"Dear President of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, Mr. Simonović, the Olympians, the greatest sports stars of Montenegro, and those who will become stars, Please accept my warmest congratulations for the celebration of fifteen years since the admission of our National Olympic Committee to the International Olympic family. Modern society is difficult to imagine without the influence, mission and message of prosperity and humanity carried by the International Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees. Modern Montenegro is based on the progressive idea of Olympism that came to us from Greece and de Coubertin. The work of our National Olympic Committee, during the past 15 years, has been beneficial, refreshing and encouraging, for the overall social processes and relations and the Committee has been developing in the spirit of genuine cosmopolitanism, inclusiveness and healthy impulse, with the aim of not only overcoming, defeating or outplaying rivals, but primarily improving and becoming an example of persistence, perseverance, generosity, accountability, solidarity, and fair play. The achievements of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, during the past 15 years, have been making Montenegro and its citizens proud. These achievements are invaluable in the context of sports diplomacy and what our athletes have done for our country, economy, culture, tradition, and sports in general. Therefore, I congratulate you on a jubilee which, given your envious results, beyond any doubt, can be considered much older than one and a half decades."
