The clinking of glasses of wine, along with the traditional: "Ziveli" and humming at the table to one of the most popular folk songs from Montenegro, "Korita Ivanova", are an image that hints that relations between Serbia and Montenegro will move in a better direction in the future.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, hosted Jakov Milatović, the new President of Montenegro, in a villa in Belgrade, for dinner and with music, and the young Montenegrin politician sang along, just like the head of Serbian diplomacy, Ivica Dacić, who also likes to sing.
"I am convinced that we are opening a new chapter in the relations between our countries and fraternal nations", it was announced at the official Vučić Instagram account.
He also shared a video of the relaxed atmosphere at the dinner that precedes the official talks between the two presidents.
This is the first time in many years that the President of Montenegro is on an official visit to Serbia.
Jakov Milatović, who overthrew Milo Đukanović from power a few months ago, chose Serbia as the first country in the region he came to as president of Montenegro.
Before Milatović, Filip Vujanović, a native of Belgrade, was the last person to stay in Belgrade as Montenegrin president in June 2016, and Milo Đukanović, who held that position from 2018 to May 2023, did not officially visit Serbia during that period.
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Milatović confirmed that he agrees with Vučić that relations are moving in a better direction with a statement at the reception held at the Montenegrin House in Belgrade.
"The presence of President Vučić at my inauguration on May 20, Minister Dacić participated in the Summit within the framework of the Cooperation Process in Southeast Europe in Podgorica on June 27, and this my first visit to Belgrade, in such a short period of time, are exactly in favor of improving relations between the two of the state.
"The revitalization of political relations is important for the improvement of our economic relations, which results in direct benefits for the economy and citizens," said Milatović.
He also said that apart from traditional ties and close relations, Montenegro and Serbia are permanently connected by common goals, which are primarily regional stability and membership in the European Union.
What burdens the relations between Belgrade and Podgorica?
Serbia and Montenegro two eyes in the head, was once a popular catchphrase.
Montenegro and Serbia are one family, is still chanted in both countries, this message is highlighted on banners and facades.
Milo Đukanović, who held the most important political positions in Montenegro for three decades, only visited Serbia three times in this century - in 2003, when he attended the funeral of the murdered Prime Minister Zoran Djinđić, in 2006, a few days before the referendum on the independence of Montenegro and In 2013, when the Prime Minister was Ivica Dacic, and Aleksandar Vučić, now the President, was the Deputy Prime Minister.
Đukanović was the Montenegrin Prime Minister at the time.
The former president of Montenegro, Filip Vujanović, paid a working visit to Serbia on two occasions - in May 2014 and in June 2016.
The visits of the highest Serbian officials to Podgorica in the last two decades are also rare.
These data suggest the actual relations between the two countries, which used to be very close, and which were in a union until 2006 - the longest of all the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Despite historical, blood, cultural, linguistic and many other ties, in the last two decades, relations between Serbia and Montenegro have been damaged to such an extent that they currently do not even have ambassadors.
This is exactly what Milatović emphasized before his visit to Belgrade, stating that the most important segment will be to raise relations to the diplomatic level again, as a prerequisite for all other topics.
Serbia broke diplomatic relations with Montenegro in 2008, following the decision of the then authorities in Podgorica to recognize Kosovo's independence.
With the arrival of the new government in Serbia, relations began to be restored, and then ambassadors were appointed again in Belgrade and Podgorica.
But in recent years there have been sparks again, so Serbia does not have an ambassador in Podgorica, nor Montenegro in Serbia.
In previous years, there were a number of unresolved issues between Belgrade and Podgorica, from the issue of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the regional initiative Open Balkans, of which Montenegro is not a member, and Montenegro's demand to extradite Svetozar Marović, the former president of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. .
Marović, once one of the most influential politicians in Montenegro, was arrested in 2015 on suspicion of corruption and smuggling, but after he was released from custody in Montenegro, he found refuge in Belgrade, where he remains today.
In the meantime, the Montenegrin court sentenced him, but despite Podgorica's requests and the agreement between the two countries on extradition, Belgrade did not extradite him.
Even the visits of Montenegrin prime ministers, first Zdravko Krivokapić, and then Dritan Abazović in the last two years, did not encourage Belgrade to change its decision not to extradite Marović.
Đuaknović and his government accused Belgrade of meddling in the elections, stressing that the government in Serbia supports the pro-SPB bloc of parties, whose leaders are Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, frequent visitors to Belgrade.
Knežević also spoke at the recent meeting of the ruling coalition in Serbia.
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Belgrade and Podgorica differ on some points in foreign policy.
In 2017, Montenegro joined the NATO alliance, while Serbia maintains a neutral status, Montenegro imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but Belgrade did not.
The only common denominator is European integration, but from Brussels they constantly repeat the position about the joint entry of the countries of the Western Balkans into the European Union - and that in the distant future.
Milatović emphasized on several occasions, even before his arrival in Belgrade, that Montenegro will not give up on the European path, and that country has done the most in harmonizing with European legislation and standards of all in the Western Balkans.
His first visits in the role of president were in Brussels, where the headquarters of the European Union and NATO are located.
Belgrade, declaratively, also wants to join the EU, but last public opinion research say that the population of Serbia is deeply divided over membership in the European community.
She hinted at a new wind in the relations between Serbia and Montenegro the visit of the then President of the Montenegrin Government, Dritan Abazović, to Belgrade - who is still in that position, but in a technical mandate until the election of a new government - exactly one year ago.
"It's time to turn over a new leaf," Abazović said in Belgrade at the time, to which Ana Brnabić, the president of the Serbian Malt, retorted: "Let's reset relations."
"We have no closer countries than Montenegro, just as you say that there is no one closer to Montenegro than Serbia, neither politically nor economically," said Brnabić at the end of June 2022.
Vučić, the president of Serbia, was in Podgorica on May 20 this year for the official appointment of Milatović as president of Montenegro.
Ahead of the official talks, Milatović emphasized in Belgrade that Serbia is by far Montenegro's biggest trading partner, with a trade of 764 million euros last year.
And tourists from Serbia are the most numerous on the Montenegrin coast, he added.
Despite all the challenges, the ties between the citizens and the economy of Montenegro and Serbia have remained strong, and therefore it is the responsibility, but also the obligation, of the statesmen of the two countries not to disturb these relations, but to improve them, said Milatović.
The text will be supplemented after the official statements of the two presidents.
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Bonus video:
