Seminar on disseminating NATO-related information  

On 27 January, the Hungarian Embassy in Podgorica, assigned to facilitate the contact between Montenegro and NATO, organised a one-day long seminar in coope­ration with the Government Coordination Team responsible for the implementa­tion of the Euro-Atlantic communication strategy. The main goal of the Seminar was to increase the efficiency of the information campaign with the presentation of the Hungarian experience obtained during the preparation for NATO-accession and with enhancing the cooperation among the parties involved.

The programme was attended by the members of the Co-ordination Team and the representatives of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) most active in NATO campaign. The presentations were provided by the Hungarian Ambassador, Tibor Császár, Acting Deputy Minister for Interior, Mr. Dragan Pejanovic, senior representative of the NATO Public Diplomacy Department, Ms. Despina Afetouli and Senior Advisor of Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Erik Baktai.

During the break of the Seminar the Head of the Co-ordination Team presented to the media the results of the public opinion poll research on NATO in Montenegro organised by the Serbian IPSOS Strategic Marketing in November 2009. As a conclusion a substantial increase was observed in the support of NATO-accession. According to the poll 40% of the citizens favour the idea of the country’s accession to NATO. It had also been pointed out, that the causes for refusal are mostly originated from the lack of proper information.