers will hold a press conference, location and time to be announced at a later stage. Audiovisual coverage of the visit will be provided by the European Union Delegation to Montenegro.