The show goes on: Vlahovic still plays the ambassador

The new government has not yet resolved the problem with the recalled ambassador to the Vatican, Miodrag Vlahović, who changed the lock at the Embassy of Montenegro six days ago, and yesterday announced that he had "sent away" the temporary chargé d'affaires Gojko Čelebić.

"Unfortunately for us (and someone else's shame), the idyll with the future temporary charge d'affaires was short-lived. Since we (of course!) refused to send notes without the president's decree and since Mr. Čelebić (in vain) threatened the technical staff, we politely escorted him out of AVA," Vlahović wrote on Twitter.

They reacted from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVP), stating that Vlahović, with his continuous actions, refuses to accept the fact that he is no longer the ambassador of Montenegro to the Holy See, ignoring the decisions of the Government, the Ministry, the announcement of the President's Cabinet, as well as the opinion of the Committee for International Relations and Expatriates.

"Due to all of the above, the temporary chargé d'affaires was forced to turn to the diplomatic protocol of the Holy See for assistance, in order to enable him to perform the duties of the head of this diplomatic-consular representation," said the MFA.

They remind that in accordance with the decision of the Government, the impeachment procedure of Vlahović was started on December 18 last year, after which an agreement was reached on this issue between the Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović with the President of the State Milo Đukanović on January 26, 2021.

Đukanović has not yet signed the recall decree, but sought the opinion of the Committee for International Relations and Emigrants, which last week gave a positive opinion on the Government's proposal to recall eight ambassadors, including Vlahović.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the temporary charge d'affaires Gojko Čelebić to take over duties in the Vatican until the arrival of the new ambassador of Montenegro to the Holy See and the Sovereign Knights of Malta (SVMR).

"For the sake of truthfully informing the public, we note that the procedure was not violated by sending a verbal note to the host country that Ambassador Vlahović has completed his mandate in that country," the MFA responded.

They explain that the MFA, for the past 15 years, since the restoration of independence of Montenegro, always and in accordance with diplomatic practice, first informed the receiving country about the end of the ambassador's mandate, after which the president of the country, upon the ambassador's return to the country, signed the recall decree.

However, Vlahović, according to posts on Twitter, continues to hold official meetings with ambassadors of other countries.

Thus, on February 16, he met with his Turkish colleague Luftullah Goktas, and on February 18 with the EU ambassador to the Vatican, Alexandra Valkenberg.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about what they will do to get Vlahović to leave the Embassy and whether they will contact the Italian police.

Even the president of the state, to whom Vlahović refers in justifying his behavior, did not answer the questions about the behavior of the recalled ambassador and when he will sign the decree for the recall of Vlahović and other proposed ambassadors.

Advisor to President Milo Đukanović previously announced that "ambassadors must act in accordance with the instructions of the MFA and the minister, and any misunderstanding or ambiguity regarding the instructions is resolved between the ambassador and the MFA, away from the public."

On February 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied all recalled ambassadors access to embassies and suspended their funding.

Among the ambassadors whose recall was sought by the Government are Vera Kuliš, Duška Jeknić, Sanja Vlahović, Tarzan Milošević, Obrad Mišo Stanišić, Darko Pajović and Budimir Šegrt.

As previously announced, Pajović has not yet returned the stamp and payment card. Officials of the MFA came to the premises of the Montenegrin embassy in China on the order of the head of the MFA and tried to find and take over the seal and official documents, so that Pajović would not have access to them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave the ambassadors recalled by the Government until February 15 to complete all their obligations in the host countries.

"The instruction in question was sent on December 18 last year. The ambassadors have been ordered to hand over their duties, and the recall will formally take effect with the signature of the president.

In accordance with the Law on Foreign Affairs and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the instruction appointed temporary chargé d'affaires, who will manage the work of the embassies until new ambassadors are appointed.

The Ministry, in accordance with international regulations and diplomatic practice, informed the receiving countries about the above-mentioned decision," the announcement states.

"You can also send Chetnik divisions, it will pass like on the Neretva"

Vlahović told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last night that he would not step down and that they could send "Chetnik divisions" against him.

"You can send divisions, Chetnik divisions at me if you like, but if you send them - they will pass like those Chetnik divisions at the Battle of the Neretva. I hope that I was clear and that this is a metaphor that everyone will understand," said Vlahović in a statement to RTCG.

He says that it is impossible for the Embassy in the Vatican to have both an ambassador and a chargé d'affaires and that he will perform this function "in accordance with the Constitution and the law" until the president of the country signs the decree.

Everything else, as he states, he will consider as improvisation, pressure and harassment that he and his family "have been used to since the early 90s of the last century". He points out that, although the embassy in the Vatican sent almost 70 dispatches to the Ministry, there was no response.