French Embassy strongly supports cooperation between the University of Montenegro and French universities

The collaboration between the University of Montenegro and French educational institutions is extremely rich, yet there is a strong willingness and readiness for further progress and deepening of ties between these two academic communities. This was assessed during the first official meeting between the rector of the University of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Božović, and Her Excellency Anne-Marie Maskay, Ambassador of the French Republic. At the meeting with Rector Božović and the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Prof. Dr. Sanja Peković, the importance of the French Embassys support in strengthening the ties between the educational institutions of the two countries was highlighted.

Rector Božović and Vice-Rector Peković presented an impressive network of partnerships with French universities. They particularly emphasized the importance of cooperation with the University of Côte dAzur, within the European Ulysses alliance of universities, of which the University of Montenegro is a member as the only university, besides the seven member universities of the network, that does not come from a European Union member country.

"For small universities like the University of Montenegro, active membership in networks is of essential importance. We believe that the Ulysses network will evolve into something more, becoming a platform for achieving our strategic aspirations," said Rector Božović.

Ambassador Anne-Marie Maskay praised the University of Montenegro, noting from her discussions with representatives of the University of Côte dAzur that it plays an important role in Ulysses. She showed particular interest in the Regional Center for Cyber Security, which, as she mentioned, has received support from the University.

Vice-Rector Peković reminded that the University of Montenegro has signed cooperation agreements with a total of 12 higher education institutions from France, including four bilateral and eight Erasmus+ agreements. The University of Montenegro has been a member of the University Agency of Francophonie since 2016, with whose support a Francophone employment office was established at the University. The collaboration with the University of Côte dAzur also led to the establishment of the Balkan Institute for Research and Innovation – BIRI.

Ambassador Anne-Marie Maskay expressed her interest in supporting the efforts of the University of Montenegro in further developing cooperation with French institutions.

The meeting was also attended by Cédric Grousset, Director of the Western Balkan Cyber Capacity Center and representative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.