Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef has met with the First Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Aleksa Becic. The meeting was held this afternoon at Gorica Villa.

At the meeting, the Vice President thanked Becic for inviting him to Montenegro and for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to him and his delegation. Highlighting the scope for stronger bilateral ties between Maldives and Montenegro, the Vice President suggested avenues for improved ties in tourism, fisheries, trade, and investment. He added that, as small countries, there was much mutual benefit to be had in stronger collaboration in multilateral forums.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro congratulated Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef on the recent electoral success of President Dr. Muizzu and expressed his firm desire to strengthen ties between the two countries. He briefed the Vice President on the ongoing work in Montenegro to strengthen democracy and their efforts to attain early membership of the European Union.

At the meeting, Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef briefed Becic on the foreign policy priorities of President Dr. Muizzu.‏The Vice President was joined at the meeting by Mohamed Hussain Shareef, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier, the Vice President visited the Parliament of Montenegro where he was received by Zdenka Popović, Vice-President of the Parliament of Montenegro. Noting the Vice President's decade-long experience as a parliamentarian, she congratulated the Vice President on his election to office. She assured the Vice President that the new government of Montenegro was keen on forging closer ties of friendship and cooperation with the Maldives.

The Vice President thanked her for her hospitality and exchanged views on areas of mutual interest for the two countries.

The Vice President is visiting Montenegro on the official invitation of the government and is meeting with top government officials during his three-day stay in the capital Podgorica.