“Our goal is to increase mutual trade turnover, which reached €43 million last year. We want to support and assist Slovak investments in establishing themselves in Montenegro, where we see potential in energy, water management, transport infrastructure, defense, and digitalization. Slovakia is therefore ready to host the third session of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation, thereby strengthening our joint activities in the economic and investment fields,” stated State Secretary Chovanec.

According to him, specific opportunities are currently emerging, for example, in the construction of a ski resort in the town of Bijelo Polje, or through utilizing strong Slovak expertise in cooperation with the Armed Forces of Montenegro.

Slovak–Montenegrin relations were further strengthened by the official visit of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini to Montenegro in May, accompanied by the largest-ever business delegation, consisting of 40 representatives of Slovak companies and institutions. As State Secretary Chovanec noted, the two countries are also connected by important European issues—above all, Slovakia’s long-standing support for Montenegro and other Western Balkan states in their integration into the European Union. Slovakia welcomes the ambition of the Montenegrin government to close all remaining negotiation chapters by 2026 and to join the EU in 2028.

“We are ready to provide Montenegro with support at all levels, including sharing our experience from the integration process. We consider it extremely important to accelerate the accession process of the Western Balkan states, as this will greatly benefit the entire region,” emphasized Chovanec, noting that Slovakia is an active member of the informal group of seven EU member states – Friends of the Western Balkans, through which it strongly promotes the region’s European integration.

Source: Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic