Paul LePage visits Montenegro but his office is mum on details

[jpak]

http://www.sunjournal.com/paul-lepage-visits-montenegro-but-his-office-is-mum-on-details/

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is in Montenegro this week to commemorate a partnership between the Maine National Guard and the young Balkan nation.

Gov. LePage meets with Montenegro President Djukanovic. “I really hope that our countries, Maine and Montenegro, develop a good economic trade … we are going to send you some lobster,” LePage said Monday. (@Governor_LePage Twitter photo)
LePage arrived in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, on Sunday night and met Monday with President Milo Djukanovic as well as the country’s prime minister, the minister of defense, the secretary of state and the speaker of Montenegro’s Parliament, according to the governor’s Twitter account. Although LePage’s office has not released any additional details of the trip, the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro indicated that the governor’s multiday trip to the European country will also focus on trade in addition to the joint program with the Maine National Guard.

“During his stay in Montenegro, Governor LePage will also speak with business leaders and explore opportunities to expand economic ties between Montenegro and the State of Maine,” reads a media advisory from the embassy. “Governor LePage will later visit Tivat and tour the Bay of Kotor.”

Located along the Adriatic Sea, Montenegro was unified with Serbia following the disintegration of Yugoslavia during the 1990s. But Montenegrin citizens voted for independence from Serbia in 2006, and the young country was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, in 2015.

Maine and Montenegro first signed an agreement in 2006 – just months after the country’s independence – as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Guard State Partnership Program. Under the partnership, the Maine National Guard has assisted the Montenegrin military with training and operations as the newly independent country came into its own. Additionally, representatives from Maine have assisted with emergency response, marine patrol operations and other initiatives in Montenegro.

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[Ohiogal]

1. I didn't know Maine was its own country!

"Gov. LePage meets with Montenegro President Djukanovic. “I really hope that our countries, Maine and Montenegro, develop a good economic trade … we are going to send you some lobster,” LePage said Monday. (@Governor_LePage Twitter photo)"

[WhiteTara]

2. I saw that too. It looks like they're dividing us

into little fiefdoms.

[Roland99]

3. That's quite the very odd fucking partnership!!