As part of the ongoing support from the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade and EIPA for EU enlargement reform efforts in the Balkans, EIPA’s experts Frank Lavadoux and Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz conducted the training “Negotiate to Win! Essential Skills for Negotiations” in Podgorica on 10 and 11 September.
Designed for Montenegro’s Human Resource Management Authority, the activity was organised within the framework of the Luxembourg Technical Assistance Programme.
Strengthening skills for EU accession
The seminar took place at a crucial moment in Montenegro’s EU accession negotiations. With 33 negotiating chapters opened and seven provisionally closed, the Government has set ambitious goals of closing five additional chapters by 2026 and concluding negotiations by 2027.
In this context, the training represents a key contribution of the Luxembourg authorities to preparing Montenegrin officials for their future duties, not as civil servants of a candidate country, but as fully fledged counterparts of EU Member States, with whom they will need to cooperate and negotiate.
Building negotiation capacity in Montenegro’s public administration
Negotiation is not only a skill for diplomats or specialised negotiators, it is part of everyday work at all levels of an organisation. Whether dealing with colleagues, external stakeholders or policy decisions, leaders and managers are constantly negotiating outcomes.
Over two days, Montenegrin public servants strengthened their ability to analyse, prepare and conduct negotiations, and apply practical techniques in diverse scenarios.
This seminar equipped them with essential techniques and tools to:
strengthen analytical and interpersonal skills in negotiations
prepare and conduct negotiations with clear strategies
map stakeholders effectively
evaluate decision-making abilities under pressure
EIPA’s experts Frank Lavadoux and Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz combined theory with practice to ensure that each participant left with actionable takeaways to apply immediately in their professional context.
Annual Fact-Finding Mission in Montenegro
Parallel with this training, mandated the by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, EIPA conducted its annual fact-finding mission to Montenegro.
During the mission, EIPA’s expert Juan Diego Ramírez-Cárdenas Díaz met with the following senior officials:
- Mr. Ivan Ivanišević, Director General for EU; Ms. Ivana Šikmanović, Director General for International Legal Affairs; and Ms. Ana Dragić, Counsellor in the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ms. Biljana Papović, State Secretary, Ministry of European Affairs
- Mr. Agron Camaj, Director, and Ms. Milica Nikolić, Head of the Department for International Relations, Human Resources Management Authority
- Mr. Sergej Sekulović, State Secretary, and Mr. Momir Jauković, Director General of the Directorate for Judiciary
The mission reflects the strong commitment of both the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade and EIPA to supporting Montenegro in aligning its legal system and administrative structures with EU standards, a process that began with the launch of the cooperation between the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and EIPA with the Republic of Montenegro in 2006.
It also served to carry out an assistance needs analysis, identifying priorities for Luxembourg-funding support in 2026. Preliminary findings highlight the importance of strengthening Montenegro’s administrative enforcement capacities to meet the closing benchmarks of EU negotiation chapters.
Both the training and the mission form part of EIPA’s activities under the 2025 Technical Assistance Convention, facilitated by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. With the support of the Luxembourg Government, these initiatives build on long-standing efforts to build Montenegro’s legal and institutional capacity on its path toward EU membership.
