WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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SOURCE:ANTENA M / AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Russia's aggressive war and sanctions against that country were among the issues discussed during Andrija Mandić's recent visit to the Swedish Riksdag and a meeting with the speaker of that legislative house, Andreas Norlen.
This was announced to Pobjeda by the Riksdag itself in response to a question about whether sanctions against Russia were the topic of the conversation between the speakers of the parliaments of Montenegro and Sweden.
The speaker of the Swedish parliament, Andreas Norlen, announced on the social network Iks that all future members of the European Union must support Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
- Sweden supports EU enlargement and welcomes Montenegro's progress. It is important that all future members support EU policy and, like Montenegro, support Ukraine and sanctions against Russia - Norlen stated in a post on the Iks network.
However, in the statement that the Parliament of Montenegro submitted to the media, there was no mention of sanctions and the war in Ukraine.
- At the very beginning of the meeting, it was stated that, in the context of the fact that there has been no official high-level visit between the two countries since 2015, today's meeting represents the beginning of intensive cooperation between the Kingdom of Sweden and Montenegro at all levels. President Mandić informed President Norlen about the achievements of the 28th convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro, in particular the historical stability of the parliamentary majority, obtaining a positive IBAR and key appointments in the judiciary. He added that this majority and this government have an ambitious plan to close four negotiation chapters by the end of the year, and that an intergovernmental conference is expected to be held in December - the Parliament's statement said.
They also added that "President Norlen, in the context of strengthening relations between our two countries, particularly emphasized the importance of today's visit by President Mandić, and expressed Sweden's strong support for our country to become the first next member of the EU, adding that everyone is witness to the impressive progress of Montenegro in the past year and the role that President Mandić played in creating a positive environment that is crucial for this progress".
- The presidents agreed that the two countries should further strengthen bilateral relations in areas such as education, technology and sustainable development, where Sweden has significant experience, and that in the future we should promote the potential that our country possesses, which may be interesting for Swedish investments, especially in the energy and tourism sectors – said a statement from Andrija Mandić's cabinet.
However, as Pobjeda was informed by the cabinet of the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, sanctions against Russia were the topic of discussion.
- Russia's aggressive war and sanctions against Russia were among the issues discussed during the visit. The Speaker of the Swedish Parliament presented the Swedish position. If you want to know what the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament said during the visit, you will have to ask him – Norlen's cabinet told Pobjeda.
Despite calls from the opposition to state whether he really supported sanctions against Russia, Mandić did not comment on the matter. MPs from his New Serbian Democracy party have repeatedly advocated for Montenegro to lift sanctions against Russia. Thus, during the recent POSP session in Podgorica, they voted against the Declaration adopted at the end of the session, which condemned the war of aggression and called for sanctions against Moscow.
