German International Cooperation Society (GIZ) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration hosted a three-day workshop in Budva (3-5 March 2015) for South-Eastern European diplomats. The workshop dealt with negotiation techniques and daily diplomatic activities, with a special emphasis on EU institutions. Participants were 17 diplomats from six countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
In addition to ensuring the acquisition of new knowledge, the workshop was an opportunity to exchange opinions on the dynamics of the Western Balkans’ EU accession. Director-General for European Affairs at the Ministry Snežana Radović informed the participants about Montenegro’s negotiating structure and the development of the negotiation process. She presented Montenegro’s results and underlined the commitments it needs to meet. Ms Radović emphasised that Montenegro, as a country that has made the most progress in EU accession of all the candidate countries, is ready to transfer its negotiation experience to its neighbours and thus to contribute to the reforms processes and integration processes in the region.
Workshop participants commended the event and the opportunity to exchange opinion and hear about the lessons learned. In that context, the importance of regional cooperation in EU integration was underlined and especially the implementation of joint projects.