OSCE Mission organized working visit to the Italian Senate for Montenegrin parliamentary officials

With the aim to strengthen Parliament’s administrative capacities, in particular in the area of research, documentation and outreach, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a working visit to the Italian Senate for six officials of the Parliament of Montenegro on 12-13 November 2018.

The heads of the departments of budget service, research, protocol as well as reports and official communications services presented their experience in the Senate and engaged in productive discussions with the Montenegrin delegation on these important matters for the work of the institution.

During the visit, the Secretary General of the Italian Senate Elisabetta Serafin and the Secretary General of the Montenegrin Parliament Aleksandar Jovićević, shared their experience and underlined the importance of exchanges to further improve their work and bilateral cooperation.

“It was interesting to learn that we share some of the same practices regarding protocol, publications and youth initiatives, but also to hear new and different approaches in dealing with these matters, said Jovićević. He added that they also greatly appreciated information received on budgetary matters and parliamentary research, which was an important segment in supporting the legislative and oversight function of any parliament.

To better understand the importance of the documentation and research processes, as well as of the public outreach, the delegation was informed about on-line publications and had the opportunity to visit the Senate Library, which boasts a collection of more than 600,000 volumes, including ancient ones.

As part of the visit, the delegation was greeted by Ms Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati,  President of the Italian Senate, at the opening of the 57th seating of the Senate on 13 November 2018.