President to Leave for Official Visit to Montenegro on Thursday Afternoon

Bratislava, 29 May (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini will leave for an official visit to Montenegro at the invitation of President Jakov Milatovic on Thursday afternoon, the President's Office's communications department has informed TASR. This is the first visit by a Slovak president to Montenegro in almost 14 years. The main goal of the visit is to express support for Montenegro's EU integration efforts and to intensify bilateral relations, especially economic ones. Current developments in the Western Balkans region, the security situation in Europe and preparations for the upcoming NATO summit will be on the agenda of the talks as well. The official programme will begin on Friday (30 May) morning with talks between the two presidents at the Blue Palace in Cetinje. After the welcome ceremony and talks, the heads of state will symbolically plant a lime tree in the palace garden as a sign of friendship between the two countries. The Slovak president will also lay a wreath at the monument to a partisan fighter. Pellegrini will be accompanied during the visit by Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) and Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Rastislav Chovanec. The president's delegation in Montenegro will also include representatives of the academic community and business sector. The Slovak business delegation will participate in a business forum in Podgorica with the aim of establishing new contacts and identifying opportunities for further cooperation. The forum will be jointly opened by the two presidents. Pellegrini will also meet Vice-premier for Foreign Affairs Filip Ivanovic and European Affairs Minister Maida Gorcevic on Friday. A significant moment of the visit will be the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, as will the signing of an agreement on academic cooperation between the Cetinje-based Faculty of the Montenegrin Language and Literature and Presov University's Faculty of Philosophy. ko/df