EU enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos is visiting Montenegro on Thursday and Friday to restate the EU’s support for the country’s bid to join the bloc.
Montenegro has opened all accession negotiating chapters and has provisionally closed 14, including six last year and two more this year.
Kos is due to meet Prime Minister Milojko Spajić in Podgorica, alongside Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović and European Affairs Minister Maida Gorčević, the European Commission said in a statement.
Talks are set to cover reforms linked to Montenegro’s EU membership process and the EU’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which the Commission said could provide up to €383.5 million to Montenegro if reforms are delivered.
Kos is also scheduled to meet parliamentary speaker Andrija Mandić, as well as local authorities and opposition representatives, the Commission said, adding that she will take part in a public discussion with young people.
Visit to Nikšić and youth jobs programme
On Friday, Kos will travel to Nikšić, which the Commission said has been designated European Capital of Culture 2030.
She is due to meet the town’s mayor, Marko Kovačević, and visit the Tehnopolis Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre.
Kos is also set to meet people supported by the Youth Guarantee, an EU-funded programme designed to help young people into work after completing their studies.
