Montenegro

The US ambassador in Podgorica, Margaret Ann Uyehara, on Monday praised the efforts of Montenegro to curb violent extremists but urged MPs to speedily adopt amendments to the criminal code, penalising participation in foreign battles.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic has said after a meeting with his counterpart from Montenegro Vladimir Kavaric that Montenegrin companies are interested in taking part in privatisation in Serbia.

Parliament's Committee for Security and Defence on Friday said police and prosecutors need to be more efficient in the fight against organized crime after increased activity by members of organized criminal groups was registered.

Russia can't veto Montenegrin membership - NATO chief

PODGORICA -- NATO "will not accept Russia's veto on Montenegro's membership in the alliance," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been quoted as saying.

"Russia cannot deprive Montenegro of its right to become a member of NATO," he told the Italian Senat's Committee on Defense.

Some 1.54 million tourists visited Montenegro in 2014, which was 1.7 per cent more than in 2013, the National Statistical Office, MONSTAT, said in its latest report released on Tuesday.

Tourists made 9.55 million overnight stays, which was 1.5 per cent more than in 2013.

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic and Montenegrin Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Branimir Gvozdenovic have discussed a joint entry of the two countries into third, far-off markets in the field of tourism.

Ethnic Montenegrins comprise 45 per cent of the country's citizens but have just over 82 per cent of the jobs in the public administration, according to new government study.

Ethnic Serbs make up 28 per cent of the population but have only 7.3 per cent of the jobs on the state payroll.

The Montenegrin parliament's Committee on International Relations on Thursday failed to agree on the candidacy of the former Mayor of Podgorica, Miomir Mugosa, for the post of ambassador to Slovenia.

Opposition MPs and deputies from the junior ruling party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, boycotted the session.

Montenegro's statistics agency, Monstat, said the price of new apartments sold in Montenegro in the fourth quarter of 2014 fell by 16.1 per cent compared to the previous year.

The drop is blamed on sharp falls in property values in the coastal town of Budva, the country's best known resort and for long the second home of thousands of wealthy Russians.

PODGORICA/BELGRADE Feb 18 (Tanjug) - Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, has said in Podgorica that as holder of the OSCE chairmanship, Serbia would like to see Montenegro become a member of the European Union as soon as possible.