(ANSA) - PODGORICA - Italy's fight against corruption is a model in Montenegro: a cooperation project developed by ANAC (Italy's National Anti-corruption Authority) is going to get started in Podgorica on Monday. The goal is to support the beginning of the new local Authority founded to prevent corruption a couple of months ago in the former Yugoslav republic. The starting point will be a press conference that will be attended by Montenegro's Justice Minister Zoran Pazin, European Affairs Minister Andrija Pejovi and the chairman of the ANAC, Raffaele Cantone. In the afternoon, Cantone will give a speech in a meeting attended by university students, focusing on the role played by 'white collars' in the most recent economic and financial criminal cases. Funded by the EU, the twinning project named "Support the implementation of integrity measures" will last 18 months and will involve ANAC representatives and experts, who will support the Montenegrin colleagues helping them implement and organise anti-corruption measures in the public contract sector. These twinning projects are a kind of bilateral 'twinning' between EU member countries and candidates to EU membership, in view of the EU's eastward enlargement involving the former Yugoslav republics, the so called "Berlin process", and they are aiming at strengthening the rule of law, anti-corruption fight and integrity measures in the Balkan countries. Montenegro took significant steps in the last months: after gaining independence in 2006, the Balkan country joined NATO on June 5, thus becoming the 29th member country of the Atlantic Alliance. ANAC is developing cooperation projects not only in Montenegro, but also in Serbia, and at Trieste summit on July 12 a forum attended by national anti-corruption authorities will take place. (ANSA).