Milatovic: My visit turns new page in Serbia-Montenegro relations

BELGRADE - Montenegro is a friend to Serbia and Serbia is a friend to Montenegro, Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic said in Belgrade on Monday, noting that his visit to the Serbian capital turned a new page in Serbia-Montenegro relations.

At a press conference after a meeting with Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, Milatovic publicly invited the Serbian president to pay an official visit to Podgorica so that they could again demonstrate they had turned a new page in bilateral relations.

"I welcome any initiative aimed at advancement of ties with countries in the region... Serbia and Montenegro are connected by a common history, tradition and lively economic cooperation... With this visit, Serbia and Montenegro turn a new page, Montenegro is a friend to Serbia and Serbia is a friend to Montenegro," Milatovic said.

Expressing satisfaction with his first official visit to Belgrade, Milatovic noted that, when taking office as president, he had highlighted EU integration, NATO and good-neighbourly relations as the foreign policy priorities.

He thanked Vucic for inviting him to Serbia and for attending his swearing-in ceremony in Podgorica, as well as for Serbian FM Ivica Dacic's attendance at a recent summit in Montenegro.

He noted that all that, as well as his visit to Serbia, represented "important steps towards a political revitalisation of the relations between our two countries."