Meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on SALW held in Montenegro

Parliaments have the duty and obligation to strengthen their oversight of arms transfers. This was the conclusion of the regional meeting of the Western Balkans Parliamentary Forum on SALW co-organized by the Parliament of Montenegro and SEESAC and which took place on 08 November 2010, in Becici within the framework of the Cetinje Parliamentary Forum. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Mevludin Nuhodzic, the Chair of the Committee on Defence and Security of the Parliament of Montenegro, who stated in his opening address that the Parliament had established good foundations to oversee the trade in controlled goods and thus contribute to strengthening the image of Montenegro as a responsible member of the international community.

Welcoming participants, Mr. Goran Sturanovic, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro, expressed the view that while the oversight role of the Parliament of Montenegro has significantly improved since 2006, through new rules of procedure and new legislation, there is still room for progress to be made in the forthcoming period. To that end, the deepening of regional cooperation in the area of SALW control is an essential element of the effort to build a peaceful and stable South East Europe. Parliaments have an essential role to play in that process and the Forum demonstrates that. In his welcoming address, Mr. Branko Vujovic, Minister of Economy of Montenegro reiterated his Government’s commitment to full transparency and efficiency of the system of arms export controls.

Parliamentarians were introduced to the legal framework and procedures relating to the arms trade. Mr. Kadrija Kurpejovic, representing the Ministry of Economy, presented the licence issuing procedures, while Ms. Adjelka Rogac, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave an overview of the international restrictions relating to the arms trade. Presentations on the implementation of EU and international instruments in the domain of foreign trade in controlled goods were given by Mr. Osman Subasic, Assistant Minister of Interior; Mr. Radovan Ljumovic, Police Directorate; LtCol Jagos Radovic and LtCol Vukadin Tomasevic, Ministry of Defence; as well as Mr. Vojislav Markovic, Assistant Director of the Customs Directorate.

On behalf of the Delegation of the BiH Parliament, Mr. Branko Zrno, Chair of the Joint Committee on Defence and Security, shared their experience in controlling arms exports and urged for tighter controls and an increased emphasis on destruction of surplus.

Diman Dimov, SEESAC Team Leader, presented regional cooperation processes in the sphere of arms exports controls by giving an overview of past achievements and future challenges and urging participants to continue working towards a more secure region.

The meeting ended with a discussion and adoption of joint conclusions, which can be downloaded here.