On the sidelines of the event, Mr Medved met today with his Montenegrin counterpart Suzana Pribilović. They discussed areas in which cooperation can be further increased. Ms Suzana Pribilović said that Montenegro was making every effort to meet the conditions required for accession to the European Union.

A new public administration development strategy is underway. Special emphasis has also been given to the development of local self-government. Slovenia, which already has significant experience in these areas, is offering Montenegro its support. According to Public Administration Minister Rudi Medved, Slovenia seeks to set objective development goals for public administration, prepare for the renewal of the civil servant system and ease the financial burden of municipalities. As regards the adoption of measures to increase efficiency, Mr Medved emphasised the importance of dialogue with all partners in the public sector.

Following the talks, the two ministers signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on public administration between the two ministries. Upon signing the Memorandum, Mr Medved stressed that he "does not want it to be merely a symbolic step, but the basis for genuine cooperation. Montenegro is making significant headway towards the EU and is strongly supported by Slovenia.  Slovenia, however, no longer plays just a role of a teacher for the Western Balkan countries, but it can also learn from these major steps."

After signing the Memorandum, Montenegrin Minister Suzana Pribilović expressed her satisfaction with the excellent cooperation between the two countries and ministries in the area of public administration. She also emphasised that the two countries would continue to work together on the basis of the signed memorandum since they shared the common objective of making progress in public administration, which can be achieved primarily through an open, transparent and service-oriented public administration that provides excellent services to citizens.

With this, they further confirmed the successful cooperation between the two countries, and the signing of the Memorandum provides for increased cooperation in the future. In this way, there will be an even greater transfer of good practices and the main focus will be on public administration reforms at national and local levels, e-governance, a better provision of public administration services, the remuneration system of civil servants and the training of civil servants.