The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, will pay an official visit to Serbia today and tomorrow and try to contribute to the normalization of political relations between the two countries that have not had ambassadors in Podgorica and Belgrade for two years.
The Cabinet of the President of Montenegro announced that Milatović will meet with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Vladimir Orlić, "with the aim of strengthening the political and economic relations between the two countries and improving regional cooperation."
It is Milatović's first visit to Serbia after taking office as the President of Montenegro in May of this year. He previously announced that he would visit Serbia right after Brussels.
Milatović told TVCG on Friday that the most important segment of the visit will be the re-establishment of diplomatic relations at the level of ambassadors, since neither Serbia has an ambassador in Podgorica, nor Montenegro in Belgrade.
"The emphasis will be on other topics as well: economic cooperation, joint infrastructure projects, common path to the European Union, but the topic of the ambassador is a prerequisite," stated Milatović.
It is expected that Milatović will also raise the issue of the extradition of the former high-ranking DPS official Svetozar Marović, who has been living in Belgrade for seven years, even though the Montenegrin authorities are persistently demanding his extradition based on verdicts for multimillion-dollar embezzlement in Budva...
There were several moments of crisis in the relations between Serbia and Montenegro, starting with the referendum for the independence of Montenegro in 2006, through the "coup d'état" case, Montenegro's membership in NATO, the adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion, which was opposed by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC). ... The situation culminated in the expulsion of the ambassadors of one country and the other after, at the end of 2020, the Serbian ambassador to Montenegro, Vladimir Božović, called the Podgorica Assembly (1918) "a free expression of the people's will for unification with fraternal Serbia."
Božović remained in office from Belgrade, and despite the announcement that it would be possible to respond reciprocally to the official Podgorica, the Government of Serbia gave up on declaring the Ambassador of Montenegro, Tarzan Milošević, persona non grata. However, the former Government of Zdravko Krivokapić withdrew him from Belgrade in February 2021, so that diplomatic post remained vacant.
When it comes to high-level bilateral meetings between the two countries, as announced on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić paid an official visit to Serbia in November 2021 at the invitation of his Serbian colleague Ana Brnabić. Prime Minister Dritan Abazović paid an official visit to Serbia in June last year, and President of the Assembly Danijela Đurović last October.
The former President of the Assembly Ivan Brajović was on an official visit to Serbia in October 2017, and the former Prime Minister Duško Marković was in February of the same year.
The former President of Montenegro Filip Vujanović was on a working visit to Serbia in July 2016 and May 2014, and the former Prime Minister Milo Đukanović in December 2013.
Of the officials from Serbia, the former President of the National Assembly of Serbia Maja Gojković in October 2014 and the then Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacić in September 2013 were on an official visit to Montenegro.
Unlike political, economic cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro is at a high level. Serbia is the main partner of Montenegro in both exports and imports and one of the main emitting markets when it comes to tourists.
One of the unresolved issues is the establishment of payment transactions between countries.
During his visit to Belgrade, Milatović will lay a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Hero in Avala and flowers in front of the "Vladislav Ribnikar" Elementary School.
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