Montenegro Hosts Regional Cooperation Meeting

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the informal meeting of the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Process, SEECP, entitled "Regional cooperation and common goals".

The meeting will be chaired by Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rocen and opened by Prime Minister Igor Luksic.

Friday's gathering will include Greek Foreign Minister Greece Dimitrios Droutsas and his Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki, and it is believed that the two ministers may discuss their countries' longstanding name dispute.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will not attend the regional meeting as he is in Ethiopia on a state visit, Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Beta news agency.

Macedonian Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski is currently on an official visit to Montenegro, and he will meet with the president of the Montenegrin parliament, Ranko Krivokapic, on Friday.

Top Greek diplomat Droutsas, who is also on an official visit to Montenegro, will hold talks with his Montenegrin counterpart Milan Rocen, and will be received by several state officials.

Officials in Podgorica have repeatedly said that Montenegro, because of its policies and role in the region, could act as a mediator in helping resolve certain regional issues.