Abdullah II, Montenegro president discuss ties, region

Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania on Sunday welcomed visiting President of Montenegro Philip Vujanovic and his wife, who yesterday began an official several-day visit to the Kingdom. During a one-on-one meeting followed by an expanded session at the royal palace in Hommar, the King and Vujanovic discussed ties between Jordan and Montenegro as well as regional and international issues of common concern, expressing their mutual interest in bolstering bilateral cooperation. King Abdullah expressed the hope that the Montenegrin president’s visit would be a key step toward building strong ties between the two countries, stressing the need to exploit the available opportunities and resources to advance relations, particularly in economic, trade, agricultural and tourism fields and the exchange of expertise “to open wider scopes for a partnership between the private and public sectors in both countries”. “It’s a pleasure to welcome you in the kingdom, as this visit is an opportunity, not only to exchange views, but a real beginning to open a new page in relations between the two countries,”the King said. He said he hoped the visit would help to identify areas of interest by the two peoples, particularly in economic fields, and make achievements by bolstering relations in political, economic and cultural domains. The King said Jordan was particularly interested in the experience of Montenegro, which had achieved growth in many areas, stressing that the Kingdom had a profound interest in strengthening the friendship between the two countries. He congratulated the president for his reelection for a second term. Vujanovic said he appreciated the enormous efforts of His Majesty to achieve peace and guarantee stability in the Middle East as well as Jordan’s humanitarian role of hosting Syrian refugees and providing basic humanitarian services to them. He referred to Montenegro’s experience in dealing with refugee crises during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. Vujanovic said Montenegro shared positive relations with Jordan, noting that his visit would witness the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ chambers of commerce and lay the foundations of joint cooperation and the exchange of expertise in economic and technical fields, particularly in agriculture. The talks tackled peacemaking efforts in the Middle East where His Majesty the King stressed that resolving the Palestinian issue is the guarantee for security and stability in the region, adding that any peace settlement must bring about an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil in accordance with the two-state solution and the 2002 peace initiative Arabic. The two leaders also discussed Syria and efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution to end the suffering of the Syrian people, stop the bloodshed and maintain Syria’s unity. In this context, the King highlighted efforts exerted by Jordan in hosting Syrian refugees and providing them with humanitarian and relief services they need despite limited resources and difficult economic conditions. President Vujanovic hailed the King’s endeavors to set Jordan as a model country in the region in the fields of development, modernization and reform. He stressed his country’s keenness to enhance and strengthen cooperation with Jordan in various domains.