Today, more than ever before, every country needs reliable partners and good friends. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said in the town of Cetinje at a solemn ceremony on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary since the diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Montenegro were restored. The President was on a one-day working visit to Montenegro at the invitation of Head of State Filip Vujanovic.

Rosen Plevneliev emphasized that the diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Montenegro have a long and rich history and are based on cooperation and trust. “The history of our friendship is deep and goes back in time, it has developed not only in the past decade, but also for thousands of years. We also have a shared future. It is not a coincidence that one of the first Bulgarian diplomatic missions was opened namely in Cetinje in 1897,” the President recalled. 

The Head of State further pointed out that Bulgaria is the first country that recognized Montenegro’s independence 138 years ago and among the first that ratified the Protocol for Montenegro’s NATO accession. “In the near future Montenegro inevitably has its worthy place in a strong and integrated European Union,” Rosen Plevneliev said and highlighted tourism, energy and industry as particularly promising spheres for the future development of the bilateral economic cooperation.  

“Montenegro’s achievements in the past decade are noteworthy. The country has set an encouraging example for all countries in the region with the considerable progress it made on the path to European and Euro-Atlantic integration,” Rosen Plevneliev said and highlighted as a key achievement Montenegro’s trust and sincere good-neighborly relations in all regional cooperation formats. “You have shown an enviable ability to achieve concrete results, to make economic and political progress. You demonstrated responsibility to conduct difficult, yet important reforms and exceptional statehood maturity,” Rosen Plevneliev further said at the solemn ceremony which marked the 10^th anniversary of the restoration of the diplomatic relations.