Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Montenegro for International Relations and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović said that relations between Montenegro and Turkey "remain at a dynamic level" and that the Government continues to want to improve relations with that country.
"We have over 60 signed normative acts with Turkey. Our institutions continue to cooperate and exchange documents. We continue the strong dynamics of cooperation with Turkey and I believe that we will continue to develop even more strongly in the coming period," Ibrahimović said at a meeting of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants.
Ibrahimović is currently being questioned by this parliamentary body on the topic: "Damage to bilateral relations with the Republic of Turkey based on the decision of the Government of Montenegro to abolish the visa-free regime."
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) requested a control hearing of Ibrahimović a month ago.
The government introduced visas for Turkey at the end of October, following an incident involving foreign nationals.
The police initially claimed that citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan participated in the wounding of MJ from Podgorica on the evening of October 25 in Zabjelo, which caused a series of xenophobic incidents of derogatory chants, the demolition of catering facilities in several cities, the burning of cars owned by Turkish citizens... After the High Court concluded that there was no evidence against the two initially arrested citizens of Turkey ND (54) and Azerbaijanian YG (31), because it was proven that they had no connection to the crime, the police arrested Azerbaijanis JM (45) and EM (33) in early November.
On behalf of the initiator, the head of the DPS parliamentary group, Andrija Nikolić, said that he understood that the minister could not be held responsible for the statements of the Police Directorate, because the Government had obviously resorted to these measures based on incorrect information from the police.
"Those decisions have come into effect. I reminded you of the statement of the Turkish ambassador who warned - if the measures taken by Montenegro are not withdrawn, Turkey will be forced to respond reciprocally, which means that the consequences, in a certain sense, came into effect the moment the Government of Montenegro introduced measures against Turkey," Nikolić said.
He pointed out that this first consequence potentially damages diplomatic relations, recalling that the minister said that these measures could soon be repealed.
Ibrahimović emphasized that relations between Turkey and Montenegro are of very good quality and that sporadic occurrences cannot damage these relations, but that "friendly relations should not be tested too much."
He pointed out that the Prime Minister and the Government are a collective body and that they "made the decision they made," recalling that ministers from the Bosniak Party, the party of which he is the president, did not vote for the decision to introduce visas for Turkey.
Speaking about the night of the incident in Zabjelo, he called on everyone to be responsible when making statements:
"This has exceeded tolerance. The mood of certain structures in society was directly 'built' with negative messages. Today it was citizens of Turkey or Azerbaijan, tomorrow it will be someone else," Ibrahimović said.
He sent a message to the Prosecutor's Office and the judiciary to recognize dangerous messages that could disturb society.
"EU countries will not accept a country that shows weakness when it comes to religious and national tolerance," Ibrahimović said.
Nikolić pointed out that after the incident in Zabjelo, people allegedly spontaneously organized themselves, but in fact the campaign had been prepared much earlier:
"We will remember the statements that over 100 thousand Turkish citizens reside in Montenegro, and there are 13 thousand of them."
Ibrahimović: Important harmonization of visa regime with the EU by October 2026.
Ibrahimović responded that on the path to the EU, it is important to harmonize the visa regime with the EU system by the end of the third quarter of next year, stating that they are doing this gradually, taking into account economic aspects.
MP Nađa Laković (PES) said that she was surprised by the "closeness to Turkey" of the initiators, considering that, while they were in power, it was known that they only had good relations with countries in which they had interests.
"I didn't expect that from you. It's commendable that they've started to think..."
She pointed out that the temporary measure that was introduced was somewhat good, "because some unwanted characters have been removed from Montenegro."
"We had them because the previous government did not establish any mechanism to protect Montenegro and its citizens," said Laković.
Then she said that the media had "misinterpreted" the Turkish ambassador's statement, stating that not everything in the Turkish media is as bleak as it is presented here.
She emphasized that the minister has her full support.
Nikolić responded that he was taken aback by Laković's statement that there was no point in talking about this topic after everything that had happened.
"We have traditionally had good relations with Turkey. The previous government had good relations with Turkey, the current minister can confirm that."
Mugoša: Tell me who proposed reintroducing visas for Turkey
Social Democrat MP Boris Mugoša said he was confused how someone could accuse the former government of "the disgrace that recently happened."
"I do not agree that bilateral relations with Turkey have not been disrupted. They have been disrupted. If they had not been disrupted, half of the Government would not have intensified talks with the Turkish side. Why was the dynamic not normal like before October? Because the Government is full of irresponsibility and ignorance," said Mugoša, asking who in the Government proposed the reintroduction of visas to Turkey and whether they had the authority to do so.
Ibrahimović responded that "some things are not right", stating that the European Commission stated that this is the most successful government so far:
"A government that has achieved the best results so far cannot be incompetent and ignorant."
He said that by majority decision, the Government decided to suspend the decision on the visa-free regime with Turkey.
Mugoša said that he "expects more political courage from Ibrahimović to say who proposed the decision to introduce visas for Turkey" and again insisted that the minister answer that question.
BS MP Edina Dešić also objected to these words, and Mugoša told her: "Colleague, I would also ask you not to behave as if you were not in that government for 20 years."
Commenting on Ibrahimović's words about the government's success, Mugoša said that it was "ridiculous".
Dešić: The decision was hasty
After a break, MP Dritan Abazović (URA) said that anyone who thinks that Turkey "just got over it" and did not record it is wrong.
"You want to protect the prime minister who introduced visas for Turkish citizens with a tweet, and it turns out that Turkish citizens were not involved in the incident that caused the visas. You won't admit it. You have your own political interests, someone taught you - they didn't teach you, you want to protect your seat, you are afraid of Andrija Mandić, of this, of that. That's a different story," said Abazović.
He pointed out that someone had to propose a decision that was voted on, and that our diplomacy was not in favor of such a measure, because Ibrahimović did not vote for it.
He said that even in the 90s, it didn't happen that people went between buildings with batons and looked for people of a certain ethnic or national group.
He pointed out that the Turkish side was not informed about the introduction of visas.
"Now they say they are going to abolish visas for Turkish citizens. Of course you will, because there is no stupider and more harmful decision you have made in the past two, three months," said Abazović.
Edina Dešić (BS) said that she shares the view that the decision to abolish the visa-free regime was hasty and that it was necessary to wait and make a "cool-headed" decision in relation to the worrying events that took place in those days.
"We cannot sanction a country because of individuals," said Dešić.
Nikola Zirojević (SD) said that if Ibrahimović does not say who in the government initiated the decision to abolish the visa-free regime for Turkey, he will say so.
"You allowed someone to play with your authority as a minister and deputy prime minister in a rude way."
He asked who the information on the basis of which the decision was made came from, stating that logically, it was someone from the top of the security sector, considering that the Prime Minister said during the Prime Minister's Hour that it did not come from him.
Committee President Duško Stjepović said that the police response in the nights and days after the incident was effective, and focused on preventing a major escalation.
Ibrahimović assessed that in the 2027 elections, citizens will assess how much courage each person has.
Zirojević said that the point about introducing visas for Turkey was proposed by the Secretary General of the Government, who is not a member of the Government.
"The public should know that a person who is not a minister in the government is proposing an item that should be proposed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs," said Zirojević.
Bonus video:
