The Ambassador of Serbia to Montenegro, Vladimir Božović, should leave Montenegro today because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not withdraw the decision to declare him an undesirable person and expel him, even after the reactions of the parties of the new ruling majority and suggestions from Brussels.
The two countries exchanged protest notes about the undesirability of the ambassador, Božović, and the Montenegrin diplomat in Belgrade, Tarzan Milošević. A new decision of the Government of Serbia arrived in Podgorica, which withdrew the reciprocal measure after the negative attitude of the European Commission, so Milošević remains in Belgrade. Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not changed its position, the deadlines for Božović's departure continue and end today, "Vijesti" confirmed.
Demos leader and former head of Montenegrin diplomacy and FRY ambassador in Rome Miodrag Lekić tells "Vijesti" that the outgoing government radicalized the situation with the decision to expel Božović. "The top of the outgoing government used the inadequate statements of the Serbian ambassador to demonstrate high patriotic sensibility regarding historical dates. Since this is happening three days after the constitution of the new government, the decision of Milo Đukanović and the DPS carried out through the Ministry of Interior has a taste of frustrating revanchism towards someone, ultimately towards the citizens who expressed their distrust in the elections on August 30", Lekić believes.
On Saturday, the MFA declared Božović persona non grata after his statement about the Podgorica Assembly, which was followed by a reciprocal measure by Serbia and the expulsion of the Montenegrin ambassador. Serbia, however, withdrew the decision on Sunday evening.
Since he was appointed ambassador to Montenegro, Božović has received warnings from the MFA several times for inappropriate statements and interference in the internal affairs of Montenegro.
Miodrag Lekić assessed that the MFA ignoring the well-intentioned proposal of European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelji has elements of a diplomatic gaffe.
"That MFA response was inadequate not only in content but also in form, with elements of arrogance," says Lekić.
On Sunday evening, Varhelji announced on Twitter that he welcomes the decision of the Government of Serbia to withdraw the decision on the expulsion of the Montenegrin ambassador and called on Montenegro to do the same.
Bodo Weber from the Berlin-based Council for Democratization Policy believes that the outgoing government of Montenegro had arguments for expelling the Serbian ambassador from the country, but such a procedure at the time of the change of government is aimed at undermining the work of the new government.
Weber, an expert on the Balkans, told Glas Amerika that he does not expect the dispute between Serbia and Montenegro to have significant consequences for the relations between the two countries because the new government will quickly reverse the decision to declare Ambassador Božović an undesirable person.
The President of the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro, Milka Tadić Mijović, believes that this is a sensitive moment and diplomats by profession should stay away, especially when it comes to the issue of the Podgorica Assembly, about which there are controversial views in Montenegro itself.
"A large number of Montenegrins believe that the Montenegrin state was lost at the Podgorica Assembly and that Montenegro paid a heavy price. This is why not only Božović's attitude is surprising, but also that of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who said that everyone in Serbia thinks the same as Božović. I think that this is an unacceptable interference in extremely sensitive issues and it is not good what Serbia is doing," said Tadić Mijović for "Vijesti".
On Sunday, Brnabić announced that Božović's statement "can never be a reason to expel the ambassador of one country from the country" and that she, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selaković, the entire Government of Serbia, and I believe all of Serbia, agree with this statement.
Tadić Mijović believes that these topics should be left to historians and that they, as well as highlighting the national in the foreground and stories about Serbs and Montenegrins, the church, and what it was two centuries ago, divert attention from key issues, not only of Montenegro but and the entire region and Serbia.
"And those questions are how we deal with the virus, the catastrophic consequences of the pandemic, primarily economic, then education, the health system, etc. Instead of dealing with those issues, we returned to some pre-political topics. It is terribly dangerous and someone is consciously manipulating this issue," said Tadić Mijović.
The MFA announced yesterday that they welcome the decision of the Government of Serbia to abandon the expulsion of the Montenegrin ambassador to Serbia because, they point out, there was no reason for it. From this department, they also said that they will not withdraw the decision to expel the ambassador of Serbia because he "continuously interfered in the internal affairs of the country in which he serves".
This, as they say, was brought to his attention several times with a warning that it was illegal and undiplomatic behavior.
They also stated that Commissioner Varhelji "failed to at least exchange basic information and opinions on the merits of the matter with his partners and friends in Montenegro."
The position of the Serbian Prime Minister, as well as the suggestion of the European Commissioner, were criticized yesterday by the SDP, the SD, the Bosniak Party and the Liberal Party.
SDP Presidency member Ivan Vujović said that the statement of Prime Minister Brnabić, which "confirmed the statement of the ambassador of Serbia from the clear big-state position of belittling Montenegro", should worry Commissioner Varhelji more than the declaration of ambassador Božović as an undesirable person. The leaders of the SNP and Prava Montenegro Vladimir Joković and Marko Milačić welcomed the decision of the Government of Serbia and the position of Commissioner Varhelji.
It does not belong to the ambassador of a foreign country to arbitrarily evaluate dates from the history of the receiving country
Lekić says that the inadequacy of the outgoing government's decision does not deprive the Serbian ambassador of certain responsibility for statements inappropriate to good diplomatic practice.
"It does not belong to the ambassador of a foreign country to arbitrarily evaluate dates from the history of the receiving country, in this case Montenegro. As for the topic of whether professional or political ambassadors are more prone to diplomatic gaffes, the situation is not black and white. Professional diplomats should be more careful and less prone to such trips. Although that is not the rule," said Lekić.
He recalls the recent "politically pathetic" statements and actions of several professional Montenegrin diplomats who, as he said, publicly and quite aggressively dealt with the matter of the church in Montenegro from abroad. "The new government, first of all the government, will have a lot of obligations in affirming professionalism and diplomatic standards in the diplomatic network of Montenegro," Lekić believes.
Bonus video:
