The newest member of the United Nations officially became a friend of Maryland Monday as the mayor of Montenegro’s capital city signed an agreement with Secretary of State John McDonough.
Montenegro is a country the size of Connecticut with a population of about 700,000 in the Balkans on the Adriatic Sea coast. The country became independent of Serbia just two years ago, though it had been an independent kingdom for hundreds of years.
“We fought for a long time to restore our independence,” said Miomir Mugosa, mayor of Podgorica, the nation’s capital. He hopes that the new ties with Maryland will lead to greater economic cooperation, particularly a relationship between the port of Baltimore and the port of Bar, one of the largest seaports on the Adriatic and a hub for trade to the Balkans.
“The development of our port will be much easier with our cooperation,” Mugosa said through an interpreter.
“We have the fastest growing economy in the region,” said Ambassador Miodrag Vlahovic, who had been foreign minister of his nation.
“This is the most important place for us,” Vlahovic said, noting that per capita, Montenegro is second only to Israel in the amount of U.S. aid flowing in.
“We’re loved over there still,” said Maryland lawyer Charles Dillon of Hodes, Pessin & Katz, who spearheaded the relationship and visited the country eight times in the last year. “It’s one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever been to.” Tourism is a significant part of the economy, and it has many beaches along the coast.
Wastewater treatment is an important concern for the Montenegrins, and they have a meeting today with officials of the Maryland Environmental Service to see about improving the country’s facilities.
The University of Baltimore law school shipped legal textbooks to Montenegro’s two law schools, and is in discussion about a more permanent relationship.
