On 28th June 2012 the final event of the Twinning project “Implementation of Personal Data Protection Strategy” with the participation of high-level data protection experts and diplomats from Austria and Slovenia, representatives of the EU delegation, project stakeholders and project members and Montenegrin experts and decision makers was held in Podgorica.

At a press conference with the Montenegrin Minister of Interior Ivan Brajović achievements were recognized - including successful harmonization of data protection legislation, training, redesign website of Montenegro's data protection authority and the importance of the topic data protection (Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) for the opening of EU accession negotiations was underlined.

The opening of EU accession negotiations was announced on 26 June 2012 reflecting the appreciation of the Montenegrin reform efforts and progress.
With the Beneficiary (BC) Project Leader Čizmović (Data Protection Department, Ministry of Interior) and the Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) Counterpart Ivanović (Member of the Data Protection Council), two major project managers have been nominated in the Montenegrin negotiating team for Chapter 23.

A workshop on the harmonization of fundamental rights rounded off the event. Nataša Pirc Musar (Slovenian Information Commissioner) gave an input on the delicate balance between data protection and free access to information. Hannes Tretter (BIM Director) spoke to privacy and the media.

Further information on this topic can be found also on the following pages:
Project Fact Sheet
Kick-Off Meeting
Study Visit

Pictures of the final event.